gore '08!

ed. note: am heading to chicago for kate's wedding this weekend so prob won't post again till monday...

i'm reading al gore's new book, the assault on reason.

it's dense. really dense. but it's chock full of both interesting information and also logical/historical insights into how this country has managed to get itself into the trouble we're in now.

it's also, obviously, a scathing review of Bush and the current administration.

"His seeming contempt for the rule of reason and his early successes in persuading people to believe in his dogma-driven view of the world apparently tempted him to the hubristic and deeply dangerous illusion that reality itself has become a commodity that can be created and sold with clever propaganda and public relations skills."

the whole book, so far, has read like that. he also puts a fair amount of blame on the general public (for watching too much crap television and not reading and searching for the truth enough) and also the media (for no longer being a free marketplace of ideas, but one driven solely by ratings and those whose money funds the networks).

he talks about the effect fear has on reason and about what the republicans have done to take advantage of the fact that when people have fear, reason becomes secondary. it's why republicans keep saying, "if you elect democrats, the terrorists win and we'll get attacked again."

so far, it's been pretty philosophical but it's really truly interesting to see how far back in time people have been studying fear and its relationship to reason. there's also been a fair amount about the history of democracy and the founding fathers intentions for our country.

the only bad thing about this book is that it's making me really upset that al gore isn't running for the presidency. he's got all the right ideas. i'd vote for him even over my man obama (who, btw, isn't acting like so much of a leader lately. he's just not coming out strong on any issues and he's playing it so safe. that's not why i was first attracted to him. there's something about this campaigning process that's taking something out of him and i hate it).