Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

And only now are more starting to listen, but is it too late? I don't think so. If we start getting serious about it from our own lifestyles to our government across the board, and economic policy now (instead of continuing to use this as a 2008 platform... and I am really so sick of hearing about 2008 already,) hopefully we can reverse this enough to set this planet on the right course now which is or should be the main goal. And that is why it is time for all of us to see the truth that this is happening because of us, and it is now scientific fact. Therefore, it is up to us as responsible and moral stewards of this planet to fix the mess we made...all of us.

Of course, to many reading this article it may have no correlation to their own lives. They don't think that driving at hair burning speeds down a highway in their HUMMER and burning gallons upon gallons of costly fossil fuels at a time over a long period of time here will have any effect on the Greenland or Arctic ice shelves. Well, they're wrong, and that is what we who walk the walk have to make people understand. Weather patterns, air flow, jet streams, and their own behavior that is contributing to those patterns is contributing to this problem that is now not only a problem, but something that proves to be able to change this world as we know it.

And then some will say, so what? If these ice shelves and glaciers melt causing a 20 foot rise in sea levels in say, 45 years, I won't be here anyway. Well, good for you. But others will be here, perhaps your grandchildren or great grandchildren suffering from the effects of a cataclysm you contributed to. And this is really the crux of the moral question behind this issue to me. As stewards of this planet, is it not our duty to care about the future, even if it doesn't include us? Shouldn't we want to protect and preserve the planet as close to the way we got it as is humanly possible? Is that not showing "Personal Responsibility" and "Morality?"

In Al Gore's documentary movie, " An Inconvenient Truth", it is said that, "Political will is a renewable resource." Well, I will go one further than that and say, " HUMAN will is a renewable resource." And without it now, we, our children, and their children may be literally sunk. You can make a difference in that ending, even if you think you can't. And that is where the greatest sea change must come from now: HUMAN WILL. And that is why I support Mr. Gore remaining out here as an advocate for people and planet, as opposed to the usual political, "Run Al run" kneejerk reaction put out now by political pundits, RW mouthpieces seeking to discredit Mr. Gore's intentions, and left leaning political operatives who want their Gore /Clinton grudge match, because I believe that is what will give us the most success on this issue which is paramount.

And in lieu of that opinion, I'm not going to spend anymore time speaking about how much support I would give to Mr. Gore should down the road he decide that running for President is something he wants to do. That has been made very clear in the past and is a given should he do so as a free man unencumbered by the corporate/military/industrial complex that does have a hold on both parties in this country, and also calls for fair elections without electronic voting machines. Sorry, but anything less based on his comments about the toxicity of this system and the state of our Democracy is just not good enough for me or my country now. But does he have to run in this media created system for me to appreciate his work and believe he can make a real difference? No. If I want entertainment on the same level, I could start watching American Idol. ::::shudder::::

However, I am intrigued by those who continue to think he can do more as a President in this corrupted system that shunned him without calling for change on that level than he could do out here talking directly to the people. And for all of the times I have asked what they think or know has changed in this system in the last few years that would really make this any different, I never get an answer.

Do they ever get a sense of just how much this man truly enjoys being face to face with the people? How he is truly enjoying being able to speak unrestrained to them? To be one of them? Well, I get that sense, and I understand it. Why do I understand it, you may ask? Well, you don't have to have been in politics to understand how it feels to be able to freely speak. Being out here looking into that beltway that is a world away is enough, isn't it? Seeing the lack of progress on the issue he has been warning about for thirty years should be enough, shouldn't it? Because unless you are truly living with your head in the sand it is obvious that candidates in this country are expected to tow a certain line and act a certain way. Any deviation from that violates the unwritten code of political behavior. You are only supposed to give the impression that you give a damn to get votes... you aren't supposed to actually act on it.

This is then where men and women of conscience have their dilemmas if they truly wish to be in public service. How does one do that when it would mean having to compromise your principles and conscience? Well, you do what Al Gore has done. You work out here with the people to motivate and inspire them to make positive changes that will hopefully one day affect what happens at the ballot box. Our system has been bought and paid for for quite some time, and Al Gore was in Washington DC and was a part of it... I suspect he has truly seen it is, and sees just how much he can positively affect peoples' lives out here, and he is doing that.

Therefore, I ask, what is wrong with that? Why are people who claim to support this man so put out with the fact that he may just be happier out here and able to do more than if he were boxed into a Presidency with a Congress unwilling to work with him and an uninformed citizenry, if it truly is the issue of this planetary emergency that they care about? Truly, does he have to be President to affect change on this issue, otherwise it isn't worth doing? If the answer for you to that question is yes, then one can only wonder on what personal or political level that answer comes from, and where you have been for the last year while he has been doing exactly that.

I would then also suggest that you read the succession of articles posted about his speeches on sustainable investment, climate change, responsible stewardship, and the response he is getting doing this now, which may just stem from the fact that he has up until this point NOT made this a political issue. This is being done because he wants to inform people, especially our up and coming generation, of the power they have to change the way business is done in this country. As one who looks at it from that perspective and sees that positive change affected this way is just as and even more important especially in light of the extent of the damage being done to our planet daily, I believe Al Gore is already living his Presidency and he is doing it as no other President truly has... Freely and with heart and conscience, because that is the only way to approach the issue of our relationship to this planet.

And frankly, I do not believe "politics" alone has the heart and morality it will take to truly overcome this crisis as it must be taken on. This is huge and it really does transcend any public office, and the sooner we see that and stop the games the sooner we can be on the road to doing right by Mother Earth who isn't going to wait for a political convention to respond to the havoc we are wrecking on her. In other words, it's time to stop using this as a partisan political wedge issue for an election year, and start to do the right thing by our planet and our species now.