Back in October I posted an "Al Gore in-or-out Poll" diary in which Meteor Blades made a bet that Al wouldn't run.

I guess it is (long past) time to pay off that wager.

If Meteor Blades can let us know where he would like the $25.00 donations sent, we can put this whole affair behind us. :-)

There's good news in the blog-o-sphere!

A member of the House of Representatives has engaged us to ask for ideas regarding the Executive branch's abuse of our fourth amendment rights.

In the spirit of the great respect Rep. Harman has shown in opening a dialog with us, here are what I hope are good ideas for dealing with these complex issues.

(Disclaimer: I am not posting this diary as a way to pander for work. I have a reasonably well-paying job and am not at present looking for a new one. It is true I fantasize of making my living working in an organization working for progressive causes instead of my current IT work for a manufacturing company, but that is not my sole purpose here)

Is there a need for a job search/posting network for progressive organizations? Sites like Monster and Career Builder have sections for nonprofit and social services but there isn't, to my knowledge, a dedicated network for fitting people who aspire to work in progressive circles to such organizations seeking employees.

A few points and a request for information and ideas after the jump:

This is a repost of a diary I wrote 15 months ago. If that is frowned upon at DKos, I will delete it. I just felt I should try one more time. - RKS

Dear Mr. Gore,

We've never met. I'm nobody you'd notice on the street. I can't say there's any reason why you should give me the time of day. It so happens that I didn't vote for you in 2000. I'm sorry to admit I didn't vote at all that year. I can't give you any good excuse why not. Not after all that has happened the last few years. At the time I was just too apathetic, and New Jersey was a safe Democratic state. So I didn't vote for you.

Then the unthinkable. I wouldn't let myself believe it at the time. This is America, after all. On inauguration day of 2001 I was quite literally sick over what I was seeing. "This is terrible," I thought.

God help me, I didn't know the half of it.

Some years ago I was watching the first installment of the series "Evolution" on PBS. Toward the end; with the voice-over discussing the dawn of communication through language, was a montage of hominid skulls and cave paintings. Among them was the red imprint of a human hand on the rocky wall of a cave. The fragile ochre outline of a fleeting human life impressed upon the hard, enduring rock. Time seemed to slow down as I looked transfixed at that simple contour of a hand belonging to someone I would never know anything else about. Was the artist old or young? Man or woman? King or slave? Did they sing songs to their child? Did they hate their enemies? Did they even suspect that their works would endure for future eyes to see?

I was gripped by that hand on the stone.

I realized that the hand on the stone was a symbol for the common human desire to be noticed while here, to be missed when gone. It is a mark made by a momentary creature swimming in a sea of space and time on an abiding, indifferent universe.

I know Gore fatigue must be setting in by now. But I hope you'll indulge one more. From me, anyway. For now.

I don't know the thoughts in Mr. Gore's mind. I really don't know if he is thinking of running or not. One thing I am fairly sure of is that Al Gore is a fairly bright and articulate individual. If he wanted to say something straightforwardly, he could.

Even better: once upon a time, he did:

Maybe Al Gore won't run. Maybe he will. Recent chatter on the internet suggests he's wanted.

Of course, "some people say"™ that Al Gore is too late. Maybe some people are right.

But don't count on it. How long before Election Day did our recent Presidents jump into the fray?

There's rumors on the internets that Al Gore may be looking for that certain something to tip him over the fence he may or may not be sitting on.

So let's take a very simple roll-call of Kossacks.

There are only two choices on the poll: "In" or "Out". This is not a poll about what Al Gore may be thinking, or whether you think Gore is going to run. It is not your endorsement of Gore over another Democratic candidate. It is strictly a question of whether you want Al Gore to run.

Please rec, and more importantly please VOTE!

I know my title is paradoxical, but that's kind of the point. To tell you the truth, I'm starting to get a blind spot for

BREAKING!!!

showing up on at least two or three diary titles at any given time. Just because it is something important or interesting does not mean it is

BREAKING!!! ZOMG!!!

I promise, if you think about it a little bit you can come up with a descriptive and eye catching tile. Look at mine!

The front page story Kos just put up got me thinking.

More of my reading in the last few years is on the internet rather than printed material, and I have stopped renewing some of my subscriptions lately. I'm sure some part of declining magazine circulations is due to this phenomenon. But there are some magazines I still subscribe to...

We've never met. I'm nobody you'd notice on the street. I can't say there's any reason why you should give me the time of day. It so happens that I didn't vote for you in 2000. I'm sorry to admit I didn't vote at all that year. I can't give you any good excuse why not. Not after all that has happened the last few years. At the time I was just too apathetic, and New Jersey was a safe Democratic state. So I didn't vote for you.

Then the unthinkable. I wouldn't let myself believe it at the time. This is America, after all. On inauguration day of 2001 I was quite literally sick over what I was seeing. "This is terrible," I thought.

God help me, I didn't know the half of it.

"I have loyalties that are greater than those to my party."
    -Joe Lieberman

So, where should a Democratic candidate's loyalties be in the context of a party primary, Joe?

Don't answer that. Rhetorical question.

But I'm glad you said that anyway. It made me think a little bit about loyalty, and how I should support those who have some.