Al Gore III And His Prius

My goodness:

AP - (LAGUNA NIGUEL, California) — Al Gore's son was pulled over for speeding on a California freeway early Wednesday and arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs, authorities said.

Al Gore III, 24, was driving a blue Toyota Prius about 100 mph south on the San Diego Freeway when he was pulled over by sheriff's deputies who said they smelled marijuana, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

The deputies searched the car and found less than an ounce of marijuana along with Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall, which is used for attention deficit disorder, Amormino said.

"He does not have a prescription for any of those drugs," Amormino said.

Gore was being held in the men's central jail in Santa Ana on $20,000 bail.

Yes, we have heard this before - this is from Dec 21, 2003:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The son of former Vice President Al Gore was arrested Friday night on a marijuana possession charge after police stopped the car he was driving for not having its headlights on, according to a news release from the Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Police Services.

Albert Gore III, 21, was behind the wheel of a Cadillac driving in downtown Bethesda at 11:30 p.m. EST Friday when it was spotted by a unit with the Montgomery County Police Holiday Task Force, the statement said.

After he pulled the car over, Officer Robert Cassels noticed all of its windows and the sunroof were opened despite the freezing temperature, and he "smelled the odor of marijuana coming from inside the car," the statement said.

A search of the car found "a partial marijuana cigarette" and "a cardboard cigarette box with a baggie containing suspected marijuana," the police statement said.

In addition to Gore, police charged two male passengers in the car with a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. The three were released from jail, pending trial.

Gore, a Harvard University student, has had previous brushes with the law. He was ticketed for reckless driving by North Carolina police in August 2000 when he was clocked going 94 mph. Military police arrested him for drunk driving near a military base in Virginia in September 2002.

Well, I feel bad for the young man and his family, of course - Al III ought to feel a special obligation not to get himself killed in a car accident.

Comments

[gmax]

You think after the embarassing revelation of his electric and natural gas piggishness at his Nashville home, that he went out and made his offspring drive much more politically correct cars? A Prius will almost certainly be a hybrid vehicle. Note the 2003 incident involved a Cadillac, thus not likely to be anything other than a land barge. Now then could he find the cash for a Betty Ford outing for his drug addled name sake?

[Rick Ballard]

He was doing a quick recharge of the battery in the Prius in order to reduce his carbon footprint.

Really.

Honest.

[PeterUK.]

The young man has mitigating circumstances,it can't be easy being the son of a Messiah.

[clarice]

I blame St Albans and the Wa Po. As a kid he was caught smoking pot in the Bishop's Garden and in his wisdom the headmaster absolved him--teaching all the kids how valuable family connections are, and the WaPo buried the story so only people who lived in NW Washington in a certain economic set knew about it.

(The kids made it so miserable for him, he eventually went elsewhere.)

[centralcal]

Uh ... I would say that smoking pot is only a small part of his problems, judging by the other drugs found in the car.

[Poppy]

I don't feel bad for him, he's had a ton of chances, same as I don't feel bad for paris Hilton. I do feel bad for the four year old child, the Mother, the college student, the retiree they are going to kill someday.

[RalphL]

Was it the kids? One article I read in ~2000 said there was a difference of opinion with the school admin., implying they were too tough on Gore, so they sent him to Sidwell Friends (which I remember as more ethnically diverse).

I wonder if his childhood accident did a little permanent brain damage and got him hooked on painkillers, or was it just the accident of birth, as Peter says.

I thought pot made you drive slower than normal--not that I would know.

[RalphL]

If he hit a dog in a Prius, the Prius would lose.

[clarice]

It was the headmaster and the parents were furious about the lesson he gave their kids.

[PeterUK.]

"(The kids made it so miserable for him, he eventually went elsewhere.)"

Saint Elsewhere?

[DubiousD]

Didn't I read somewhere once that hybird cars are more dangerous when they crash because they put would-be rescuers at risk of electrocution?

[RalphL]

I wonder if that reporter was complicit in the deception, or just swallowed the campaign's line. It wasn't explicit, but the implication was the school had been too tough on him, in the Gore's opinion.

Boys that age are really cruel. Werner Von Braun's son (in my class) had the nickname Von Bomb, and another boy, caught wanking freshman year at football camp, was called "Springboard", loudly and often for 4 years.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Sorry for cross posting this, but I did not see this thread until after I hit send.

Al Gore’s Son Busted On Drug Charges In O.C.

