http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20051013/bs_ib...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-Patriotic GoreThu Oct 13, 7:00 PM ET
Politics: Former Vice President Al Gore says he will never run for president again. Considering his scathing attack on America at a recent event in Scandinavia, it seems that's a wise decision.
Al Gore this week used an economic forum in Sweden of all places to discuss his lack of plans to run for high office -- and, while he was at it, to make the charge that America is "routinely torturing people."
In the not-so-distant past, there was an unwritten code honored by Democrat and Republican alike: Whatever differences they had with one another at home, they didn't attack their president or their nation's foreign policy while on foreign soil.
That especially applied when our troops were engaged in combat abroad. Americans visiting foreign countries considered themselves ambassadors who were expected to take pride in being from the greatest country in the world.
Obviously in Al Gore's worldview, we've outgrown that kind of provincialism. We're all global citizens now, and so national loyalty takes a back seat to delivering Euro-parliamentary applause lines.
Gore used his appearance to paint America as a land ruled by a lawless, warmongering regime where the press is persecuted and robber barons raid the poor.
Under a Gore administration, "We would not have invaded a country that didn't attack us," he said. "We would not have taken money from the working families and given it to the most wealthy families. ... We would not be trying to control and intimidate the news media."
No, instead of fighting terrorism abroad and cutting taxes, we'd be banning the internal combustion engine, if we go by Gore's past statements.
Gore also exploited the devastation in the Gulf Coast, blaming the Bush administration for the flooding of New Orleans.
And in a remark reminiscent of Jimmy Carter scolding America for its "inordinate fear of communism," Gore suggested we're being kind of touchy about terrorists at a time when greenhouse gases are threatening us.
"My country is extremely attentive to the slightest increase in a risk from terror, and that's appropriate," he said. "But why should we be so tolerant of risk where the future habitability of our planet is concerned?"
Gore was quite right when he said that had he been elected, "We would be a different country."
That's a scary thought indeed considering how close he came to getting into the White House. Given what we've seen of him and his penchant for America bashing, we hope his vow not to run again is a serious one.
Even more frightening is this: Al Gore may very well be saying things that many Democrats now in office are thinking.