Al Gore: U.S. Needs An ‘American Spring’

[Purveyor]

In an interview with Countdown host Keith Olbermann on Tuesday, former vice president and Current TV founder Al Gore said the United States needed an “American spring” like the Arab spring in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

“We need to have an American spring,” he said. “Non-violent change, where people from the grassroots get involved again. Not in the tea party style. There are people who are genuinely upset in the tea party, I understand that, but that movement was funded with seed money from right-win billionaires, the Koch brothers, and promoted on Fox News and turned into a stalking horse for this right-wing agenda that a lot of people have been trying to push on this country for a long time.”

“This country is in trouble,” Gore added. “Our democracy has been withering on the vine. This has been going on for some time.”

Monday on Countdown, Gore called the U.S. system of government “broken” and “in real trouble.”

MORE WITH VIDEO...

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/al-gore-u-s-needs-an-american-spring/

[woolldog]

1. I wish he would run for President.

*sigh*

[jefferson_dem]

2. He'll probably be too old in 2016.

We all thank him for helping put Barack over the top in 2008 though. :party:

[Yavin4]

4. You Are Missing Gore's Point

It's not about who is running for president. It's about the people putting pressure on the system. Even if Gore did run and even if he won, he'd face the same bullshit that Obama is facing.

If you want progress, you have to demand it.

[msongs]

5. umm it's not the bull** you are facing that's the prob, it's how you deal with it nt

[Yavin4]

7. No, It's The Pressure That The People Put On the System

That's what Gore is talking about. See, you think that if you elect candidate A or candidate B, then everything will be just peachy. That's a fantasy.

The entire system, as Gore states, is corrupt to its core.

[napoleon_in_rags]

6. +1

Hits the nail on the head.

[jefferson_dem]

8. Yet those who scream the loudest, point the finger of blame at the elected officials...

who would provide a solution. It's our job to hold *them all* accountable but let's not, along the way, lose sight of who the real political enemy is.

[Dad Infinitum]

18. The right wing agenda is the real enemy

[onehandle]

10. The people are. A few thousand teabaggers have pressured the system in their favor.

The Racist Revolution was a total success.

[treestar]

12. +1

People here are so obsessed with the Presidency!

and Gore was the one whose running mate was Lieberman! And then don't they blame him for losing in 2000? Some people are so twisted. Any politician who says anything (while not actually in power) they jump on as the Great White Hope who can make a benign monarchy of the Presidency. I'm seeing that is their true goal.

[YvonneCa]

15. I agree. Some here might enjoy reading Gore's book...

...Assault on Reason, where he makes that case. ALL three branches of our government are dysfunctional...but the way to get them working again is if the PEOPLE get involved and start participating. IMO, we never would have elected GWB if people hadn't taken our system for granted.

[Supersedeas]

19. Yep....well said.

[mochajava666]

11. Seems like brilliant visionaries never have a chance

Gore would be the cure to what ails the World today.

[Yavin4]

14. No, He Would Not Because The System Won't Allow Him To

That's his message. The people have to change the system to allow for people like Gore to make the necessary changes.

[mochajava666]

16. I'm not saying that he could get elected, I'm just saying that if

elected, he would have the vision needed to lead in today's world. His last book, "Assault on Reason" is an excellent read.

IMHO, his only two mistakes that he has ever made was to go bowling in a suit in Janesville, WI, in 1988, which was a Kerry wind sailing or Dukakis tank political disaster. He lost the WI primary, which pretty much eliminated him from the race. Of course, the Lieberman VP pick in 2000 was a total brain fuck. I know people that worked closely with him in that campaign, and I always wanted to know why he felt that Joe was a good choice. There were other people that had made a stand against Clinton's Lewinski scandal, so Joe should not have been his only choice to repudiate Clinton.

[BlueMTexpat]

20. If he had been a candidate, he would have been one of my top two preferences

in 2008. Sigh.

My other top preference was the then-Chair of the DNC, Howard Dean, who did so much to assist in the election of President Obama and to provide him with his Democratic majority in BOTH houses of Congress in 2008.

If only Obama had not immediately turned to Rahm Emanuel, instead of sticking with his true friends. What might have been ... especially in health care reform ... we'll never know.

I believe that now Gore has made a different life for himself and would rather see another carry the torch. Perhaps Obama could be that person if he would only pay attention to those "who brung him" rather than to those who just jumped on what they saw as a winning bandwagon and now are too quickly ready to jump ship once again.

[Lint Head]

3. The U.S. needs a new revolution that throws out the government

leaders that are controlled by rich corporate fascists. Then there should be a call for the prosecution of the people that have so badly damaged our nation.

Catch phrases do nothing.

[flamingdem]

9. I'd like to see young people use their Iphones for political change instead of chatter

Good luck with that.

[JTFrog]

13. DLC!!1! Koch Bros!!1!

Oh, wait... We don't hold actual DLC'ers accountable for much at the new DU.

I'm a big Al Gore fan, but it baffles me how people forgive a co-founder of the DLC and put the onus of everything DLC on a man who was never a member.

Obama Derangement Syndrome in full bloom.

[high density]

17. Al, where was 2011 you when 1993 you was whoring for NAFTA?

No matter who we elect we get the same shit.

[Township75]

21. That's right! He is a big hero now, yet when he was in power, he wasn't doing what he advocates.

.