Al Gore

[[File:Algoreexecmanchester.jpg|thumb|upright|163px|Gore hard at work inventing the internet and global warming simultaneously.{{nofact}}]]{{hatnote| If you were looking for the other 21st century politician screwed over by the [[electoral college]], see [[Hillary Clinton|here]]}}{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|But as Al Gore says, if [[denial]] ain’t just a river in [[Egypt]], despair ain’t just a tire in the trunk.|||{{wpl|Michael Grunwald}}}}
'''Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr.''' {{lived|1948|}} is a former [[United States Senate|Senator]] and [[House of Representatives|Representative]] from [[Tennessee]] who served as [[Vice president|Vice President]] under [[William Jefferson Clinton|Bill Clinton]] (1993–2001). He was a prominent fiscal hawk and small government Democrat while active in electoral politics.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20000815054307/http://www.algore.com/issues/</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20210510092103/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-25-mn-41734-story.html</ref>

In the [[2000 U.S. presidential election|2000 presidential election]], his primary policy positions were paying down the national debt and balancing the US federal budget.  Additional policies included not cutting OSHA or welfare for seniors, promoting gender pay equity, combating union busting, cutting taxes, and investing in technology.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20000815054307/http://www.algore.com/issues/</ref>  He won the popular vote but lost the 
judicial
 electoral vote to [[George W. Bush]], forcing his retirement. His daughter was a writer for ''[[Fun:Futurama|Futurama]]'', and Al voiced himself in 5 episodes.

Gore received fame after exiting electoral politics for starring in a documentary about global warming called 'An Inconvenient Truth'.

==Inconvenient truths==
{{main|Fun:Really embarrassing liberals}}

It's hysterical watching conservatives [[Molehill mountaineering|lose their shit]] over Gore having an air-conditioned house.  This is not to say Gore doesn't have dirty laundry:

*In 1993 he debated [[H. Ross Perot]] over [[NAFTA]], and took the pro-NAFTA side.  
*His wife Tipper was responsible for [[Parents Music Resource Center|"Parental Advisory" sticker]] and clean edits (''But I do know one thing though, chickens, they come they go'') for albums.
*(Related to above) He worked with [[Strom Thurmond]] to try to introduce a blank tape tax to "combat [[piracy]]"; Thurmond's wife was also part of the PMRC, leading some to wonder if the PMRC was a distraction.  Of course, taxing blank tapes would have the "unintended" side effect of effectively preventing new "indie" artists from releasing their own albums, and reduce the chance of any new record company forming. It failed thanks to the efforts of [[Frank Zappa]] and other superior deities that walk amongst us.
*His running mate in 2000 was [[Joe Lieberman]].
*[[Fred Phelps]] housed campaign workers for Gore's 1988 Presidential run. Fred Phelps Jr. hosted a fundraiser for his Senate campaign.<ref>[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1999/03/man-who-loves-hate The Man Who Loves to Hate]</ref> Phelps naturally turned against him later.
*He put a lot of people off [[Adultery|Thai massages]].<ref>http://www.businessinsider.com/two-more-women-accuse-al-gore-of-assault-2010-7</ref> Also, he was rumored to be [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyZDZCGQJf8 banging Larry David's wife], though nothing was proven (what'd you expect from the [[Daily Mail]]?).<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286982/Al-Gore-having-affair-green-activist-Laurie-David.html</ref>
*He was a tobacco farmer, landlord, and chief lobbyist in Congress - until the Clintons went on an anti-tobacco jihad when he finally became an anti-smoking nazi.<ref>[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/al_gores_convenient_fiction.html Al Gore's Convenient Fiction, Debra Saunders, RealClearPolitics, June 11, 2006 </ref>
*He spent years warning about global warming and his solution was... carbon credits. Also, he has a lot of stuff in his office that has a carbon footprint. Yes, we must shun him until he moves into the woods to live solely on pine cones and earthworms. Only then can we take him seriously.
*According to Virginia Giuffre, Al Gore and Tipper Gore were guests on [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s island, though she did not allege any wrongdoing.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna132936 Last batch of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents released], Adam Reiss, Tom Winter and Sarah Fitzpatrick, ''NBC News'' 9 January 2024</ref>

==Bush v. Gore==
{{main|Bush v. Gore}}

Despite all the hoo-hah, the fact remains that in the 2000 presidential election, he lost his home state of Tennessee. Had he won that state, the result of the election in [[Florida]] would not have mattered. His poor campaigning also lost him relatively easy states such as [[New Hampshire]]. Additionally, both his home state of Tennessee and Clinton's state of [[Arkansas]] had gone to the Democrats in 1992 and 1996. This may have been because he tried to distance himself from the popular incumbent President Clinton after the President's impeachment. Any of those states would have changed the outcome of the election.

