An Open Letter to Al Gore

Dear Vice President Gore:

Heartfelt congratulations on a well-deserved award, and reward, for your efforts not merely on behalf of the environment, but all those who will clean up the mess we make for generations to come. Bravo!

As one who was honored, and delighted to be at Senator Barbara Boxer's rally yesterday in San Francisco, I express my personal gratitude for your inspired remarks on the need for a moral imperative, historical perspective, as well as to "reclaim our democracy" from those who have now succeeded in demonizing the process that has been, for centuries, synonymous with human rights, and equal representation under the law.

On the train ride home, I sat next to a gentleman who was also at the Barbara Boxer rally. We talked about politics, and whether you would throw your hat into the ring. I said that some things transcend politics, and world peace is among them. This is something that you have always known, and is now being acknowledged.

It turns out that my new friend, on the train, happens to be an Episcopal priest. We both agree that your devotion to global warming, and the threat to our survival as a planet, is how you have chosen to serve not merely a mystical godhead, but humankind.

Life isn't always fair. It isn't fair that you "lost" the election, in 2000, even though you won the popular vote. It isn't fair not only for you, but for the country, as well. But, justice was served today. It is judicious, and right, for you to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as you are one whose service will continue as long as you share the same air as the rest of us on the planet. We may rest assured, too, that the air will be a whole lot cleaner now as a result of all your hard work..

Thanks from me, and those as yet unable to form that word.