Is it really not the messenger's fault if he doesn't agree with or follow the message he is promoting?

Question

This is in regards to Al Gore and all his "inconvenient truths"...

I asked a question about how people felt about Al's call for more energy conservation from Americans and yet he uses 20 times more energy in his one home in one month than the average family uses in a whole year.

and one response I got was basically saying "It's the message not the messenger." I have looked at other questions and I see same response. "message not the messenger"

Now that does not make sense to me... When that Haggard guy was caught having a homosexual affair with a man people went ape over the fact that he was a hypocrite, and time and again his name is splashed across yahoo answers to show how hypocritical the right wingers are.

And yet here is a man who "lives a carbon neutral lifestyle, is Eco friendly and studies the environment" and yet he uses more energy than most people in the country, he rides around in a limo and has a personal jet.

When is it time to admit he is a Hypocrite?

http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=367 - just so you know I am not makeing up numbers.

My mistake I hit a the 0 makeing it look like 20 times the energy in one month, Sorry.

But if you look at the amount used in natural gas 1800 in one month for a guest house... The hotel I work at has over 200 rooms and we only average 5000 a month in natural gas...

I have no idea who Joh and Ken are... I Just read a lot of news papers and on the web durring my down time.

And yes there are hypocrites an both sides of every argument, without question.

Come on there has to be more than one person who is willing to stand up for Al Gore! come on! I am right here! hit me with your argument, I really do want to hear it!

Does anyone on the left or hell even a eco-concious Repub, have anything to say? Some one please justify Al Gore's actions for me!

The silence speaks volumes...

Answer 1

Thanks for the link. It is an interesting article.

Liberals in general want other people to do the stuff they talk about. They don't want to do it themselves. Liberals want the government to be generous to the poor. I was shocked to find that Walter Mondale, the soul of compassion, gave a lower proportion of his income to charity than I, the soul of mean-spirited Bible-thumping Republicanism did. Same idea.

They want immigrants to work in their gardens and clean their houses, but they want working-class Americans to give up their jobs for the immigrants, not themselves. Same idea.

They love to preach about what everybody else should be doing, but not do it themselves. Okay, I admit it: Al Gore is a hypocrite. He could at least do without the gas lights lining his driveway. Cars have headlights. Why does he have to pollute the night sky with decorative lighting? If he's going to be the spokesperson for the need for green living, he ought to be held to a higher standard.

Answer 2

I believe you are not making up the numbers, but I believe the numbers are wrong.
First, I read that it was as much energy in a month than the average home in a year. That is a factor of 20 smaller than the number you are quoting.
Second, because he and his wife use this as a workplace as well as a home, I'm willing to say that this improves his "behavior" by a factor of 2.
Third, the energy he uses is green: he has solar panels all over his house and is looking into being able to guy from a "green" electric company.
Fourth, he drives a hybrid car.
This of course is not EVERYTHING POSSIBLE, but we are all hypocrits in some ways, and it doesn't mean we don't have a message worth listening to. Bush says we need more troops in Iraq, but I don't see him sending his daughters, or advocating a draft so that the tired, undertrained, under-provisioned troops already on their third tours can come home.

The global warming message is truth, and you are welcome to not like the messenger.

Answer 3

I don't think anyone is totally innocent. He could choose to cut back even more. However the problem is that his message isn't complete. Energy conservation isn't enough. Being "neutral" isn't good enough. Being less bad isn't good enough. We need to be promoting the entire picture and aiming for sustainability.

Answer 4

He is a hypocrite. He thinks he is part of the privileged elite that don't have to go by the same standards that he is telling the rest of us to do.

There is no justification for what Al does!

Answer 5

i guess you listen to Jon and Ken.
I agree if he is telling everyone to use less energy he should be the 1st one to do it. I totally agree with you , he is a huge hypocrite !
arnold converted his hummer when he started talking about using less energy, good for him !

Answer 6

'Do as I say, not as I do' is a political staple...on BOTH sides. I'll admit it.