You all knew my two cents were coming.

If you recall the slade post you will know quickly that I am a proud republican. With the full disclosure out of the way I will begin.
I was an invited guest of the White House to the "Year of the Ocean" conference in Monterey Ca in 1998. I was invited because of my achievements in environmental protection and pollution prevention.(just another republican saving the planet LOL) Among the attendees were Al Gore and Bill Clinton, both of whom I had the opportunity to converse with on these very issues. I also talked with B. Boxer, Ted Danson, Ron Sims, Navy Sec. Dalton, ADM James Loy USCG, Carol Browner, Leon Panetta, Interior Sec. Bruce Babbitt and many more. The subject of the conference was the Law of the Ocean Treaty and its effects on the freedoms of the US. I can tell you that it would inflict upon the US foriegn authority on all of our coastlines and coastal rivers. This analysis is not mine but that of several attendees at the conference that have much more liberal views than I. I can assure you all that Al Gore will sign the treaty as quickly as possible as he said as much directly to me and three top ranking officers of the US Navy. He will do this over the objections of many, but with the blessings of greenpeace, sierra club and other left wing special interests. The same special interests that think sportsmen inflict undue pain and suffering on fish with hook and line. HMMMMMM!!!!! This will directly affect the freedoms we enjoy as anglers of coastal rivers and ocean going fish. This is just one reason to think twice about voting for Al Gore. As I stated in an earlier post, being a single issue voter is a dereliction of your duty as a citizen, something I take very seriously. I don't believe that Algore will be good for the country. I think our taxes will go up from their already too high rate and our freedoms will diminish. Those of you who favor even the current tax rates please make the moral argument for taking my life energy, perhaps against my will, and giving it to someone I may not want to have it. If you think folks should be taxed more, how much EXTRA did you give to the gov't last year with your return. Those of you who think we haven't had our freedoms trampled upon please read the federalist papers and then make the argument as to why I must purchase from the gov't a license to exercise my God given rights to feed and care for my family. Perhaps you could also explain why the gov't has a right to read every piece of email I send regardless of content or recipient.(which is the case now) For a more complete argument against the current crop of democrats (algore included) review the Slade question? post of around 40 days ago. I think GW Bush is a progressive, forward thinking republican. (not all that common I admit) He is among a handful of reforming young(politically) governors from around the country who have done great things in their states. He has already assembled a top notch team and will continue to add talent. As for you vets.....I can't begin to think that any of you could consider voting for algore after what he has let happen to the morale and readiness of our fighting forces in the last eight years. This man has no respect for the warrior spirit or the warrior ways and will not help get even one of our military families off of food stamps. As long as our prisoners eat and live in more favorable conditions than our recruits I cannot support politicians without clear and unshakable support for our armed forces. Al Gore also has a severe problem telling the truth (a quality I don't think he posessed until working with Bill) which disturbs me greatly. I know politicians all lie, but telling me he invented the internet or discovered Love Canal (an environmental disaster he tried to take credit for beginning the cleanup)...thats a little over the top. If he's willing to lie about such easily disproven items what else is he willing to lie about. (i didn't know it was a fundraiser....$5000 from a buddhist monk??)
On a personal note, I found Mr. Gore to be a bit dim. Bill Clinton is charismatic, likable and very smart no matter how much I disagree with his politics. Al Gore, on the other hand, is more wooden and seemingly not bright in person. He is actually better on TV. He is much further left than Clinton politically and sees in his minds eye a socialist utopia existing in America. His book "earth in the balance"is an eye opening tome. The title alone suggests his elitist, humanistic view of the world and the text proposes that humans are nothing more than a threat to the ecosystem as opposed to another part of the ecosystem. This is a VERY important election and we would all be served better if you all spent lots of time researching these candidates. Look at voting records, pre-election year quotes and upbringing. How the parents of these two view the world has a great effect on how they will view it. Both of their fathers were prominent political figures. Don't you share alot of the same opinions as your father???

Regards,
Lance