An Inconvenient Truth

Just got back from seeing the movie in downtown Seattle...by the end I was close to breaking out crying. I don't know if a movie has ever done that to me before. This was more than just tears sliding down the cheeks. This was the verge of sobbing, held in check only by my social sensibilities!

I had a lot of complex feelings watching Al Gore. I think there was a lot more he could have done while he had the chance, but he was too much of a politician, watching where the wind was blowing. He admits some of that himself in the film. I couldn't help but think, watching the movie, what more could have been done by Clinton and Gore if they were really so interested in the health of the earth--and for that matter, the long-term survival of the human species. I've read that while in office Gore specialized in running intervention for the benefit of corporate campaign contributors with regulatory agencies. I'm glad he's doing what he's doing now. Certainly we would have been better off in some significant ways with a Gore/Lieberman administration...but perhaps we needed Bush to wake us up, I don't know. I hope it's working. It seems like maybe it's working. But there is a lot of work left undone.

I heard on Air America radio last week or so a conversation where they were talking about GWB and how sure he was that he was on a mission from God--and someone (Thom Hartmann?) said, "Well, perhaps God is using George W. Bush--just not in the way that Bush thinks he's being used!" That made me laugh. Perhaps it's true.

At any rate--regardless of the lack of sainthood on the part of Al Gore, I think the movie is a must-see. If you care about the earth. If you care about the future. And don't leave while the credits are rolling, because the message continues nearly till the end. More info about the film here.