Ladies and Gentlemen, Leftism

Al Gore penned an editorial about (surprise!) climate change in the NYT this weekend. It is pretty typical Al Gore boilerplate global warming material. However, one sentence, out of an entire editorial of rank leftism, stuck out as a crystal clear picture of the true identity and inherent problem with leftism. 

Gore wrote, "From the standpoint of governance, what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption."

Ok. Deep breath. Read again.

"From the standpoint of governance, what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption."

Ok. To be fair, let's see it in context.

"Over the years, as the science has become clearer and clearer, some industries and companies whose business plans are dependent on unrestrained pollution of the atmospheric commons have become ever more entrenched. They are ferociously fighting against the mildest regulation — just as tobacco companies blocked constraints on the marketing of cigarettes for four decades after science confirmed the link of cigarettes to diseases of the lung and the heart.

Simultaneously, changes in America’s political system — including the replacement of newspapers and magazines by television as the dominant medium of communication — conferred powerful advantages on wealthy advocates of unrestrained markets and weakened advocates of legal and regulatory reforms. Some news media organizations now present showmen masquerading as political thinkers who package hatred and divisiveness as entertainment. And as in times past, that has proved to be a potent drug in the veins of the body politic. Their most consistent theme is to label as “socialist” any proposal to reform exploitive behavior in the marketplace.

From the standpoint of governance, what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption. After all has been said and so little done, the truth about the climate crisis — inconvenient as ever — must still be faced.

The pathway to success is still open, though it tracks the outer boundary of what we are capable of doing. It begins with a choice by the United States to pass a law establishing a cost for global warming pollution."

Ok. Not much better.

There is so much wrong with this it is hard to know where to begin. So rather than drag out the hundreds of quotes and political philosophers and other source material to combat the notion that the government is an instrument of human redemption, I'm simply going to let the absurdity of Gore's prose stand alone. 

So much of leftism is often cloaked in legitimate good intentions and moralistic language, that it is difficult to make the case that the very philosophies and policies that leftists espouse would lead to the opposite of their desired goals. But occasionally there are moments of clarity. When John Kerry said there should be a "global test" to determine when the U.S. should go into armed conflict, this was a rare moment of clarity. When Barack Obama said we need to "spread the wealth around," another rare moment of clarity. As was Walter Mondale's promise to raise everyone's taxes when running against Reagan in 1984. Al Gore gave us another one this weekend.

Thank you Mr. Gore, in your effort to rally folks to your cause, you have given us a rare, unadulterated glimpse into the leftist soul. A soul that, apparently, can only be redeemed by good government and the correct leftist laws and policies.