There are a lot of reasons I can think of to dislike Al Gore, but Orlando Senitel columnist Charley Reese has the worst reason I’ve ever heard someone offer for being revolted by the Vice President.
I suppose I owe it to folks to explain why I don’t like Gore. Well, he annoys me. He tells lies. And some years ago when he was in Congress he sat like a lump while some rock star insulted in his wife. I wrote him off then. A man who won’t defend his wife’s honor has no business being a commander in chief. I thought at the time that if Frank Zappa (he was the rocker) had said about Bess Truman what he said about Tipper Gore, Harry Truman would have dived over that table and punched his lights out right there on live national television. Andy Jackson would simply have killed him, as he had killed other men who made the mistake of insulting his beloved Rachel.
Is Reese insane? The reason Zappa insulted Tipper, of course, was because Tipper was leading the fight at the time for labeling of records to which Zappa was vehemently opposed. If you’re going to act as a public figure, you’re going to get attacked by opponents who might have things to say that aren’t so nice.
Moreover, I’m not so sure that homicide is still an appropriate method for dealing with an insult (it is always better to outwit rather than overpower an opponent — not to mention much more satisfying).