(CBS) CHICAGO Al Gore’s son was in jail on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after he was pulled over for allegedly driving a hybrid vehicle 100 mph on an Orange County freeway, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Al Gore III, 24, of Los Angeles, was allegedly driving a blue Toyota Prius on the southbound San Diego (5) Freeway about 100 mph about 2:15 a.m. when a sheriff’s deputy stopped him at the Crown Valley Parkway exit, said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

The deputy allegedly smelled marijuana and a search of the vehicle turned up less than an ounce of suspected pot, along with prescription drugs including Valium, Xanax, Vicodin and Adderall, which is used to treat attention deficit disorder, Amormino said.

Gore was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and booked into the Inmate Reception Center in Santa Ana on $20,000 bail.

The Prius was towed away and stored.

He was charged with marijuana possession in Maryland in 2003 after police stopped the car he was driving for not having its headlights on. In February 2004 he entered a substance abuse program as part of a plea agreement.

Gore was ticketed for reckless driving by North Carolina police in August 2000 for allegedly driving 94 mph, and in September 2002, military police arrested him on suspicion of drunk driving near a military base in Virginia…

In April 1989, he nearly died in a car accident in Maryland.

Less than an ounce of pot is a ticket not arrest in California, but driving under the influence at 100 miles per hour on I-5 south of Laguna puts me and everyone else who drives that section at risk. Having all those prescription drugs without a prescription is serious. He is a multiple offender and needs a real wake up call. Too bad it didn't happen in Indiana. He'd be doing a year with at least 2 more years of home detention or work release.

My doctor put me on Xanax one time and I took it for less than a week because I could not function and I sure couldn't drive. I was like a zombie. Add valium and vicodin and you would be one hopped up guy. I'm surprised with all those depressants he even had a pulse.

[Jane]

I'm cross posting my reply to you Sara. It sounds like Al Gore the third has a death wish.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Well Jane, with his father who wouldn't? But I don't have a death wish nor does my son and we both drive that same section of I-5 all the time. I almost never want to see someone go to jail, child molesters and domestic abusers the exception. My other exception is drunk drivers. I despise drunks and those so irresponsible that get behind the wheel of a lethal weapon and threaten the rest of us.

[Jane]

I often want to see people go to jail, and then I feel sorry for them. I'm very weird that way.

[RalphL]

Is he likely to get jail time in the O.C?
Or is it just Rehab?

[Other Tom]

Give him at least as much slams time as P. Hilton. I'd love to see him experience men's central in L.A., which is definitely not for the faint of heart. But I guess he'll go to court somewhere in Orange County, and to jail there too if it comes to that.

[topsecretk9]

Al Gore's son comment at Ace

--5 I hope Bush pardons him just to piss off the libs.--

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Independence Day honors the birthday of the United States of America and the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It’s a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night of concerts and fireworks, and a reason to fly the American flag. It is a celebration of our proclamation for freedom, the actual achievement of which took raising an army of 217,000 and seven long years of hard fighting and war, resulting in 4,435 dead and another 6,188 wounded, in a fledgling country of approximately 3 million people in the 13 colonies.

Let Freedom Ring. Happy Independence Day.

I'm off to the pool and some great BBQ.

[Poppy]

That's one side of the story Sara,
of course we know it was rich white men who came here to enslave the indigeous peace loving people and find a place where they could enslave black people away from the civilized world.

Let's face it, Paul Revere lied, the British weren't coming; the Minutemen were terrorists; Washington was a despot that
defied habeas corpus and sent spies out among the people.

They did all that not for freedom, but for tobacco, so they could kill kids!

No BBQ for me until the GITMO 417 are freed!!

[PeterUK.]

"Al Gore III, 24, of Los Angeles, was allegedly driving a blue Toyota Prius on the southbound San Diego (5) Freeway about 100 mph about 2:15 a.m."

Isn't it obvious? This is marketing ploy,some advertising agency has come up with this to get the Prius to appeal to the youth market.

"Hey! You can be seen dead in a Prius!"

[continuum]

The Republicans still don't get it.

Most Americans can relate to having a child who has done drugs. Maybe, not their own, but they certainly know someone.

If the Gore kid goes to jail even better.

It will reinforce the Democrat's slogan that Bush gives Libby "rich man justice" while the Dems are with the real Americans.

I wouldn't put it past the Dems to have purposely arranged for the arrest in order to contrast more completely with the Libby commutation.

So, the neocon Republicans mock out Gore and his misfortune now, but ignore the 2008 election coming at them like a freight train.

[PeterUK.]

"It will reinforce the Democrat's slogan that Bush gives Libby "rich man justice" while the Dems are with the real Americans."

Whilst Democrats usually specialise in drink driving,stunt driving off bridges and into police cars,doing 100mph whilst whacked out his isn't going to endear him to to the accident victim vote.
As thet say "Speed kills".Both kinds.

