When One Is Saving the World, the Rules Do Not Apply

As regular Open Market readers will know, we’ve been skeptical of former Vice President Al Gore’s climate crusade for some time. The news right now (via the Drudge Report) is that his planned testimony for tomorrow before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has broken all records for demanding special treatment, and even when it was granted, has gone on to break committe rules for public hearings.

From the EPW blog:

Gore first demanded to be granted an unprecedented 30 minute opening statement to the Senate EPW Committee for Wednesday’s (March 21) global warming hearing scheduled for 2:30 pm ET.

The GOP minority on the EPW committee agreed to the 30 minute opening statement.

But then Gore demanded a waiver of the EPW committee’s 48 hour rule that requires all witnesses before EPW to submit their testimony in advance. The GOP minority on the EPW committee then agreed to waive the 48 hour rule in favor of allowing Gore to submit his testimony 24 hours before the hearing.

But in a breaking news development on Capitol Hill — the former Vice President has violated the new 24 hour deadline extension by failing to submit his testimony — even with the new time extension granted to Gore.

As of 8pm ET Tuesday evening, the testimony still has not been received by EPW, a clear violation of committee rules.

One wonders what Mr. Gore is afraid of – informed questioning in response to his unprecedented half-hour long rant? Historically, everyone else – from the CEOs of the largest corporations in the country to humble citizens giving their two cents worth – has managed to accomodate themselves to the committee’s rules. Is there now one law for former Veeps on a mission and another for the rest of us?