Dear Brookings Communication Department:
Does Brookings want to arrest "political terrorists" now? Call in drone strikes? This rhetoric is simply beyond the pale of civilized discourse, a slippery slope of political dehumanization of the opposition.
Shame on Brookings for passing on Al Gore's uncivil remarks, without condemnation.
As you know, Vice President Al Gore and the Republic survived a shutdown in the Clinton administration very nicely. There were shutdowns in the Carter administration, as well. It is called the congressional power of the purse.
After reading this email, I no longer have confidence in Brookings' rationality, nor its commitment to civil political discourse.
Therefore, I do not wish to receive any further materials by email from Brookings.
So, please remove me from all your email distribution lists, asap.
And please do tell Al Gore he's tarnished your reputation with at least one recipient.
If you ever condemn him, I'll subscribe again.
Sincerely,
Laurence A. Jarvik, Ph.D.
On Sep 27, 2013, at 3:51 PM, Brookings Center for Effective Public Management wrote:
If you joined us online this morning for former Vice President Al Gore's address at the launch of the new Center for Effective Public Management, you were among the first to hear his remarks about the potential U.S. government shutdown.
"Political Terrorism" was the term Gore used to refer to threats to shut down the government and default on the U.S. debt in his keynote address at this morning's event.
John Hudak highlighted Gore's words on the Center's new blog, FixGov, writing that they emphasized the importance of the Center's work to understand political dysfunction and create real reform.
You can watch video of Gore's remarks and read John's blog post on FixGov:"Why does partisanship have anything to do with such a despicable and dishonorable threat to the integrity of the United States of America?" Gore asked these questions and more, which are fully outlined in a summary of the event's major moments:
Forthcoming research from the new Center will address these vital issues as it works to identify and solve political and governance challenges in 21st century America. As Gore remarked, the Center's work will be at "the heart of what we need to do to make the United States of America what our Founders intended and what our people deserve."
