The Republican Media- No. 18a

When the Sunday morning- or weekday evening- news programs go into their chat mode, a politician, strategist, or talk show host is brought in when the broadcast wants a partisan or hard ideological viewpoint expressed. Apparently, though, NBC's Chief White House Correspondent and host of "Race to the White House," will do just fine., as his appearance on the 7/20/08 edition of "Meet The Press" demonstrated.

Following an interview of Al Gore, Tom Brokaw hosted a discussion including Chuck Todd and Gregory. Gregory (page 4 of transcript) took a couple of unwarranted shots at Gore, the latter of which (in bold) I'll comment on here:

Can I make one point related to this? I do think that, you know, inside the White House, there's always been a feeling that Al Gore thinks he's got the monopoly on this debate, and so there is sensitivity among conservatives about this that he, he commands the microphone, and nobody else can, can be an entrant into this debate. So I think he's, he's politically divisive in that way. I--I'm hard-pressed to believe that he wouldn't necessarily go in the administration if he got the platform, but I also take seriously the idea that working outside, "so I can keep making money in all of this," but he can also have a really profound impact on the flow of the debate both here and overseas.

Gregory infers that Gore's involvement in the global warming debate is driven by greed- "so I can keep making money in all of this." (Note Gregory is not so honest as to admit "I believe Gore is motivated by money, but rather implies a quote from the former Vice-President.) This may be intended to leave the impression with the viewer that Gore is wealthy only because of his investment in the field of energy conservation. However, in an article posted July, 2007 in fastcompany.com, Ellen McGirt explains (p. 1) of the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee:

In addition to the steady flow of six-figure speaking gigs, he has become an insider at two of the hottest companies on the planet: at Google, where he signed on as an adviser in 2001, pre-IPO (and received stock options now reportedly worth north of $30 million), and at Apple, where he joined the board in 2003 (and got stock options now valued at about $6 million). He enjoyed a big payday as vice chairman of an investment firm in L.A., and, more recently, started a cable-television company and an asset-management firm, both of which are becoming quiet forces in their fields.

That's right: the man who had the judgement to support Gulf War I and oppose Gulf War II got in early at Google, became involved at Apple, and started a cable television company. And criticism of his vision that energy conservation was a growing business would logically come only from hard-core Repub partisans, distraught that alternative energy might cut into the profits of the oil industry.