Book Report: The Assault on Reason by Al Gore

Image from DraftGore.com

I've finally finished The Assault on Reason by Al Gore, so here is my finished book report, as promised.

This book, as previously stated, will make you wonder why you didn't know that Al Gore is a genius. Like me, you probably thought he was an OK guy, but stiff, and whiny--certainly not Mr. Personality. In fact, my perceptions of the former Vice President were probably formed more by Darrell Hammond's impersonations of him on Saturday Night Live than by the man himself. It did not help matters that when Mr. Gore ran for President, his campaign didn't let the real man shine through (or fight back against the considerable--if evil--Karl Rove).

What a difference it would have made, if we'd seen the Al Gore who wrote The Assault on Reason. If this guy had run, no amount of hanging chads, caged votes, or rigged voting machines could have defeated him.

The book starts out by explaining how far we've fallen in this country, in regard to using reasoned, rational, logical thought. The ascendancy of Television as our primary source of information has badly deadened our reasoning ability, Gore asserts, and who could argue? Television's importance has furthered the need for ever more money in politics, to afford the expensive 30-second campaign commercials. In turn, this has lead to those with the deepest pockets--corporations and the very rich--to control what the public thinks, who gets elected and what sort of legislation passes. And we as a populace, are so easily lead.

The real meat of the book is a detailed dissection of the Bush Administration's many failings. That may seem to be straying from the main topic, but really, it was unavoidable. The progression in the previous paragraph naturally leads to corporations' larger stake in shaping our democracy. And no administration has been more beholden to corporations. Nor has any administration done so much to allow consolidations and mergers--for even bigger corporations.

Over 90% of legislation over Bush's term has been written (at least in its initial form) by corporate interests. Bush's appointees are usually from the corporate world. These appointees are running governmental agencies that would ordinarily regulate the very industries the appointees came from. They have a vested interest to not allow their own agency to operate as it should. All of this is explained--far better than I could hope to explain it--in The Assault on Reason.

Melissa Etheridge said, in the recent LogoTV/HRC Presidential forum, that Al Gore would not run for President again, because he said the process was too "soul sucking." Maybe it was, the way he did it in 2000. But what if the campaign was run using reason? What if the actual, real Al Gore was allowed to be himself? What if all the political machinations of the opposition were fought with facts, immediately and forcefully? What if every campaign could be? In a better world. . .

My Review: Required Reading (highest rating)

TSA "Dry Runs" Were Bogus

This keeps happening. We hear ominous reports of terrorist activity: Be afraid, be very afraid! Then, days later, a little more below the radar, we learn that it was all overblown. And yet, the bogus alerts sometimes return in George W. Bush's, Tony Snow's and Sean Hannity's talking points, as though they were never disproven.

This "Boy Who Cried Wolf" stuff is going to get us into trouble one of these days. How are we to trust our government or media when they finally do issue an urgent, legitimate threat?

[Excerpt]

CNN: TSA knew 'dry run' terror alerts were bogus

The Transportation Security Agency's national security bulletin issued was based on bogus examples that were combined to give the impression of ominous terrorist plotting, CNN reports.

"That bulletin for law enforcement eyes only told of suspicious items recently found in passenger's bags at airport checkpoints, warned that they may signify dry runs for terrorist attacks," CNN's Brian Todd reported Friday afternoon. "Well it turns out none of that is true."

Todd highlights the case of Sara Weiss, who was detained in San Diego after two ice packs covered in tape were found in her baggage. Weiss, who works for a faith-based organization, also was carrying a survey about Muslim Americans, which CNN says also raised law enforcement provisions.

"The FBI now says there were valid explanations for all four incidents in that bulletin, and a US government official says no charges will be brought in any of these cases," Todd reported.
Read more at: RawStory.com

Al Gore, Reason, Logic and Justice

Photo from Amazon.com

I just received Al Gore's Book, The Assault on Reason, from my local library, and it has brought many feelings and notions to mind. I cracked the book this afternoon, and looked at the clock a while later to discover that two and a half hours had gone by. He had me hooked in the introduction. The feeling I got from the first couple of pages, until a put the book down a few minutes ago was, "This guy should have been President after all."

Reason, logic and justice are the three most important guiding forces in my life. They have a lot to do with the creation of this blog. All three concepts are in peril in this country, and I fear we have not reached the bottom yet. What Mr. Gore has done with this book is crystallize where we've fallen down in this country in regard to these concepts, how we got here, and what it is doing to us. This book dovetails neatly with other books I've read lately on media consolidation, media misinformation, religion and politics, and the conservative effort to permeate all media and politics.

Of particular interest to me were scientific differences between reading the news and watching the news. Reading requires active participation, and stimulates the reasoning centers of the brain. Watching television is passive, and actually represses reasoning. Fascinating, and yet obvious. That's the stunning thing about this and the other books I've mentioned. All of this evidence is out there, and it isn't hard to find. We've gotten so conditioned to being spoon-fed, we don't even notice anymore when something is unreasonable, illogical and unjustifiable.

Dick Cheney or George Bush will say one thing on Monday, and on Wednesday deny he's ever said it--and the news media dutifully report the new "reality." Thank goodness for people like Jon Stewart (who Gore calls brilliant) and Bill Maher who point out that there is such a thing as video tape, proving their lies. Sadly, they are largely preaching to the already converted choir.

Al Gore proved with An Inconvenient Truth that he can make a successful documentary that effectively sways public opinion. I implore you, Mr. Gore, do the same with The Assault on Reason. Americans are proving daily that they don't much like to read. Put THIS in front of them, so that their eyes are glued to something worthwhile.

Though I'm only part way through this book, I can already tell you, it is highly recommended.