ALBERT GORE JR., AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT IN EXILE
By Marc Ash
t r u t h o u t - 1/1/01 | Albert Gore Jr. defeated George W. Bush across America, and by a healthy margin in the state of Florida. George W. Bush instead stands to occupy the White House for four years. What are the ramifications of that, just that ?
If a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound ? How about an entire forest falling for short term commercial profit, what sound then ? What sound would be made by the undermining of America's alliance with NATO giving rise to a European Union without confidence in us ? What is the sum total of sound generated by a Supreme Court Justice serving the will of small but very wealthy minority appointed for political advantage sitting on the bench for a quarter century ? Is there a difference between the sound made by racial division and that of social inclusion ? What is the sound of the most empowering economy in our nations history simply dissipating ? Will there be a sound as large HMO's solidify their strangle hold on our country's health care system ? The sound indeed of our nation steered from our chosen course down a road that leads to self interests of a powerful few ? I am reminded of the sound of the echoing in the caves in David Lean's A Passage to India, Lean used the echo in the caves as a metaphor for resistance in the souls of the Indian people. The echo begins with the sound of a match being struck in the darkness that sound is then echoed deep in ancient caves and in fact in a very real phenomenon of nature amplified to a deafening roar. That roar becomes the roar from the soul of the Indian people, literally bending back the will of the British occupiers.
Exile, a rightful leader barred from serving those who elected him, held at a distance from that leadership by those in power not duly elected. In the case of Albert Gore Jr. an exile from rightful power not from country.
Granted these sentiments that I am expressing open doors that most are reluctant to look behind. The reality that the man occupying the White House is not the legitimate winner of the election, popular or electoral presents deep questions and issues not easily resolved, that is inconvenient. However subverting the truth simply does not work. We where told JFK was the victim of a "lone nut with a gun" 37 years later that's the only thing we can rule out. In Vietnam we where told that we where just fighting for democracy. No we where not fighting for democracy in Vietnam, but you had better believe we are here and now.
If a young man with his whole life in front of him can run from a troop landing craft straight into enemy fire, knowing that he may soon be laying among the dead he sees falling all around him, so that we might live free from tyranny, can we not hold in our hearts and in our minds the very value of democracy itself ?
The fight is before us, see the beauty in it.
Marc Ash - t r u t h o u t
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