Intellectual Republican
Disparaging Gore is only to be expected from a Winger, and I predicted it.
I'm surprised I haven't received the shriek-and-leap from the Right at my positive words about Big Al. That conditioning runs so deep that I know I'd never change the hatred of Gore, but I would be interested to hear about a true Conservative equivalent to Al Gore. Somebody willing to compete on a level playing field in a marketplace of ideas. Who are the Conservative intellectuals? Who would be a worthy opponent in a debate with Al Gore? Who can duel with ideas instead of sling mud?
O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, et al...vicious demagogues all of them, each one an intellectual pygmy next to Al Gore. Who, then?
It's the question of a Conservative equivalent of Gore that I find more interesting, and a prospect of a genuine debate between two intellects. If you think Gore is such a lightweight, then you must have at least one Rightist in mind who could wipe up the floor with him. Who?
Who would be the headliners in the kind of political debate that we here at the Zone have pined for? People on both sides have complained about the decline in political discourse here...just as Gore deplores the decline of American political discourse in general. It's not a coincidence, and though I know you'll never actually read "The Assault on Reason" because of its author, in fact Gore's position would both familiar and commendable to a Zoner.
The notion that television has had a deleterious effect on the American political system seems stunningly obvious...can you disagree simply because it's Gore who's saying it? And can you disagree that the prescription for a cure includes literacy and open discussion of the issues by all Americans...just because it's Al Gore saying it?