I'm off to Oslo to see the King. No, actually I am off to Oslo to see the King
present my old student and good friend Al Gore with the Nobel Peace
Prize. It is actually a thrilling moment for me. When Al was young I
never contemplated him getting the Nobel, which he rightly deserves. But I
did contemplate him winning the presidency. I've been supporting him for
president ever since he ran for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and the
fools gave it to Mike Dukakis. In 1992, when Bill Clinton called me on the
Cape to ask me who I thought should be his vice presidential running mate,
I suggested a bit cheekily that it would be best for him, Bill, to run for
the second spot and Al for the top one. Imagine what shame the Nation
would have been saved.
Of course, Al won the election in 2000. But it was stolen from him -- and
us -- by the Supremes, a scandal that will mar and mark our history forever.
He did not disappear like other defeated candidates for president. He took
on the cause for which he is being honored, a cause he had championed
already when he was in the U.S. Senate. Yes, I know that the reflexive
right-wingers laugh at his concern and at his science. This is a reflex of
theirs. Mocking is always easier than confronting difficult truths. But
where scientific learning is done and where it is respected, his message is
supported and being pressed further.
So I believe I am carrying the respect and applause of many of my readers
with me to Oslo.
I will post what I can when I am away.