Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Oscar Salutes Al Gore's "Truth"

"Truth" has been nominated for two Oscars, one for best documentary and one for the original song, " I Need To Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge, which is an inspiring song that I hope wins the award because more people definitely need to hear the words. Both nominations are also so well deserved, and I am so happy for all involved in this film and thank them so much for bringing this crisis to the consciousness of the world.

And I am also grateful to the producers and especially to Davis Guggenheim the director, because he did not do this with any selfish political motivations attached to it. He has an intrinsicly sincere desire to get this information out based on its merits, and he sees Al Gore as a man of great knowledge, conviction and vision regarding this crisis, and that is how he portrayed him in this film.

This film is the example of what you can accomplish when you set out to listen to your heart. In this film Al Gore settles past accounts in his own life and sets his course for the future as well as sending us an urgent message: We must now learn to take our own lives and those of our children into account and set upon a road to saving our planet.

And while I am very happy that this movie was nominated, I am very disappointed in the response this entire endeavor has gotten on the whole from the "progressive" Internet community, namely sites like Daily Kos. It appears to me that there are only people who have used Mr. Gore's conviction on this issue and the urgency of this crisis before us just to make their own political statements. It is no secret that many on these sites do not like Hillary Clinton (and BTW, I have absolutely nothing to say about 2008 as I happen to think this crisis more important now) so it appears they have taken a film that is serious and sincere and should be used as a catalyst for a mass movement to solve this crisis across all lines party and otherwise, and used it as a campaign poster for themselves.

I cannot tell you how absolutely fed up I am to see thread after thread on certain sites on the Internet that do nothing day after day after day but use this movie to beg Al Gore to run in the same toxic system that has ignored this issue for thirty years without ever delving deep into the topic themselves or joining enmasse now to help him. It is as if they have such a disconnect when it comes to the real message of this film... that it is about what WE are going to do now.

And I also doubt very much that this film would even get a mention anywhere in that world had the man they only see as their "anti-Hillary" not been the subject of it. So again, that is very disappointing because I expected to see more banding together because this crisis IS urgent and we have to solve it. However, if you look on any front pages of these blogs you won't see any urgent messages regarding the climate crisis or information for people who wish to join in this fight now. No mention of the Alliance for Climate Protection, and no mention of how you can even calculate your carbon footprint. Only political speculation, and in my view that has only hurt the perception many others have had of this film and Mr. Gore's intentions. I see no mass movement on any of these progressive sites to put this crisis first. As a matter of fact, all I have seen is comment after comment that Al Gore should announce he is running at the awards ceremony! Is nothing sacred to these people when it comes to their own political aspirations?! Can't they let the man enjoy ANY accomplishment he has sincerely made in his life without interjecting this into it?

Firstly, Al Gore is not up for an Oscar (and this also goes out to all those in the rightwing pundit camp as well that have done nothing but trash the true intention of this film,) the movie is as are the producers and Davis Guggenheim. Should this movie win in the category for best documentary they would go up on stage to accept it, and I hope send a message to all of those watching who may not even know until that point that the movie even existed that it is time for them to do THEIR duty for their planet and as the song says, to wake up to the reality of what we are doing to our only home.

I hope this will be a catalyst for a global shift in how we do business, how we relate to our Earth, and how we respect it as well as working to address this most daunting challenge that is totally within our abilities to mitigate if we act now... and we must act now. The rest will take care of itself. This movie is in no uncertain terms OUR wake up call, and it would be nice to see more who claim to support this man and see this urgency actually discussing and acting on that for a change.

So THANK YOU again to all of those involved in the making of this film, and to a man I love and respect very much, Al Gore. You are THE environmental leader of our times at a time when your place in history is exactly where you should be, and I thank you for clarifying that this is not a political but a moral and spiritual issue. Hopefully, those who continue to only use this movie as a springboard for their own agendas will see that as well.

CONGRATULATIONS to AIT!

Now please, Mr. Gore, talk to the producers about giving us a sequel to AIT to show changes good or bad (China's coal plants and cars taking place of bicycles) regarding affects and progress since AIT was released, and to showcase activists who are taking this crisis to heart and working on real solutions to solve it globally. Also, to keep this crisis in the consciousness of people because they need constant reminders, and because I think that would also inspire even more people to become involved in the grassroots movement you have begun. You have so many options open to you now with your resources, businesses, and above all, your freedom. Please give it a thought!