With Al Gore’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize we are seeing inevitable comparisons of the achievements of two men who, only a few short years ago, competed for the presidency: Gore and George W. Bush.
One was given the office they both ran for by a somewhat stacked Supreme Court, although it is now clear that a fully enabled Florida Recount would have shown that the other had actually won.
One started working on things which he saw as important – the environment, climate change, corporate management, media development – the other put in long vacation hours at his Texas ranch and left most of the important work to others – but he was The Decider.
One faced a huge National Emergency and had the immediate support of the entire world and his presidential competitor and both political parties – until he blew that support by turning the disaster into a bigger more meaningless monster: a war in Iraq. The other outlined a huge International Emergency and, in the course of a few years, got organizations and governments all over the world to recognize the problem… and he was rewarded for doing it without intentionally seeking those rewards.
One started with nothing and built a fortune in business, the other started with a huge funds surplus and built the largest National Debt in our history.
One added the successes of the past six years to a resume of military service, Congressional offices, and Federal Administrative experience, the other built on a resume of business failures, military obfuscation, good old boy partying and living off of Daddy’s friends’ support.
One is now considered a respected world leader whether he holds an office or not… the other has lost the world’s respect and, judging by the sad shrinkage of the “Coalition of the Willing”, most of the world’s support.
Gore and Bush. Bush and Gore.
Will we still be comparing them six years from now, or will we have, hopefully, forgotten the dismal mess one of them has dragged us into?
