“IF I’D GOTTEN THE JOB I WANTED at Montgomery Ward, I suppose I would never have left Illinois.” Had that happened, the author would not have gone on to be a radio sportscaster, actor, union president, California governor or the President of the United States. Ronald Reagan opened his autobiography with that quote, and it is one of my favorite quotes on the topic of not getting what we want, because, to me, it encompasses the enormity of how a seemingly little thing can have such a huge effect, not just on one man, but on the entire planet.
In an ironic twist of fate, Al Gore, who introduces himself as the man “who used to be the next President,” seems to have found redemption from his bruising battle for the White House in the making of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the movie that started out as a lecture by Gore on the causes and effects of global warming.
The man who wanted to change the world by taking on what is arguably the most powerful position on the planet, may actually have a much larger, important and effective voice today than he ever could have as president.
I say this because after having watched this tremendously powerful movie, which should be required viewing by everyone on the planet, it occurred to me that as President Gore he would have been bogged down in policy constraints, muffled by lobbyists for big business and baffled by a Congress that prefers to let issues be “the next guy’s problem.”
As president, Gore would have likely had to steer a conciliatory path with world leaders, he would have had to parrot that stupid statement about controlling emissions means we would lose jobs in America.The role of the president would likely have obligated him to downplay the seriousness of the situation so to not incite panic.
Luckily for America, and the world, Gore is a free man to voice his concerns and to state the truth openly and loudly. In politics and the world, people are gauged by the ability to speak truth to power. There is no greater power than the next electorate, and that is why so frequently those in positions of leadership speak softly or not at all. They don’t want to risk not being re-elected by saying that which is so obviously true.
When the Supreme Court handed the 2000 election to George W. Bush, the immediate effect was the end of the Gore bid for the White House, but in the telescope of history, they may have done more to save the planet than anyone could conceive. For when Al Gore was freed from the bonds of political deal-making, he was ripe for a Hollywood movie company to take what he affectionately called his “slide show” and make a movie that is compelling, informative and horrifically scary.
With the release this past week of the latest United Nations report on global warming, which coincidentally affirms just about everything that Gore speaks of, and runs contrary to almost everything the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue declares, the world must sit up and take notice that we have a major problem on our hands.
Gore has found himself in a role that he was truly suited for. Gone is the stiff Al Gore, in its place is a humorous man who makes his points with passion and incisiveness. As a free man, he is a loud voice that can speak the truth to the world that, as president, he likely could not.
Rather than trying to forge an unlikely alliance in Congress, or reduce CAFÉ standards, or fashion a carbon credit plan that is actually worth something, Gore can stump for true change. He can get people riled up, head up a global effort to change the world and his lasting effect on the world and his place in history will be far greater than anything he could have accomplished in Washington.
On the one hand, I hated to see President Bush appointed to an office for which I think he was, and is, ill-suited. On the other, as Gore pursues his true destiny, as he has become the voice of a planet in crisis, I can only say that sometimes not getting what we want is the best thing to happen.
Gore would have made a good, maybe even a great president, but I think that history will record that his loss was the planet’s gain.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 6, 2007. Read the original PDF.