On May 23, 2007, Al Gore made a personal appearance at the Marin Veterans' Auditorium, in the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, California.
He was there to kick off publicity for his latest book, The Assault on Reason, which had been released just the day before.
Outside the lecture hall, a plethora of Gore-heads had set up tables. The message was the same at all of them: Gore in '08!
Each group had its own twist. This one promoted the "Dream Team" of Gore-Obama. Has anybody informed Obama yet that he's been demoted to VP?
The air crackled with excitement.
Much schwag was to be had, for the schwag-inclined.
Petitions calling on Al to Assume Leadership were filling up rapidly.
The wealthy attendees lounged about with their Che bags, waiting for the lecture to begin.
The event was sold out. I was one of the lucky ones to have bought a ticket in time. As the crowds arrived, they pressed into the building excitedly, eager to hear what Al had to say about Global Warming™ and personal responsibility.
But wait! What's that behind the crowd? Could it be -- a parking lot? Filled with...cars?
I went to investigate.
On the way, I passed a special exhibit of a customized hybrid that got 100+ miles per gallon. Well alright then! I guess everybody must have driven a hybrid to the event.
Oops. Out in the expansive lot, as far as the eye could see in all directions, were gas-guzzling SUVs. One by one, I watched SUV after sports car after minivan after SUV pulling into the lot, the drivers getting out and invariably heading over to the Gore lecture.
In fact, since it was after work hours, and since the Civic Center is in an isolated area, the only reason for anyone to be parked there was to go hear the High Priest of Global Warming™ discuss emissions.
(Scroll down the page to see more evidence in my Gallery of Gore Fan SUVs.)
Want to see what 2,000 hypocrites look like? Here you go.
Finally, The Man strode onto the stage. The crowd went wild.
He said a bunch of stuff. The same stuff he always says.
For those that are interested in such things, here are some video excerpts that I took of his speech:
It seemed to me that half of what he said was either untrue or vaguely bizarre -- or perhaps bizarrely vague. If you want to dissect or comment on his claims, click on the "YouTube" logo on the video and leave comments there.
After five or six more standing ovations, it was time for Al to sign everyone's book! As everyone was lining up, I "accidentally" went to the wrong side of the stage and snapped this picture of Al displaying a copy of The Assault on Reason to the event's official staff photographers. After I was shooed away, I went back to my seat and then when it was my row's turn I stood at back of the line and waited like everyone else.
After a very long wait, I successfully got Al's autograph (swoon!) and as I was leaving I got this shot of Al signing the next person's book.
I'm including this photo for no other reason than that it makes Al looks like Dracula. (For more of the same, scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the Gallery of Gore Outtakes.)
The only way to "prove" that many of Gore's fans were driving gas-guzzling cars is through repetition -- showing examples of them over and over. So, here's a nice selection.
Dozens of readers sent in statistics regarding the gas mileage of the cars shown here, so presented below each photo is the average miles per gallon rating for each vehicle. These statistics are not necessarily definitive -- they come from a variety of sources, including consumer sites, government databases, and in some instances personal expererience. The number shown is the average of the data given by these varying sources, so what you see here is at least likely to be a very close approximation of the actual gas efficiency for each vehicle. (Thanks to everyone who sent in statistics.)
I was going to throw all these pictures away, but hell -- why not just slap 'em online?
Here's what happens when a Vice President and a camera just won't get along.
"Y'all come back now -- ya hear?"
Here's a photo of Al holding up a copy of his book. Unfortunately (nudge nudge), the flash from the camera washed out the cover, so it looks like he's holding a completely blank book or sign.
What message do you think Al is holding? Readers revved up their photo editing software and sent in submissions, and I've posted the winning entries here on the "Al Gore's Secret Message" page.
