We met Al Gore tonight in Seattle [View All]

Ladies and gentlemen, I shook the hand of the man I remain convinced is the president of the United States a couple of hours ago.

Al Gore appeared at Seattle's Town Hall this evening for a book signing. There was a $5 charge to get in the door; the tickets sold out last Friday in three minutes. Yes, that is not a misprint. Twenty-five hundred people packed the hall, and there were a couple of hundred in front of the building, either hoping for a ticket, demonstrating or passing out literature.

Mr. Gore looks good. He's still gray. I think he's losing weight. (Please, God, let it be exactly what he said -- if he's running, he'll go on a diet.) He spoke for almost an hour, pacing back and forth. He was charming, self-deprecating, funny, but most of all, he told the truth. Most of the time, his voice was quiet, and the hall was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. It almost seemed like he was musing to himself on how things are, instead of how they should be. I tried to take notes. To say that it was an education (and I wished for a tape recorder,) is an understatement. I can only post quotes, because I could not have possibly been able to get the meat unless I was liveblogging.

"What do the climate crisis and the invasion of Iraq have in common?" he asked. Despite facts and evidence, we pushed forward.

"Is the truth irrelevant? How do we connect the dots of policy and truth?"

"When reason is assigned a lower priority, it leaves a vacuum, which is filled by partisanship."

One of the concepts he expounded on at great length was "Information ecology". He joked that the definition was "above his pay grade," but he spent quite some time talking about how information is disseminated to all of us. It started with Socrates and Plato, and it goes on today. He says that "information ecology" is also made up of low barriers for individuals -- if you can read, if you can write, you can enter the forum and contribute. He used the term "meritocracy of ideas". A little later, he began to speak about wealth and power. He says they've combined through history -- this is not a new thing. The needs of the few rule the many. Is this right? How can it change?

Al Gore says that in Nazi Germany, all questions of fact became questions of power. He also stated that the movie "Network", instead of being farce, has now become prophecy. He quoted Abraham Lincoln talking about "thrall", then stated that the definition of "thrall" is mental imprisonment by shared illusions.

As he walked the stage, one of the more chilling moments of his comments was his quietly reciting some of the things that have happened since the Bush administration has been in office. "Who would have known that a Presidential candidate would openly endorse torture, and that the next candidate didn't think he went far enough, so he endorsed not only torture, but the removal of basic human and civil rights as well? Who would have imagined that an audience would cheer that? Who would ever have dreamed that the government would believe it necessary to listen in on the phone calls and communications of innocent citizens of our country?"

He had stinging words for the media. What's more important -- getting out the truth about why we are in Iraq, or "what were the contents of Anna Nicole Smith's stomach during her autopsy?" Yes, that is a direct quote. He highlighted the fact that 44 million American citizens are without health insurance, but we have heard endlessly that the abolishment of the "death tax," which would benefit 1, 100,000th of that number, is a much more important issue. He says that "entertainment" television is "crowding out the space we need to govern ourselves". "Ideas now matter less than money."

The one time he raised his voice in almost an hour's speech? He told us that the freedom of the Internet is just as crucial as the freedom of our nation. It is the last frontier where there is a free exchange of ideas. We must keep it available, and we must keep it free.

He's not dazzling. He's not Sound Bite Guy. He's not the things our media have told us are important. At the same time, I was in the presence of greatness tonight. To listen to him, one must be quiet. He's not yelling. There's no light show and certainly not a t-shirt concession. It's just a guy who's using brilliance, logic and science to save our climate so his kids and grandkids can have a country to fix once it's all over. We waited in line so that he could sign the copies of his book we have; I extended my hand across the table and said, "Hi, Mr. Vice President." He shook my hand and I said, "There are so many things I want to say to you, but there are a ton of people in line, so I will write you a letter." He looked me in the eyes and said, "I hope you will." I'll be writing that letter.

Julie