<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Dear *    *, Gee, I actually got an e-mail from the *         *. *    *, I've seen Albert Gore maybe two or three times in person.  I may have even shook hands with him some years ago.  So if you ever want to shake hands with a hand that may have shaken Al Gore's hand let me know.  I'm sure it would be a big thrill for you! Now getting down to serious business.  Vice President Gore is from Tennessee and he is a cousin of Gore Vidal one of my favorite writers.  Cousin Gore Vidal describes Albert Gore as a typical bozo Southern politician or something like that; you could drop Gore Vidal a note in Italy or New York for a clarification. That's where he spends most of his time rather than down on the old plantation in Tennessee. I've never been in Tennessee and I don't think anyone in my family has set foot in Tennessee since the Civil War.  So, I've been thinking it's time to let bygones be bygones and make a trip down to Tennessee and see what the place looks like.  That way I might be able to get a handle on the character of Albert Gore.  You never know I might run into an olde pal of his and get some real insight.  Of course since Gore and I are about the same age quite a few of his old pals are probably dead, so they won't be too much help. I was unhappy with Albert Gore's role in the NAFTA treaty.  I wrote to Gore and let him know that I thought he was being a hypocrite in backing NAFTA which is an open sewer treaty.  It galled me that a guy who had written and talked about the environment and conservation would come out and support a toxic mess like the NAFTA treaty. I wasn't too impressed with Albert Gore's recent comments about former Senator Bradley who is a slick big business Ivy League basketball type.  Gore said that Bradley is left of center and out of the mainstream of the Democrat party because he supports some wishy-washy form of universal health care.  It's not like we don't have somewhere between 40 and 50 million Americans who don't have any health insurance, if you know what I mean Vern. Now we can look at the really dismal side of things, the Republican candidates and their assorted kook spin-offs.  I mean George Junior "death wish" Bush. What a humanitarian, got a problem, kill it!  Hey, but he speaks Spanish. Wunderbar!  Then there's Pat "wave the Confederate Flag" Buchanan, this guy takes things to a new level of absurdity.  Of course he may only be saying what a lot of people are thinking.  In his case thinking can be dangerous. I'm presently waiting for former Senator Gore to send me my train tickets for the Chattanooga choo-choo, so I can meet him on the verandah for mint juleps, and we can discuss my views on the future course of the nation. Your humble servant, TL    </html>