[Cecil Turner]

"Al Gore III"? Don't need to hear any more. Poor bastard (er, actually not, he's the spittin' image of dad). There's no punishment society can inflict on this kid that's gonna make any difference at all, and he's dealing with enough issues that a little drug use--recreational or not--is clearly warranted. Can't have him driving, though. Get the kid a chauffeur.

[continuum]

Hey PeterUK, thanks for highlighting my quote. The double posting makes even more certain that "Bush gives Libby rich man justice" will be seen.

BTW - Seeing that it's the 4th of July, when we celebrate American independence from King George, you might want to know that in the US we say "drunk driving".

But, at least you Brits did get rid of Bush's poodle.

And, Harry has enough guts to do actual combat service. Contrast that with American royalty.

[RalphL]

Conti, I'm sure the Kennedy's would enlist if they weren't all gay.

[michael]

Nice touch having a Prius. Once he gets going on the marijuana though he gets things out of sequence and thinks he's not supposed to exhale. That way he can reduce his carbon footprint (er mouthprint). Only makes it worse.

[Pofarmer]

Shucks, who ever guessed a Prius would do 100 MPH? I'm impressed.

[Pofarmer]

And, conti.

If you check out congress members who have family members serving in the armed services, you'll find their enlistment rate is over double the general populations. But don't let that stop you.

[Pofarmer]

And, conti.

If you check out congress members who have family members serving in the armed services, you'll find their enlistment rate is over double the general populations. But don't let that stop you.

Hmmm, I just realized that both my Governor and my Senators son have done tours in Iraq. How's that for Royalty?

[Pofarmer]

And, conti.

If you check out congress members who have family members serving in the armed services, you'll find their enlistment rate is over double the general populations. But don't let that stop you.

Hmmm, I just realized that both my Governor and my Senators son have done tours in Iraq. How's that for Royalty?

[Jane]

Shucks, who ever guessed a Prius would do 100 MPH? I'm impressed.

That was my thought too. Perhaps papa can turn the whole incident into an ad campaign.

[clarice]

Your wqord is Scott Ott's command, Jane:
Scrappleface:"2007-07-05) — Al Gore, the concert organizer and former U.S. vice president, today defended his son, Al III, after the younger Gore’s arrest for speeding and drug possession, applauding his use of the hybrid Toyota Prius to offset the carbon emissions of his smoking marijuana.

“Even at 100 miles per hour,” said the elder Mr. Gore, “the Prius produces less deadly greenhouse gas than a Lincoln Navigator or a Hummer. While I don’t condone getting caught with marijuana, I would venture to say that my boy’s total carbon footprint is still substantially smaller than the median for his socioeconomic and age brackets.”

The former presidential candidate, still considered a possible contender for the 2008 Democrat nomination, is about to take center stage at the global LIVE EARTH concerts this weekend.

Mr. Gore helped organize LIVE EARTH to dramatize the plight of the planet by having hundreds of thousands of people burn millions of gallons of carbon-based fuel to travel to eight locations worldwide where they’ll communally exhale billions of cubic yards of carbon dioxide, generate hundreds of tons of human and artificial waste and expend untold kilowatt hours of electricity.

“People don’t realize how bad they are for the planet,” he said. “But when we’re all together at these concert locations, it will paint a picture of horrifying waste and environmental devastation. We’re hoping people will see it, wake up and say, ‘We have to stop doing this!’.”

[Jane]

Hmmm I responded to this - where did my post go?

What I said was Ott is great, as always.

[Davod]

I cannot understand why everyone is being critical of Al Gore III. After all, last time he was arrested he was driving without his lights on. This time there is no mention of lights. He is improving.

[Sue]

The young man has mitigating circumstances,it can't be easy being the son of a Messiah.

I was going to make a similar comment, but yours says it better than I would have. I actually feel sorry for him.

[PeterUK.]

"Hey PeterUK, thanks for highlighting my quote. The double posting makes even more certain that "Bush gives Libby rich man justice" will be seen."

Al Gore,Al Gore's dad is a multi-millionaire,Al has "Rich Man" oozing out of every pore.Shit kid,you're a socialist haven't you recognised the class enemy yet?
You really have to do something about this "false consciousness" problem of your's.

[PeterUK.]

"BTW - Seeing that it's the 4th of July, when we celebrate American independence from King George, you might want to know that in the US we say "drunk driving"."

See,we bequeath you a perfectly good language and look what you do with it.Though your ancestors were probably still grubbing about in a European field in 1776.

[maryrose]

PeterUk:
My ancestors definitely were in 1776. One in Ireland and the other 2 Yugoslavia.

[battery]

Both have to rally enough voters to overcome deep wells of prejudice in this society.