quote: Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.
Gore criticized the Bush administration's slow response to Katrina in a speech Friday in San Francisco, but refused to be interviewed about the mercy missions he financed and flew on September 3 and 4.
On September 1, three days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, Simon learned that Dr. David Kline, a neurosurgeon who operated on Gore's son, Albert, after a life-threatening auto accident in 1989, was trying to get in touch with Gore. Kline was stranded with patients at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
Gore responded immediately, telephoning Kline and agreeing to underwrite the $50,000 each for the two flights, although Larry Flax, founder of California Pizza Kitchens, later pledged to pay for one of them.
Most critically, Gore worked to cut through government red tape, personally calling Gov. Phil Bredesen to get Tennessee's support and U.S. Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta to secure landing rights in New Orleans.
About 140 people, many of them sick, landed in Knoxville on September 3. The second flight, with 130 evacuees, landed the next day in Chattanooga.
Good stuff Gore!
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
Damn that electoral vote!
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
That is very cool...good for him!
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by MandyM: Damn that electoral vote!
If it weren't for that pesky constitution, we could get all kinds of stuff done in this country. Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Never read nothin' in the Constitution about the USSupremeCourt bein' given the power to suspend vote counting to anoint their own candidate as President.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
At least be accurate and call it rererecounting.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Let's not start all that again...
A discussion on the merits and faults of the electoral college is one thing. Rehashing the past is another.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
No, call it what it was. The Gang of Five suspending the Constitution to anoint the EvilOne.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Or stopping corrupt local officials from recounting until they got the result they wanted.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by aspectre: No, call it what it was. The Gang of Five suspending the Constitution to anoint the EvilOne.
Lots of things were wrong that year...
But they ruled in keeping with the FL constitution, as it should ahve been.
Bitch about the dimpled chads, or the BS they pulled in lines, or the discounted minority vote if you want...but by FL election rules it HAD to be stopped at that point.
It was FL fault, not the SCOTUS.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I say, good for Gore for doing what he could to help in NO. Right on!
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Horse puckeys. The SupremeCourt suspended the vote count, delayed presentation of arguments for over a week, then the Gang of Five declared that it was too late to count the votes AND picked their own President.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Suspended the third or fourth vote count, I can't remember at this point.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Dagonee, you don't want to remember Scalia pontificating that a vote recount "is an assault upon the dignity of the President of the United States, George W Bush." Even though Dubya wasn't the President. Even though the Electoral College had yet to cast its vote. Even though there was a month to go before the victor of the 2000PresidentialElection could be sworn in. Even though there is no such crime, tort, nor even social faux pas as "assaulting the dignity" of a political officeholder.
[ September 11, 2005, 12:08 AM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Aspectre, all I can say is that I am NOT a supporter of Bush..
and even I am glad I don't live in whatever world you see when you open your eyes. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
FL has clear rules about how teh count has to happen....just like other states. The Federal gov had no right to force a state to violate it's own voting rules and regulations.
I had, and still have, a lot of problems with what happened in that election, but even I understand this part of it.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
FWIW, I agree wiuth Kwea and Dagonee. ANd I'm not a Bush supporter/
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
sigh... The decision stunk so bad that even Scalia stated "This case should not be used as precedent for other elections." You ain't even gonna believe the Gang of Five's opinion of their own decision?
[ September 10, 2005, 11:13 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
While it is wonderful that Al Gore flew out the sick evacuees, it is a national scandal that he HAD to.
And that's all I can say.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: While it is wonderful that Al Gore flew out the sick evacuees, it is a national scandal that he HAD to.
And that's all I can say.
But he DIDN'T have to and he did anyway. Which is one of the great things about Americans, actually. Most of the thousands of people who are responding do so because they want to, not because they HAVE to.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
And he avoided the obvious chance to try and gain some publicity. Him and most people involved with this operation all denied interviews.
Good for them.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Not that I'm a huge Bush fan all the time, but Gore's good deed doesn't necessarily cancel out anything good Bush has done so far. Outshines it, perhaps, but doesn't suddenly turn Bush doubly into a villain.
It doesn't seem to matter what anybody does about Katrina but that it's political through and through. There's a lot of energy being wasted on all the positioning that's going on.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by maui babe:
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: While it is wonderful that Al Gore flew out the sick evacuees, it is a national scandal that he HAD to.
But he DIDN'T have to and he did anyway. Which is one of the great things about Americans, actually. Most of the thousands of people who are responding do so because they want to, not because they HAVE to.
OK. Sorry I wasn't more clear. What I found to be scandalous wasn't that Al Gore had to go. Of course, he didn't. No one individual HAD to. The scandalous part was that these people HAD YET to be evacuated.
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
quote: Bush is not the least legitimate president we've had. Ford never stood for election for an Executive Branch position until 1976, at which point he'd already been President for over two years.
adam, you know why this argument is not a good one, right?
Gore was so stiff and detached as a candidate, that even I had a hard time being enthusiastic about him representing our country. If he came across back then, the same way he does today, I think that he wouldn't have needed a recount to be confirmed as president.
Posted by Oliver Dale (Member # 8398) on :
This is a silly comparison between Bush and Gore. You do realize President Bush has a dayjob, right?
And call me cynical (I am, after all), but of course Gore denied an interview. It would have seemed incredibly self-serving of him to take one. By denying the interviews, all of you are doing his PR for him -- as expected.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Ford was elected Nice-President, which made him completely legit. Nixon stepped down, and Ford became President, as he should have-it was his job.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Ford was not elected vice president. He was appointed when Agnew resigned.
Posted by MoralDK (Member # 8395) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: And he avoided the obvious chance to try and gain some publicity. Him and most people involved with this operation all denied interviews.
Good for them.
Amen
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
I do like the fact that Gore's trip was so different from Sean Penn's. He didn't rush down there with a camera crew, as though this disaster were an opportunity for personal advancement. He didn't act at all until he saw an opportunity to make a real difference (and not just a chance to grandstand), and then he did it quietly and effectively, using all the means at his disposal.
That was cool. I didn't vote for him, but my opinion of him has improved.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
quote:And call me cynical (I am, after all)
Selectively cynical, anyway.
But of course, aren't we all?
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
quote:Ford was not elected vice president. He was appointed when Agnew resigned.
Granted, but Ford was definitely legitimate in that he was elected according to the 25th amendment
quote:2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
and had no hint of scandal attached to his confirmation.
-laughing- Well, there was plenty of scandal in the air, just none that emanated from him.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I knew that, my point is that there were hearings, and they voted on him, so he was justly elected by Congress. They had a say, and it was run according to proper election rules.
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
oooh sorry didn't mean to stir up that pot...
I guess what I should have said is that isn't it sad that our fearless leader is (imo) not doing NEARLY enough to get aid to NO and his opponent, who lost (again imo) in a most unfair vote, raced in to help at his own expense.
What I really should say is that we as a country probably should hear more uplifting stories like this and less of the 9-11 Discovery Channel reenactments.
Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
quote: I do like the fact that Gore's trip was so different from Sean Penn's. He didn't rush down there with a camera crew,
From what I've read, this is an unsubstantiated rumour.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
My first response to this thread was "on his back?" I always did like Gore, and I always thought he looked a bit like superman.
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