Peeps Gets Perky over Possibility; Party Fun Too

We have been screwed. Al Gore, the man who
should have been elected president — oh, excuse me: the man who was
elected president — is not only intelligent, witty, and articulate.
He is also a good guy.

Listening to him speak on Friday night at the Arlington — the
day after he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and the day
science finally came out and got behind what he’s been preaching
about for years with his “Inconvenient Truth” slideshow — was so
incredible; I had goosebumps the entire time.
Sitting in my chair, cheering, clapping, I felt so lucky to be in
the presence of such greatness.

But, every so often, I just felt sick.
Sickened. Because this man should be our president. And imagining
what a different country this would be if he was is truly almost
too much to bear. So clearly, I’m bitter. And, while I’m okay with
that, what’s even more incredible is that bitter is one
thing Al Gore is not
. He’s focused on his cause, and he’s
found a way to make an impact. And even when he’s talking about
what we’ve done to our poor, beautiful planet — an issue he knows
backwards, forwards, and inside out — he’s hopeful,
positive, and optimistic
.

(Red carpet photos by J’Amy Brown; party photos
by Shannon Kelley Gould)

When he was talking about the sorry state of politics in
America, where fundraising trumps even showing up to vote on
whether or not to go to war, he urged us to be hopeful. “We
can be the next greatest generation,” he said
— and while
he made the point that we don’t need direction to come down from on
high in order to do that, it was hard not to think how much easier
it would be with someone like him at the helm.

Presenting the festival’s David Attenborough Award for
Excellence in Nature Filmmaking
, director James Cameron said
what we all were thinking. “Mr. Gore, I beseech you, for the sake
of our children, to run for President.”

I, for one, am keeping my fingers crossed.

And oh yeah, the party — which was located at the Anacota Plaza
inside what’s being developed into a mega-club — was fantastic,
too.

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