'Big Brother' Al Calls Patriot Act A Threat
November 12, 2003
Former Vice President Al Gore hit the national stage again recently sounding more like candidate Al Gore than a retired statesman. He spoke to a gathering in Washington admonishing the Patriot Act and warning of its dire consequences in a free society. His speech to the so-called American Constitution Society - a bunch of left-wing lawyers, judges and academia – scolded the Bush administration for consolidating federal law enforcement and potentially intruding upon the constitutional rights of citizens under the guise of fighting terrorism. Don't get me wrong. I've voiced some of the same concerns in this very column. However, his claims rang hollow given his own record on the matter.
A CNSNews.com investigation after Gore's speech unearthed what many of us remember taking place during the Clinton-Gore administration. In his “Partnership for Reinventing Government,” ole Spotted Al made a mad-grab for federal police power himself. The CNSNews investigation noted that Gore's Recommendation Number 312 on his list of 1,498 was a proposal to transfer all federal law enforcement activities to the Justice Department under the Soviet sounding name ‘Directorate of Central Law Enforcement.' Hold the phone. Isn't this exactly what Gore was bashing the Bush administration over?
Need I remind you that the Clinton-Gore administration perpetrated the largest power abuses since Richard Nixon? It was that crowd that ordered countless IRS audits on their enemies? Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and other “bimbo eruptions,” as one Clinton-Gore official termed them, all felt the wrath of the Philanderer-in-Chief. The Clinton-Gore goons sicced the IRS on these women in an attempt to either intimidate them into silence or punish them for their testimony. These were not corporate bigwigs with multi-tiered tax shelters. Paula Jones filed a 1040-EZ form, for crying out loud.
The Clinton administration also used their power to destroy people like Billy Dale, a 30-year employee of the executive branch and longtime head of the White House Travel Office whose innocuous responsibility was to book press members on Air Force One. Al Bore's former boss demolished the career of an innocent man in order to put in place his political cronies and award travel contracts to his friends. He even had Dale placed on the Secret Service watch list. They had Dale indicted on a trumped up charge of misusing federal funds. After just one hour of deliberations, a jury acquitted him.
And who can forget Craig Livingstone, the man in the White House nobody remembered hiring, who was at the heart of Filegate – the scandal involving hundreds of FBI files on Republicans procured illegally by the Clinton White House? Where was Gore's outrage then? Where was his public scolding of the federal government for using its awesome power to spy on ordinary citizens?
You see, Al Gore is the consummate chameleon of American politics. He will say anything to anybody for any reason at any time if he thinks it'll win him political points. He will change his colors to blend into the woodwork. He imitates a black preacher when talking to black audiences. He assumes the speech pattern of a blue-collar worker when talking to union thugs. (Who can forget his line, “I guaran-damn-tee it.”) He constantly begs the Toby Keith question – How do you like me now?
This recent speech is just another incarnation of the same, old tired politician who is constantly struggling to remain relevant. His latest angle is a new twist on an old theme. He's attempting to scare Americans – just like he tried to scare them about Social Security and Medicare – into liking him. To answer Toby's question, Al – we still don't.