There’s been a lot of murmuring lately from the political forest about the possibility of Al Gore getting into the whole Democratic nominee fracas.
Given that, at the moment, neither Barack nor Hillary are willing to unclench their jaws and let go of the party pant leg and the Democratic powers that be are growing increasingly concerned that there might be a need for a “broker” or even “compromise candidate” when the time comes, the guy who introduces himself as “the man who used to be the next President of the United States, has been mentioned frequently as the guy who the party might want to turn to in a pinch.
I actually know less about politics than I know about women.
So, I know less than nothing.
But, I don’t see Al getting into it.
To be sure, he’s got the qualifications.
After all, he is a former congressman, Senator, Vice President of the United States, Oscar winning producer and Nobel Prize winner.
But all of that pales to what I think is the coolest thing about stodgy old “you can call me” Al.
He’s got something in common with Superman’s father.
No, not Jonathan Kent.
That was Superman’s adoptive father here on Earth.
I’m talking about Jor-El, his biological father on the planet Krypton.
Hold that thought.
Did you read the story about the ginormous slab of ice that broke off in Antarctica?
160 square miles of ice, my friends, a hunka hunka frozen water the size of Manhattan.
Uh-oh.
And those who, like Al Gore, believe that global warming is a clear and present danger to the well being of the inhabitants of this planet are saying that this is the latest clear and present example of that danger.
Only to have the naysayers say nay and insist that global warming is a myth.
I bet if Jor-El was around today, he’d be saying the same thing that Al is saying.
Because he was the guy who told the Kryptonian Council that there was a clear and present danger that Krypton was going to blow up in a kazillion pieces only to hear the naysayers say nay and insist that the idea of an imminent explosion was a myth.
The story they stuck to right up to the very moment that Krypton blew up in a kazillion pieces.
Luckily, for his son and for those of us who grew up later wearing bath towels safety pinned around hour necks, Jor-El put his baby son Kal-El into a rocket and launched him to a flight that would bring the baby boy to Earth.
And a pretty lucrative career as Superman.
Shakespeare wrote there is nothing new under the sun.
This includes people who don’t see the future right in front of their faces.
I looked up a few for your edification.
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face not Gary Cooper."
-- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."
"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make."
-- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields'Cookies.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
-- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy."
-- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
-- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
-- H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
Of course, to this list, we have to add all the “experts” who are saying that global warming and its potentially devastating effects on the planet are a myth.
I really do doubt that Al Gore is going to run for president again.
He’s way too busy trying to convince the Kryptonian Council that the planet is about to blow up in a kazillion pieces.
Starting, apparently, in Anarctica.
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