Blogger Conference Call with Al Gore

Classic quote by Al Gore, in response to a blatant lie by White House press secretary Tony Snow: "This book, unlike the President's State of the Union Address, has been fact-checked."

[more notes on the flip...not exact quotes]
Gore quotes Alice in Wonderland: "First the verdict, then the trial."  General Shinseki was punished by the Bush administration for telling the truth, differing opinions silenced.  Scientists have been censored.  Diminishing the role of reason leads to a vacuum at the center of our democracy. What rushes in to fill that vacuum is extremist ideologies...extreme partisanship, extreme nationalism.  The rule of reason is the balancing wheel at the center of self government.  Emphasis on propagandistic messaging techniques...serious problem for our Democracy.

There was never a golden age.  Except that for all of the faults in our democracy in the past, we did have a larger role for reason and truth.  That's a central premise of American Democracy.  The relative role of reason and logic and fact has been diminished considerably and I do think it's a serious problem.

Question by James Boyce whether Gore has ever seen a greater example of irony than Tony Snow demanding that Gore's book be fact checked.  Gore responded immediately, "This book, unlike the President's State of the Union Address, has been fact-checked."  [appreciative laughter]

To fix climate crisis, we have to fix American Democracy.

My question was on the Energy Information Administration's long-term forecast.  Gore responded that forecasts are sometimes wrong and non-linear.  "If you're traveling in an automobile at a constant rate of speed towards the edge of a cliff, you can project that you'll drive off the edge of the cliff," but you should take into account that the driver might "apply the brakes."  We're going to soon arrive at a "tipping point" at which point there will be a growing and insistent demand for different policies on greenhouse gas emissions.  The planet has a fever.  Two weeks ago, shocking study that melting of Arctic icecaps are proceeding much faster than expected; we're 30 years ahead of schedule.  Consistently, the actual behavior of the climate has been at the upper end of the pessimistic projections in these models. The pattern is really clear.  We're going to see a growing demand for change.

Taylor Marsh asked about the Iraq bill with benchmarks, Democrats being afraid to stand their ground because of what they're going to read in print.  Taylor Marsh has a transcript of Gore's answer on her blog:

I have enormous respect for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and how the new majority is trying conscientiously to come to grips with the power of the legislative branch; how to wield it in a way that validates the mandate they received from the American people to bring about a change, especially in this catastrophically mistaken war policy. The instruments available to the legislative branch are blunt instruments, often difficult to use, awkward in their executions. And I think there has to, there should be an appreciation for how difficult it is to wield these tools. I think that they have been doing a really conscientious job of trying to use these blunt instruments deftly. I don't know what the latest twists and turns are, but I have confidence in their bona fides and intentions and I wish them well.

Question about television, possible causation of the assault on reason.  Gore says he thinks TV is capable of communicating fact-based information very effectively.  There are many elements in the news media that have confused entertainment with news.  We're hearing more about Anna Nichole Smith's funeral arrangements and Paris Hilton's jail term than about the abdication of responsibilty of current Administration to deal with the climate crisis or to stop warrantless wiretapping.

How do you combat the assault on reason?  It's important to look at the way competing claims are presented.  Why do we have this "on the one hand, on the other hand" framework.  For instance, you don't hear that "many scientists believe the earth is round, but others believe it's flat, so you dear reader must evaluate these competing claims." You don't hear "some scientists believe smoking is very good for your health, but others believe it is healthy for you."  Tobacco companies used to put out misinformation on this subject.  We're at that stage with the climate crisis.  Thomas Pynchon said, "If you can get people to ask the wrong questions, you don't have to worry about what the answers are."  The climate deniers want you to ask the wrong questions. Those who say climate change is not real are a vanishing small minority, many of whom receive financing from ExxonMobil and other large, carbon-based polluters.  We have to address the structural flaws in the way a determined, well-financed special interest can be so successful in distorting the fact-based search for truth that used to be recognized as a hallmark of a well functioning Democracy.