Gore's defeat in the 2000 election, despite popular vote victory and apparent victory in [[Florida]], which a recount would have disclosed, was a result of a Republican strategy taking advantage of possibly the dumbest trial judge in the State of Florida who consistently delayed ordering a recount of the multiple defective Florida election results. [[Tom Delay]] paid for busloads of [[Republican]] operatives to engage in a near riot outside of the locked room where votes were being counted. When the sharpest [[lawyer]]s money could buy finagled ''[[Bush v. Gore|Gore v. Harris]]'' all the way to the US [[Supreme Court]], [[Antonin Scalia]] led the Court into one of its most ignominious rulings in history, which was basically that since so much time had elapsed (due to Republican dilatory tactics) there would have been too much of a rush to count the votes, so they would not be counted.

His failure to capitalize on the Clinton momentum and defeat Bush is rightly seen as an embarrassment, both for him and the party. On the other hand, those coattails had some nasty white stains on them, and obviously it was bad luck that it all came down to [[Jeb Bush|Bush's brother's]] backyard and a conservative-tilted Supreme Court. Too bad we'll never know the details of the fight Gore and Clinton had afterward. Supposedly it was [http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/clinton-gore-i-thought-he-was-neverland pretty epic.]

==Publications==
He is also known for his books and documentaries on [[politics]] and the [[environmentalism|environment]]:

*''Earth in the Balance'' (1992 book)<ref group=note>And the far more popular ''[[Fun:Futurama|Harry Potter and the Balance of Earth]]'' which was about the importance of protecting the Earth from global warming and the dark wizards that cause it.</ref>

*''[[An Inconvenient Truth]]'' (Academy Award-winning 
love letter to himself
 film)

*''Assault on Reason'' (2007 book) [[Special:Booksources/1-59420-122-6|ISBN 1-59420-122-6]]

==Inventions and influence==
Al Gore 
created the Internet in 4004 B.C.
<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp snopes: Did Al Gore Claim He Invented the Internet?]</ref> worked hard in the Senate on policy initiatives that eventually led to the [[Internet]] as we know it. Some may not like it, but it happened.<ref>{{wpa|High Performance Computing Act of 1991}}</ref> Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn, the two men who, as much as anyone, can claim to have invented the Internet, say Gore deserves the credit he claimed.<ref>[http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~fessler/misc/funny/gore,net.txt Cerf and Kahn's statement.]</ref>

Gore also 
invented global warming in conjunction with [[George Soros]]
 claimed to be one of the inspirations behind Oliver Barrett IV, the hero of the romantic novel (and movie) ''Love Story''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100114223542/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/14/us/author-of-love-story-disputes-a-gore-story.html Author of Love Story Disputes a Gore Story]</ref>

==Business connections==
Gore has also been a member of the Board of Directors of [[Apple Inc.]] and a co-founder of the Emmy-winning cable channel Current TV, which specialized in independently produced short-subject documentary films.

==Personal energy use==
The conservative think tank, National Center for Public Policy Research, obtained the electricity billing data for Al Gore's home in Nashville, Tennessee.  They then compared the annual consumption and peak month consumption against national average household data from DOE's Energy Information Administration.<ref>The 2016 EIA data by state is here: https://web.archive.org/web/20111121184428/http://www.eia.gov/electricity/sales_revenue_price/pdf/table5_a.pdf</ref>  The average monthly residential use in Tennessee is 1,248 kwh, or 14,976 kwh per year, but the report used the nation-wide 901 kwh per month figure.<ref>[http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA679.html Al Gore's Inconvenient Reality: The Former Vice President's Home Energy Use Surges up to 34 Times the National Average Despite Costly Green Renovations] (August 2017) Retrieved August 3, 2017</ref> So, instead of saying that Al Gore used on average 15 times more electricity than the average Tennessee residence each year, the data was distorted by [[Breitbart]]<ref>Kew, Ben (August 2, 2017). [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/08/02/report-al-gores-home-burns-34-times-more-electricity-than-average-u-s-household/ Report: Al Gore’s Home Burns 34 Times More Electricity Than Average U.S. Household]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved August 2, 2017.</ref> as saying its peak month use was equal to 34 months of national-average month use and by the ''[[Washington Times]]''<ref>Chasmar, Jessica (August 2, 2017). [https://web.archive.org/web/20170802205758/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/2/al-gores-nashville-estate-expends-21-times-more-en/ Al Gore’s Nashville estate expends 21 times more energy a year than typical U.S. home, study says]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved August 2, 2017.</ref> as being 21 times the national average annual use.  Neither article mentioned that Gore had invested $250,000 in energy conservation in his home by adding improved insulation, a geothermal system, solar panels, and converting his house to compact fluorescent light bulbs.<ref>http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/02/exclusive-al-gores-home-devours-34-times-more-electricity-than-average-u-s-household/</ref>  Gore also contributes to Green Power Switch, which earmarks his electric use to renewable sources and does not use natural gas, a fossil fuel.  Conservapedia was quick to add a distorted account of Gore's energy use.<ref>http://archive.ph/cUuIl</ref>

