| It's official. Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to "spread awareness of man-made climate change and to lay the foundation for fighting it." Gore shared the award with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Obviously the award is a great honor, not just for Gore, but for the United States . In these times when our government is instigating war, violating human rights, and fostering discord at home and abroad, Gore's prize still reminds the world that there are Americans willing and capable of working for positive change. So, congratulations to Al Gore, and congratulations to the people of the United States for the Nobel Peace Prize, the most prestigious humanitarian award on the planet.
Now comes the buzzing and hubbub.
First, taking the prize has stirred up the efforts to draft Gore for a run at the presidency. A "draft Gore" group has bought a full-page ad in the New York Times to urge him to run - and we know how much attention those ads get! Gore still maintains he's not in the race?yet! Still, most folks think Gore won't run, including me.
Second, and as expected, the rightie long knives have come out to try to explain why the Nobel Peace Prize is meaningless, and that the award committee must be a pack of liberals, and that Gore's winning the award is a signal for the Apocalypse. After the years-long hyperbolic attacks on Gore's character, the rhetoric in response to this little bit of news has ratcheted up to comic levels.
There's not much to say to this criticism. Instead, I recommend popping open a beer and watching these folks chase their tail around in a circle. Or not. The Sox are playing the Tribe tonight, and it hit me this postseason that it's 2007...and the Indians are still using this logo. Why the Cleveland organization clings to Chief Wahoo is beyond me. To protest the logo, I suggest dropping a sawbuck on a Fightin' Whities! t-shirt, proceeds from which go to a University of Northern Colorado scholarship fund for Native Americans. |
