Just when you thought the Goracle couldn't get any wackier,

"I ran into Al Gore at a climate/energy conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue -- recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.

"We are now treating the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources.

"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Gore said, "and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."

Note that he's not talking about a few people walking around with signs, he is actually saying that protestors should block the construction of energy sources that they disagree with.

Imagine the reaction if someone of similar stature in the Republican Party, like Dick Cheney or Dan Quayle, suggested that we use those same tactics to prevent any new abortion clinics to be constructed. It's safe to say it would make the front page of every newspaper in America and the words "fascist" and "nazi" would be zealously tossed around in the left side of the blogosphere as a result.

It's also particularly significant that Gore mentions coal plants, since coal is a major energy source in this country that is responsible for more than 1/5 of the energy consumed in this country.

Quite frankly, if building coal plants is unacceptable to you, then you can fairly be categorized as a radical, a luddite, and a fringe wacko who has scant regard for the real world impact of the environmental policies you're suggesting. To see a former Vice-President falling to that level is disheartening, even though it isn't particularly surprising in Gore's case.