Wednesday, June 30, 2010

From Prophet to Predator: The Al Gore Story

The more we learn about it, the uglier it gets. Now that we have more complete information about what Al Gore was doing to massage therapist Molly Hagerty in that Portland, Oregon hotel room, the great prophet of environmental doom is looking more and more like a sexual predator.

For a report on the incident, see Byron York's column here. For the Portland Police report, follow this link. For the latest from the National Enquirer, see here.

We recall that Gloria Steinem once gave new meaning to misogyny by defending Bill Clinton's sexual assaults on the grounds that he took No for an answer. Conveniently, Steinem overlooked the testimony of Juanita Broaddrick, because when you have to choose between the cause and a woman's word... then clearly you cannot trust the woman. One can only wonder what she would say about Al Gore, a man who clearly did not take No for an answer. My guess: she will have nothing so say.

Admittedly, I am not qualified to judge the truth or falsity of all of the so-called "settled science" about global warning. Surely, a movement that wants to shut down most industry in order to save Nature became far more credible when it made Al Gore its most prominent spokesman.

To me global warmism has always seemed a little too close to being a cult. It offers apocalyptic pronouncements that would better be found on placards; its proponents sound more like prophets than scientists; it has worked too hard to discredit and silence global warming skeptics.

Such is not the stuff that science is made on.

But you do not need to know anything about science to evaluate the most obvious point. Tomorrow's weather and the next century's climate are not the stuff of scientific fact. Tomorrow's weather is at best a hypothesis; the world climate a century from now is not scientific fact... it is prophecy.

Surely, it might happen that the earth gets warmer. But it also might happen that the earth gets cooler. What might happen is not the same as what must happen.

Anyway, once he lost the presidential election Al Gore apparently did not know what to do with himself, so he rebranded himself into a prophet of environmental gloom and doom. He made a fortune doing this, won an Oscar, and was awarded a Nobel Prize. Truth be told, Al Gore morphed from respectable and responsible public official into a media celebrity.

In the process, of course, his 40 year marriage to Tipper fell by the wayside. As I've suggested, you cannot be married to a cause and to a person at the same time... unless the person is as fervent a believer in the cause as you are.

Let's grant that the old Al Gore was not a sexual predator; he did not assault massage therapists for refusing to service his chakras. If that is true, then it would seem that sexual predation is an occupational hazard that accompanies iconic celebrity. It seems to tag along when you become a "mighty prophet, seer blessed."

Do cult leaders feel entitled to do what they please, no matter whom they hurt? Do women find such men irresistible, to the point where they consider it an honor to be used for such a man's pleasure? Or do women feel that they are showing a greater commitment to global warming if they sacrifice their intimacy to please the prophet who is going to save the world?

One thing is reasonably certain. As Andrea Tantaros said yesterday, Al Gore's Oregon misadventures were certainly not the first and only time that something like that had happened. Perhaps on other occasions the women were more willing participants. Perhaps some of them had thought that coming forth would subject them to the kinds of abuse that were heaped on all of the women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual indiscretions and worse. Or perhaps they had simply decided to sacrifice themselves for the cause.

Why did massage therapist Molly Hagerty not see to it that Al Gore was prosecuted? Well, as one of her fellow liberals told her: "... just suck it up; otherwise the world's going to be destroyed by global warming."

Someone remind me here about why liberals always tax conservatives with stupidity?

Whatever you believe about global warming, it seems that we are dealing here with overheated brains. How does an intelligent and sentient being come to imagine that the only person standing between us and environmental Armageddon is Al Gore?

It is truly amazing that people can feel the need to shut down their rational faculties in order to feel like they belong to the latest cause.

Clearly, the science of global warming is neither affirmed or refuted by what happened in that Portland hotel room. Just as clearly, thinking people would do better to give the matter some serious reflection. If the people who are promoting it are not acting like men and women of science, that should tell you something about their ability to deceive and defraud.

Any time anyone tells you to sacrifice your dignity for a cause, you should immediately recognize that something is seriously wrong.




4 comments:

By The Sword said...

I am no fan of Al Gore, but I think that this woman is running a scam to get money and publicity. I believe if you look into this woman's past you will find a host of false allegations on her part.

Anonymous said...

Something about Al Gore's demeanor has always given me a sense of unease. I'm not sure what. But whatever it is, it left me unsurprised when this news came out.

Stuart Schneiderman said...

I did think that it might be a scam but I read through most of the material available, and, if it is a scam, there are an awful lot of people involved.

Since she called her friends right after it happened, offered an enormous amount of detail to the police, and can produce evidence to demonstrate the point.

Perhaps she wants to gain publicity, and money, and perhaps she will gain them. But, she is not a kid, and must be aware of the fact that the kind of publicity that attaches to these kinds of allegations has ruined many a life.

As for the remark by Anonymous, now that I think of it there was always something a bit off in Gore's demeanor. I still believe that his taste in masseuses is a relatively recent phenomenon.

By The Sword said...

It's just easy, too easy, for a woman to accuse a man of all sorts of things these days and the law will side with the woman. I don't feel bad for Al Gore in the least as he has been part of this whole liberal machine and he's getting his just due. But if it can happen to him, a false accusation can happen to any man. no man is safe.