Mentioned in this post. Was a substitute for another party hack.
Al Gore may be thankful he avoided a sudden change in climate at Husky Stadium over the weekend.
It turns out the former vice president was the mysterious speaker the University of Washington had been courting for months to give this year's commencement address, which went soggily awry Saturday.
Or perhaps I should say, former party hack. Now, it is harder to find the right term to describe Al Gore, though "unscrupulous televangelist" comes close.
Incidentally, neither Al Gore nor, judging by his own biography, Norm Dicks, has any claim to scholastic excellence. Gore had mediocre grades in college and dropped out of both divinity school and law school. Dicks did complete a law degree, but does not mention any scholastic honors.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(Why "unscrupulous televangelist"? Because Gore is acting more like a religious figure than a scientific thinker, and because he has been so — shall we say, careless — with data and logic. For an example of that carelessness, see this press release.)
Posted by Jim Miller at June 13, 2007 10:44 AM | Email ThisThe only difference the rain made was that we couldn't just ignore you and pretend to be interested while enjoying the weather.
The UDub didn't embarrass themselves, you did.
Posted by: Andy Simon on June 13, 2007 12:19 PMHere's reality: how come even though Bush supposedly only has "30 percent" of support, whenever there is a "national protest" only a few people in rain ponchos show up?
How come when a Liberal guy like Dicks "speaks out" against a supposedly unpopular administration, he gets boo'd off the stage?
Never in the history of America has the media been so far from the true sentiment of the American people. Hollywood stars and newsmen are living in la-la land if they don't understand the reality and sentiment of the American populace.
Posted by: John Bailo on June 13, 2007 12:49 PMSo here we go again. Time magazine is infatuated with a fat fat-cat Democrat who couldn't get through God school and who fought his war from the shallow end of the typing pool. This Gore person is an oracular instant pundit that Henry Luce's successors are pushing on us like bad dope. They're mainlining and I'm hallucinating: it's yesterday, 1961, once more.
Posted by: Gorebasm on June 13, 2007 02:41 PMBygones, baby. Don't you realize that Cuba has better health care than America? Michael Moore just made a movie all about it. (Too bad the Cubans didn't offer that whale a free lap band...)
Posted by: Rey Smith on June 13, 2007 03:19 PMPlease UW- get MORE clueless democrats to speak at captive audiences. Why not pass out democrat donation envelopes with the programs while you are at it?
Posted by: Andy on June 13, 2007 04:48 PMDicks, who holds two degrees from UW and played football there, said the university should move commencement to Safeco Field or some other covered venue "so they don't embarrass themselves again."
Now that is denial. The man is totally self un-aware. Dicks was one of the few Dems that I still held some regard for. Gone!
JFK's old news. Sy Hersh learned that there's no percentage in telling the truth about a dead Democrat. The new news is that our watchdog media is morphing again into poodles for the Democrat du jour.
As for sicko Michael Moore, if you think the slob is telling the truth about Castro and Cuba, then you better see a doctor.
Posted by: Gorebasm on June 15, 2007 11:43 AM