Al Gore calls for a New American Spring Movement

[Vyan]

Run time: 09:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nc6m1Qvgb4   Posted on YouTube: August 03, 2011 By YouTube Member: MiniRtist Views on YouTube: 345   Posted on DU: August 03, 2011 By DU Member: Vyan Views on DU: 3035

 

Keith: What would you say to those who are angry about this (Debt Ceiling Deal)?

Gore: We need to have an American Spring. A kind of an American Tahrir Square, non-violent people where people at the grass roots get involved again. Not like Tea Party.. that movement was funded by the Koch Brothers and promoted on the Fox News, which turned into a stalking horse for the Right-Wing Agenda that a a lot of people have been trying to push on this country for a very long time. What's sacrosant for them is to have absolutely no tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, and to try and shrink down government so it can get out of the way of powerful corporations so they can have free rein.

Our Democracy has been withering on the vein for a long time. I know it's difficult to imagine that people who care about this country can rise up and get more involved, but that is exactly what we need and is the only thing that can get our country back on the right track

I'm donating my exiting Facebook Page - Democratic Non-Violence - http://www.facebook.com/DemocraticNonViolence to begin discuss doing exactly this starting right now.


DKos diary on same subject: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/03/1002726/-Al-Gore-Wants-You!-(To-Begin-the-New-American-Spring-Movement)?via=blog_747929

[Amonester]

1. There is one such Movement in the making, but better call it the AA...

as in American Autumn, perhaps. Let's hope for change 'forward' (as opposed to 'backwaRd').

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1235538

[swilton]

6. Yes, Absolutely

We are having an American Autumn - too late Gore


OPEN LETTER: THE U.S. OCTOBER 2011 MOVEMENT STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR GLOBAL ALLIES
Inspired by the courageous, nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Greece, Spain, and elsewhere, people in the United States have come together to form the October2011 Movement. This fusion of peace, social justice, environmental, student, and immigrant rights organizations is in solidarity with all who seek a peaceful, just, and sustainable future and stands ready to engage in its own campaign of nonviolent resistance beginning in Washington, D.C., this October.

http://october2011.org/welcome

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1235538

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x601892

[Uncle Joe]

7. Why do you believe that "Al Gore is too late?" Did you know he won a Quill Award

in 2007 for "The Assault on Reason," by my calender that would be about 2-3 years prior to the Arab Spring, perhaps they read his book?

This interview is not the first time that Gore has analyzed and called for a transformation of the forces that shape our own democratic republic.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2152925

http://www.democraticunderground.com/searchresults.html?q=gore+assault+on+reason&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com&sa=Search&domains=democraticunderground.com&client=pub-7805397860504090&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en

[swilton]

12. The October 2011 Movement calls for something specific

Al Gore has never been that specific.

[JDPriestly]

2. I disagree with Gore about Obama.

Obama has snubbed the traditional liberal thinkers in the Democratic Party and has, thereby, split the Party.

The Super Congress Committee will most likely agree to cuts in Social Security, and when that happens, I and many other liberal voters as well as seniors who are independent will decide not to vote for Obama regardless of who the Republicans nominate and regardless of whether Obama faces some sort of challenge.

Not repaying the debt to Social Security or changing the Social Security system to "save" it in any way other than raising the cap on the FICA taxes is unacceptable. I do not consider any person who would agree to cutting Social Security or defaulting on the money owed from the general fund to the Social Security Trust Fund to be a Democrat.

[guruoo]

3. Encouraging Democrats to 'stay home' is an affront to Democracy itself.

"Who is Welcome on Democratic Underground, and Who is Not

Democratic Underground is an online community for Democrats and other progressives. Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules_detailed.html

[JDPriestly]

9. I'm not encouraging anyone to stay home.

I am encouraging people to vote for progressive Democrats. I would like to see a progressive challenge to Obama for the primaries prior to the 2012 election.

Better yet, because of his unpopular stance on Social Security and Medicare, I think Obama should announce that he will not run. He should let a progressive candidate run on no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Voters are about 80% against Obama on his weak stands on protecting the Social Security Trust Fund. Obama has bought into the propaganda that claims that Social Security helped cause the deficit.

Social Security did not in any way cause the deficit.

Military spending and the Bush tax cuts caused the deficit. And Obama should stick to that truth and not lie in order to appear "nice."

People will vote for a true liberal. I will write in a Democratic Progressive if Obama is again the candidate.

I am on Social Security and Medicare. It is a bit late for Obama to pull the rug out from under me and others who are already retired. That is a betrayal that just goes really deep -- especially in an economy in which there are no jobs, in which there is no demand for labor.

And worst of all, Obama is trying to sell MORE TRADE AGREEMENTS. We have more than enough already. We should be taxing imports and supporting our local businesses, not importing junk.

[guruoo]

13. A no-chance write-in is like one hand clapping...

Which makes it equivalent to 'staying home', IMO.
Too many liberals are still stuck in the delusion that symbolic 'actions' will always produce tangible results.

This is one reason the RW keeps beating us time, and time, and time again.

[JDPriestly]

14. The point in staying home is to avoid spending money.

If we could get a large enough group of people to agree to stay away from businesses on just that one day -- avoid using utilities as much as possible, then we might be able to make the point that we are at least as consumers, if not as working people, powerful.

Just stay home that day. If some of us also organize marches, good. But most people do not see the point in marching around. We are invisible. The question is, how do we make ourselves, our movement, visible?

[swilton]

8. Going along with that

I think many progressives who want change and expected to get it with Obama in 2008 are beyond Keith and Gore as they appear in this interview.

Keith seemed to try to tweak the notion that we just need to wait until 2012 when we can throw the Teaparty Republicans out - Well that was tried in 2008 and it failed miserably - the Democratic controlled Congress did nothing vis a vis changing course and Obama turned into Mr. Hyde vis a vis turning a deaf ear to Progressives and listening to Republicans....as a voter this behavior plus putting the big three on the table has left the Democratic Party without a message - why should anyone want to vote for them in 2012...They don't have a message.

Then Gore said that he was going to have some words with Obama - would Obama listen? Conyers is supposed to have words with Obama (or to that effect when he told people to protest in front of the WH)..Belafonte is pissed, West is pissed and refused to say that he would vote for Obama, Obama has not listened to progressive voices - to me there is no reason to believe that just because Gore talked to him that he would suddenly change his performance.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Gore is most passionate in this interview and for good reason.

Thanks for the thread, Vyan.:thumbsup:

[Duct Tape]

5. I agree. I watched this live yesterday and

it was great seeing him so engaged in the interview.

[midnight]

10. When we say tea party we are talking KOCH/ALEC.....

Hidden agenda is to privatize everything so that the private industry like the prison industry does not have to be accountable, the private school system, and usurping our tax dollars for their private enterprises.

[Jakes Progress]

11. Always liked you Al.

But still pissed that you didn't run when you should have.