Real Life Beats Fiction Every Time
You can’t write stuff this good:
For former Vice President Al Gore, a rash of favorable publicity surrounding this month’s opening of his movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” and the growing political resonance of its subject — global warming — are stoking the most serious speculation about a Gore political comeback since his loss in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.
In 2008, that could mean a once-unimaginable battle for Democrats’ nomination between Bill Clinton’s former vice president and his wife, Hillary Clinton. To some pro-Gore Democrats, worried about Mrs. Clinton’s electability, that is part of the appeal.
That Gore might run isn’t news, but check out one of his big backers:
Among those said to be pushing Mr. Gore are billionaire venture capitalist and high-tech entrepreneur John Doerr and Laurie David, a global-warming activist and producer of the film, and wife of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator Larry David. “When people see this movie, I know they’re going to see the real Al Gore, and they’re going to demand that he run,” Ms. David says. But, she adds, he changes the subject whenever it comes up, and had to be talked into making the movie when she pitched it.
Now, Larry David is a funny guy, of that there is no doubt (though sometimes ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ is, to be honest, a trifle flimsy – he’s mailing it in these days). But his wife?
Good God preserve us. Laurie David is one of those humorless, one-note people who cause acquaintances to duck behind the nearest doorway at her approach – “Oh, God, did she see me? She’s going to preach about global warming again!”. Just sample a bit of her turgid prose at the Huffington Post if you want to see fanaticism defined. Far too side-splittingly typical is this gem:
Driving down to Santa Barbara in a vehicle fueled by vegetable oil (thank you Eco Limo, and no, it didn’t smell like french fries), I was excited to meet the first environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Bwaaahaaaahaaaa! Whooooooo! Larry needs to start taking comedy writing tips from his wife – because THAT’s funny…
Hey, I heard that Willie Nelson also drives a car fueled by vegetable oil — if it’s good enough for Willie, why not Laurie David?
Yeah, Willie actually has a deal with a couple of service stations here in town selling his own biodiesel.
You know, God bless him, Willie lost all political – political, mind you – relevance to me when he basically decided the family farmer in America – supported by billions in inefficient transfer payments from the government – was the cause he wanted to devote his life to.
God bless farmers, too – I grew up around them – but it’s a business, Willie…
I only saw Willie once, in New York City (of all places) to a very enthusiastic crowd.
I was supposed to see him in the 1970′s as the opening act for the Greatful Dead in Meadowlands Stadium, but (this being the 70′s) we ate some acid first and then got a flat tire in the South Bronx on the way to the concert. Luckily, there was no Bonfire of the Vanities moment, and even better, we got there in time to see the Dead — but, regrettably, no Willie.
sorry, Grateful
(And who can forget the immortal words of Jerry Garcia: “life is nothing but circles, and when you’re on acid, the circles are smaller.”)
Yeah, Willie is a perfect fit for Deadheads…which explains, probably, why I like him so much (musically)…
Comrades,
My first sighting of Willie was when he and Waylon played in Salt Lake City, must have been around 1974 or so. They were great, and it was a good time. the following weekend was ELO, with Elvin Bishop as the opening act….. what a playcard, eh?
Respects,
Gwedd
I’ve been borrowing ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ DVDs. I’m through season 1 and a couple episodes of 2. So far it’s a riot. There were a few episodes that didn’t click for me, but some of them (Affirmative Action and My Beloved Aunt come to mind) were some of the funniest things I’ve seen recently. My friends say the last season (5?) is weak, but so far I’m loving it.
Oh, I love it…but there is definitely a downturn in Season 3 or so – it goes from the funniest thing on TV to…well, still the funniest thing on TV but just not quite as funny as before…
On the topic of the post, only in America could you have a right wing as dumb as ours and somehow conjure up a left wing that is even dumber. Great stuff.
Comrades,
Yup…. the greatest thing about this country is how we are able to pretty much survive whoever gets elected….. The milk is still delivered, the lights still come on, the kids still get hot lunch in school, and the bills arrive like clockwork.
I have an unbounded faith in our constitution, and in the seperation of powers. Yeah, some sh*t still slips through the cracks every now and then, but overall, we have damned little to complain about in this great nation.
I would very much like to see a Republican in the white house in 2009. However, I know that regardless of who gets the nod, we can survive it. That’s a hell of a good nod towards the founding fathers (no offense towards the females of the citizenry) who managed to see a heck of a lot of the bigger picture, and try and prepare for thoe eventual “yeah, but” moments that would arise…..
Anyway, I hope Al G. tosses his hat into the ring alongside Hillary. That would be a primary to sit back and enjoy, especially if Feingold and others toss in as well….. Talk about your major Fault Lines…..
Respects,
Gwedd
You’d think that a guy with a credibility problem would have worked at getting the facts straight in the movie…
I think we may need to review our opinion on Laurie David’s comedic skills. Once this movie comes out I believe her true comic genius will be revealed. I’ve only seen a trailer but it has promise.
The shots of Al showing New York City and Florida under water while the crowd thunders their applause. The shots of Kilimanjaro before (with lots of trees around it and snow on top) versus today (no trees, receding snow) and then Al blames it all on global warming instead of deforestation by the locals. The conjecture of “what if the polar ice caps melted?” bandied about as lightly as “what if we went to Hawaii for vacation this year instead of your Aunt Joan’s house in Iowa?” are all genius.
Funny or not, I hope people realize that this is just a publicity ploy for Gore and an upcoming campaign. It makes sense if you’re Gore–get people all worked up about this issue and use it to show how you can save the world. Anyway, are you guys going to go see it? I think I might stop in to check it out, if at least for an ironic laugh.
Keep laughing guys. If you think that you know more about climate than than the National Academy of Sciences, the International Panel on Climate Change, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, fine. But the simple reality is that there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that global warming is real. There’s plenty of debate about what the overall impact will be, but it’s just willful ignorance to ignore the vast majority of the scientific community.
And Colin: I don’t think you can blame the receding tree line at Kilimajaro on deforestation by locals. Kili is 19,340 feet high. No one lives up there; you can hardly move 30 seconds without pausing for oxygen. I don’t think logging is a mainstay of the local economy.