Just when former Vice President Al Gore seemed to be re-carving a niche for himself as an outspoken, blunt political critic of the Bush administration he forgot a key rule of real estate:
“Location, location, location.”
In a political move that is at best baffling, Vice President Al Gore delivered a speech filled with hard-hitting language about U.S. treatment of Arabs in the post-911 world in Saudi Arabia.
Even a potato that was just taken out of the sack would know that the location — Saudi Arabia, a country not exactly role model for the observance of human rights, democracy and a country of origin for many of the 911 hijackers — was a bad one. By choosing to deliver his speech there he was virtually ensuring that a controversy about it being on foreign soil, and from Saudi Arabia, was BOUND to overshadow its actual content.
Why didn’t Gore just put a sign on his back that said “KICK ME” and then walk into a Republican rally?
Uh, oh. We better not give him any ideas…
Al Gore looked like the Joe Lieberman of 1988 back when I was working for him. Now, well, he doesn’t. I’m disappointed, because he seemed a lot more sensible than that, once.
UPDATE: Ouch.