Published on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
Can Al Gore Be Trusted?
by Jeff Cohen
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
The wise old Chinese proverb on who is to blame for repeat gullibility was famously mangled by our Embarrasser in Chief: "Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you," Bush stammered, with that deer-in-the-headlights look. "Fool me -- you can't get fooled again!" The video of that golden Bushism can bring down the house on The Daily Show.
But these words of wisdom are no laughing matter when applied to the man who defeated Bush in the 2000 election: Al Gore.
Many solid progressives want Gore to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008. A recent AlterNet reader survey (in which Noam Chomsky won the MVP for "Most Valuable Progressive") showed Gore way in front of the pack -- with Russ Feingold second and corporate media "front-runner" Hillary Clinton way back.
If Gore does run in 2008, big questions will nag: Didn't he fool a lot of us once before? Can we trust him?
Don't misunderstand (or mis-underestimate) me: I'd love to see Gore run.
more:
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0719-32.htm