In The Blogs

Explaining Al Gore

| Wed Jul. 15, 2009 8:29 AM PDT

Bob Somerby, employing his traditional royal we, makes an announcement today:

After Labor Day, we plan to roll out a new product; at a new web site, we plan to start posting our (largely written) book about the press corps’ coverage of Campaign 2000.

That's good news — though I confess I'd personally prefer to simply read the whole thing at once instead of getting it a chapter at a time on the web. How about a Kindle version, Bob?

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Comments

Franken

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Jul. 15, 2009 8:53 AM PDT.

The "loss" of Gore was one of the worst things to happen to this country.

I thought Franken's book, while painful to listen to, did a good job covering 2000. And Al has one of the best lines ever -- listening to the book, I almost fell over laughing when I came to it: "I fucking hate these right-wing motherfuckers."

Dear Al, You lost. Get over

Submitted by MacGruber on Wed Jul. 15, 2009 8:55 AM PDT.

Dear Al,

You lost. Get over it.

Dear Frank:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Jul. 15, 2009 9:08 AM PDT.

This is a moronic comment.

About time

Submitted by Ken D., don't say I'm (not verified) on Wed Jul. 15, 2009 9:20 AM PDT.

He certainly has plenty of material and, shall we say, a clear point of view. But why has he let the grass grow under his feet for eight-plus years before putting this in book form?

Campaign 2000: How topical!

Submitted by Betty Cracker (not verified) on Wed Jul. 15, 2009 10:23 AM PDT.

I used to admire Somerby. He was spot-on about the absurd coverage of Gore and did yeoman's work exposing the media vendetta against Gore. But he seems to have become an embittered crank over the ensuing decade.

Somerby relentlessly bashes Rachel Maddow, falsely accusing her of stupid transgressions like calling attention to her Rhodes scholarship (which she doesn't do) while making it clear that it is he who is obsessed with it and unable to complete a Maddow criticism without bringing it up. Jealous, perhaps?

Somerby calls Keith Olbermann a sexist for sneering at "opposite marriage" spokesmodel Carrie Prejean. But just last week Somerby attributed Mika Brzezinski's success to her "chic bob," implying that she is a mere haircut.

I doubt that book will fly off the shelves. Yeah, Gore was wronged -- big time -- and we suffered as a result -- immeasurably. But Somerby has made sure many former allies no longer give a damn what he has to say.

Somerby Has Turned into the "Crazy Old Aunt"

Submitted by Taobhan on Wed Jul. 15, 2009 2:34 PM PDT.

Amen to that! I used to read Somerby's blog daily but he got so repetitive that I finally gave it up as a waste of my time. Why bother when you already know what he's going to say ... on almost any issue? Somerby is absolutely right about how Gore got robbed in 2000 and he's got that thievery well-documented. But buy his book? Never - I've already read everything he has to say and probably multiple times. He now reminds me of the senile old aunt who keeps telling you the same old stories every day. I don't consider him relevant any longer.

While I don't necessarily

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu Jul. 16, 2009 6:32 AM PDT.

While I don't necessarily disagree with your characterization of Somerby, I have to ask why Maddow and Olbermann should be exempt from criticism. Olbermann is a waste of time most of the time -- and yes, he is sexist. And while Maddow does a great deal of smart work, she can be sophomoric, just as Somerby says, and is developing a tendency to ego-trip just like her many of her cable colleagues (read: Olbermann). Sorry, but they deserve to be called out when they do shoddy work. They don't get a pass just for being liberals.