by Flemming Funch
Al Gore:I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse . I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions. How many of you, I wonder, have heard a friend or a family member in the last few years remark that it's almost as if America has entered "an alternate universe"? I thought maybe it was an aberration when three-quarters of Americans said they believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September 11, 2001. But more than four years later, between a third and a half still believe Saddam was personally responsible for planning and supporting the attack.
Excellent speech. Why is it that U.S. presidents and vice presidents become really intelligent and sensible people after they've left office, when they had nothing much to say when they were there, or when they were running their campaigns? Well, some of them at least. I'd rather not want to hear what Dan Quayle has to say nowadays.
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