==Awards==
Gore was a co-winner, along with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), of the 2007 [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]] for his exposure of the causes and consequences of [[global warming]].<ref>"The Nobel Peace Prize 2007".  Nobelprize.org.  2009.  http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/.</ref>

Along with a Nobel Prize and Emmy, Gore has won many other awards.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_received_by_Al_Gore List of awards received by Al Gore]</ref>

==Military service==

Unlike many sabre-rattling [[chickenhawk]]s, Gore declined a position in the National Guard and volunteered to go to [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]]. "''He said that if he found a fancy way of not going, someone else would have to go in his place''," recalled his former housemate, [[Hollywood values|actor]] Tommy Lee Jones.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/062100wh-gore.html Al Gore in Vietnam]</ref> His father was at the time engaged in 1970 Senate election campaign, with Gore claiming that his failure to enlist would have adversely affected his father's campaign.<ref>[http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/071100wh-gore.html For Gore, Army Years Mixed Vietnam and Family Politics]</ref>

He didn't see much fighting, but at least he wasn't hiding in the [[Dubya|Texas Air National Guard]] or spending the duration of the war dealing with an [[Rush Limbaugh|anal cyst]] or [[Ted Nugent|shitting himself for a deferment]] or [[Donald Trump|got out due to alleged bone spurs]].

==Lampoonin'==
Al Gore has been lampooned in various forms of American media for his seemingly textbook [[liberal]] agenda. In 2006 he was parodied in an episode of ''[[South Park]]'' in which he insists on informing the residents of the town about the existence of a "half man, half bear, and half pig."<ref>{{wpa|ManBearPig}}</ref> Throughout the episode, attempts by some characters to escape from Al Gore or to remove him from the proceedings end with another character defending him, saying "No, I feel kinda bad for him. I don't think he has any friends." The episode ends with Al Gore attaching a cape to himself and pretending to fly off. 
However, in a 2018 episode, it is revealed that the “ManBearPig” ''does exist'' and the characters apologize to Gore.<ref>Emily VanDerWerth,"[https://web.archive.org/web/20181114180029/https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2018/11/14/18080758/south-park-time-to-get-cereal-recap-season-22-al-gore-global-warming-manbearpig 12 years after mocking Al Gore's fight against climate change, South Park reconsiders]', November 14, 2006, ''Vox''</ref>

==One in every family==

Al is a distant cousin of [[Gore Vidal]], a fact neither liked to acknowledge.<ref>[http://www.salon.com/2000/09/20/vidal_5/ ''Salon'': The other Gore] 20 September 2000</ref>

==See also==
*[[Gore's Law]]
*[[Hillary Clinton]] - Supposedly, Hillary trod on his toes back when he was VP. He brushed off opportunities to endorse the presidential nominee, before finally caving in July 2016.

==External links==
*[http://hacks.mit.edu/by_year/1996/gore/ Al Gore Buzzword Bingo]
*[http://www.skepticalscience.com/al-gore-inconvenient-truth-errors.htm Is Al Gore's ''An Inconvenient Truth'' accurate?], Skeptical Science
*[http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/10/convenient-untruths/ Convenient Untruths], Real Climate
*[http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2007/10/an_error_is_not_the_same_thing.php An Error is not the Same Thing as an 'Error'], Deltoid (which isn't archived since it gets digi-loopy)
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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Categories: Articles needing RWification, Authors, Environmentalism, Epsteinsphere, Former United States Representatives, Former United States Senators, Liberals, Living people, Vice Presidents of the United States, United States politicians, United States presidential candidates, Rightists who turned left with age