The Gore Mansion Flap: Big, Fat Hairy Deal.

I am not a fan of Al Gore.

I think he is a pompous jackass and none to good of a campaigner since he was the second in command to popular president and somehow managed to not win the 2000 election handily.

That said, I do commend the former Vice President for his work on global warming. He has been a committed environmentalist forever and hopefully, his documentary, "An Inconvienent Truth" will get more people interested in try to less the impact of climate change.

Having said all this, I think the current tempest in a teapot about Gore's mansion and all those Hollywood liberals jumping into limos and living in large house is full of....well, this is a family blog so I will simply say it's a bunch of malarkey.

Why you say? Well, maybe playing to sterotype as a gay man, I like to watch HGTV, the home improvement channel. What I find interesting is how many people in our country want houses with large master bedrooms, master baths (with two sinks), large kitchens with the latest high-end appliances and media rooms. I remember on one show a single woman bought a 4300 sq foot home for herself and her dog.

Cleaning that house has to be sheer hell.

The point of the matter is this, I don't think that Gore should be castigated because he lives in a big house. If that's the case then we better start pointing fingers at all those people who live in "McMansions" in the suburbs or who are tearing down old houses in the cities to be replaced by the McMansion's urban counterpart.

Yes, Mr. Gore probably should be living in a smaller house. I mean, all of his kids are grown and how often does he live there? But the fact is, Gore could live in a some hovel or go all Messiah like and just live where he can and his critics would still make fun of him. Why? Because they don't believe in global warming.

The organization that is making a stink about Gore's house also has doubts on the who phenomenon of climate change. So, are they really raising a legitamate issue or are they just trying to prove their point that climate change isn't a major issue?

Second, Mr. Gore isn't the only person living in a house that is bigger than what he needs. Many Americans seem to think we need to have a large house to fit our lifestyles when we could do with a lot less. My partner and I are looking for a home. We are looking for a place that will fit his grand piano. We aren't looking for a 5000 sq. foot home, but a modest home between 1000 and 1500 square feet. That's more than enough for the two of us and our two cats. If we are going to start pointing fingers, we need to point them at more places than a liberal windbag.

Finally, there is this. Mr. Gore does deserve criticism for something related to climate change, but it isn't about living in a big house. The thing is, for eight years he had access to one of the world's most powerful people and for some odd reason, global warming didn't get much attention when Gore was in office. THAT to me is something people should be asking. But our friends in Tennessee wouldn't ask that question, because then it means that they would have to acknowledge global warming and then they would have to do something about it.

So, let's lay off Mr. Gore on the house, shall we? It's a big non-issue and we have bigger things to worry about.