Need for a paradigm shift?  "An Inconvenient Truth" aimed to speed up the connecting of the dots on the climate crisis.  Devastation of New Orleans greatly affected the receptivity of that argument.  Same with heat waves and other examples.  The Assault on Reason is designed to connect the dots re: diminished role of fact and reason on decision making in our Democracy.  Millions of people are curious about what has gone wrong and how we can fix it.  I hear it everywhere I go..feeling that something very basic has shifted, has gone wrong.

"You guys are in the vanguard....what you as a group have been doing represents the new wave."  How many times have you written passionately about big mistakes in the mainstream media, then brushfire starts on the internet...the mass media outlet is forced to acknowledge what's been pointed out and change its course.

Question about focusing the climate change debate.  "Read the book. That's what this book is."

Taylor Marsh asks another question:

When you talk about the 'assault on reason,' I think of the GOP debate where Mitt Romney said 'double Guantanamo.' And you've got a chapter in your book, I was looking at it, called The Assault on the Individual. I was wondering if you'd talk a little bit about that and just Gitmo and the torture thing and where the Republicans stand and where we stand today that presidential candidates can stand up there and say 'double Gitmo,' and the audience erupts in applause.

Gore responds about Gen. George Washington, who laid down the first prohibition against torture during America's Revolutionary War.  Hessian soldiers captured, some junior officers wanted to torture them, some did not.  General Washington said no, the new way of the United States of America included a new respect for the individual and as a result, torture was prohibited then outlawed. That has been America's policy since then, up until this current Administration.  There were always excesses in war, but never condoned, let alone actively PROMOTED, by the Executive Branch of the government.  Ideals from the enlightenment. New ay of thinking about the dignity and rights of individuals, at the core of the new idea known as "America."  Gen. Washington said no, we will not stoop to torture individuals.  Diminished respect for dignity and rights of individuals...very fact that this White House and this group of candidates on the other side would see it as a popular notion to promote torture is a symptom of the decay of the core values that led to the establishment of the USA in the first place.  We have to defend those values and fight for them, because that's what the USA is all about.

Dave Roberts question on sharp divide between reason and emotion.  One side (Republicans) appeals to the lizard brain.  Liberals and progressives cling to this notion that if they just list facts and statistics they will win the day.  Is there also a role for advocates to learn how to use myth and narrative and emotion to make their case, learning to be better persuaders.

Gore says sure, that's why he started giving a slide show instead of simply using printed words.  Wish he hadn't initially said "no, that's impossible" about turning his slideshow into a movie.  Advocates of progressive values need to recognized tectonic shift from one media ecosystem to another.  Every progressive organization/movement has been backpedaling, on the defensive.  Every single one of them has relied primarily on facts and knowledge and a logical case...reason as a way of overcoming the wealth and power and influence of entrenched special interests that don't want to see the reforms that they're advocating.  Yes, we need to encourage progressive advocates to become more skillful in symbolic communication.  Individuals gaining access to public forum is the bedrock of American democracy...contribute their own ideas, challenge the conventional wisdom...attract others to share their point of view if their unique expression resonates...that is why freedom of assembly, speech, press were all so central in the First Amendment.  We have to protect the freedoms of the internet, its independence.  If we can keep the internet free and open to individuals, it will give us a much better chance of breathing new life into American Democracy.

Chris Bower talks about broad lack of trust, paranoia.  Gore says that the rule of reason is the common meeting ground for Americans who have different ideological postures, different partisan leanings, different economic and social interests, different faith traditions. The common meeting ground is the rule of reason. If reason has a diminished role, it becomes much more likely that those who disagree will immediately suspect the motivations and intentions of those with whom they disagree. The whole American system is focused on forcing those who want to exercise power to gain consent of others and to engage them in a discussion based on reason and fact.  If that conversation is seen as less relevant, then it's open season on motivation.  In the past, we did have a greater role for reason when printed word was principle medium for Americans to share ideas.  Internet has low entry cost, large role for meritocracy of ideas...better idea gets more page views, search results, people talking about it.  That allows for more focus on the logic of the debate.

Don't confuse Gore's passion with anger.  He loves this country.  The book lays out a prescription and a cure.  You guys are on the cutting edge of a solution.

Comments