Gore: No Laughing Matter?

"Just before I'd left for the screening, I'd read about a new ad campaign timed to coincide with the Gore film, calling into question the message of the film and, by extension, the messenger. The ads were put together by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a group funded by ExxonMobil, General Motors, and Ford. No discernable corporate agenda there!

". . .Gore isn't running for office, and already the negative campaigning has begun. This is what anyone who takes a stand faces these days -- politics as demolition derby -- and why so many politicians operate out of fear.

"But when I asked Gore about it, he was unfazed. I couldn't help but flash on the stiff, robotic Gore of the 2000 campaign. You could smell the fear on the Gore of 2000. Just as you could smell it on Kerry in 2004, as he ran a campaign that consistently chose caution over boldness.

"And it's the same sickening scent that Hillary Clinton is wearing today: Eau de Don't Let Me Screw Up and Flush My Chances Down the Toilette ."

Is this all silly-season stuff? Probably. By the SNL measure, if Gore shows up on the "Daily Show," we'll know he's running.

More and more lawmakers are into fence-building:

"The Senate today approved a measure to build at least 370 miles of double- and triple-layered fences along the U.S. border with Mexico, moving its immigration bill closer to the enforcement-focused approach favored by conservatives," says the L.A. Times . "While parts of the California and Texas border are already fenced, the bill would also replace and extend fencing along the Arizona border where illegal border crossings have surged to the nation's highest levels. If smuggling shifts to other areas, the bill authorizes fence construction in 'areas that are most used by smugglers.' It also calls for erecting 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the southwest border."

Apparently, a little stroking on the Hill goes a long way:

"Classified briefings provided to lawmakers on Wednesday about a controversial domestic eavesdropping program have smoothed what might have been a contentious path toward confirmation for Gen. Michael V. Hayden as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, senators and Congressional officials said," reports the NYT .

"The closed-door sessions in the Capitol, on the eve of a confirmation hearing for General Hayden, were the first time the White House had provided briefings to the full Senate and House Intelligence Committees about the program. As director of the National Security Agency until last year, General Hayden oversaw the surveillance program, whose existence came to light in December.

"The Bush administration had for months resisted Congressional appeals to expand the number of lawmakers briefed about the program, and lawmakers from both parties had been planning to use General Hayden's confirmation hearings as a public forum to rail against White House stonewalling."

And today is the day: