Free Republic

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 9) - Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.Gore criticized the Bush administration's slow response to Katrina in a speech Friday in San Francisco, but refused to be interviewed about the mercy missions he financed and flew on Sept. 3 and 4. However, Dr. Anderson Spickard, who is Gore's personal physician and accompanied him on the flights, said: "Gore told me he wanted to do this because like all of us he...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Vice President Al Gore accused the Bush administration Sunday of using the war on terrorism "to consolidate its power and escape any accountability for its use."</p> <p>Gore said that though the threat of terrorism and the potential use of weapons of mass destruction required speedy action by the executive branch, "President Bush has stretched this new practical imperative way beyond what is healthy for our democracy."</p>

For California Republicans, whose fortunes are lower now than at any time since 1958, there is the best of news and the worst of news.The best of news is that eight years after 1958 Ronald Reagan swept the governor’s race, carrying virtually every constitutional office. The worst of news is that eight years is also the period between the election of the last Whig president and the demise of the Whig party. Both cases are important for Republicans to understand as they contemplate their party’s future.Reagan often urged Republicans to "paint our positions in bold colors, and not pale pastels."...

COUNTING EVERY READER Al Gore is said by associates to be surprised that his newest books on family aren't selling well. The pair of books co-written with wife Tipper Gore (one of them is a coffee-table book intended to serve as companion to the "heavier" tome) are apparently headed toward the remainder bin as bookstores move more popular and potential Christmas gift fare into the line of sight of customers. "We aren't selling any," says a sales associate for Borders Books in Bethesda, Maryland. "And we thought given that this is kind of a political book and that it's by...