You Got to Love a Gore Speech

The man thinks. He also comes across as more true to his convictions than the man he lost to 6 years ago, as well as genuinely compassionate.

Last week (Oct 5) he gave a speech at a Media Conference in New York. You can read it here.

He discusses democracy, and the threat to its existence by the loss of a "marketplace of ideas". This he describes as the unrestricted flow of ideas between and among all levels of wealth and power, and claims it has been threatened by the insidious infiltration of television into the American experience.

"So, unlike the marketplace of ideas that emerged in the wake of the printing press, there is virtually no exchange of ideas at all in television's domain."

And...

"To the extent that there is a "marketplace" of any kind for ideas on television, it is a rigged market, an oligopoly, with imposing barriers to entry that exclude the average citizen."

He cites the following example:

"Moveon.org tried to buy ads last year to express opposition to Bush's Medicare proposal which was then being debated by Congress. They were told "issue advocacy" was not permissible. Then, one of the networks that had refused the Moveon ad began running advertisements by the White House in favor of the President's Medicare proposal. So Moveon complained and the White House ad was temporarily removed. By temporary, I mean it was removed until the White House complained and the network immediately put the ad back on, yet still refused to present the Moveon ad."

Is that true? Grrr. If I ever thought television was anything more than a corporate soap-box, I've just been hand-slapped.

He points to the internet as one salvation for American democracy, and closes on an uplifting beat:

"The final point I want to make is this: We must ensure that the Internet remains open and accessible to all citizens without any limitation on the ability of individuals to choose the content they wish regardless of the Internet service provider they use."

Regardless of their ISP? What compelled him to add that? Is there something on the drawing board for ISPs that isn't so ducky?

You got to love a Gore speech.