Live Gore

Last night Al Gore spoke at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. Charlie Rose interviewed him about his new book "The Assault on ReasonLive Gore."

The Assault on Reason
Photo: Fernando Ariza
The New York Times

When asked when the assault on reason began, Gore discussed the Age of Reason and the dissemination of knowledge, at which point the rule of reason displaced the monarchy and the church as an authority. Yet in one generation, Gore explained, we’ve gone from being readers to being TV watchers "and this shift brought with it a diminished role of thought-based analysis."

"My position is that all television is bad except for my network and what I happen to be watching," joked Gore. His network is Current TV, a cable channel created by its online community.

When Rose made the networks’ argument that they’re giving viewers what they want to see, Gore countered "we don’t allow the marketplace to decide the values of our society." He stressed the importance of separating news from entertainment because, currently, people in power don’t concern themselves with facts, evidence, truth or accountability because we don’t demand it. This resulted in Iraq, in the manipulation of Democracy, and a constituency that "now feel[s] shut out of the conversation."

Gore urged Americans to "wake up" and "be much more involved in demanding accountability." In order to turn the country around, he said, "We need to open up the medium of TV to the participation of individuals" and "we have to reestablish respect for the truth." Additionally, he said that politicians are "intimidated into silence" because they know that if they voice an unpopular opinion there will be hell to pay. "Politicians are paralyzed and the system is not going to right itself," said Gore.

Rose asked Gore if he thought the country would respond to a compelling candidate, and Gore answered, "What too often people are seeing is how [the candidates] comb their hair, what they’re wearing." Gore went onto say that typically, the candidate that has amassed the most money, wins.

When Rose asked, "What would it take to get you to run?" Gore responded, "I’m not looking for factors that will cause me to run," but then added, "It’s true that I haven’t completely ruled it out."

Rose contrasted the 2000 Gore who was a captive of spinners and handlers with the 2008 version who speaks his mind. "Did you get smart recently or have you always been smart?" Rose asked. There are those who claim "we didn’t see the real Al Gore and if we had seen the real Al Gore he would have won."

Gore’s response was "candidates are looked at through a different lens." He continued, "what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and maybe I’ve gotten stronger in the last six years."