Political class reunion

If you ever had much doubt that Republicans and Democrats are just different branches of the Government Party, this story about AlGore visiting the White House might change your perception. Yes, it's traditional for U.S. Nobel winners to be invited to the White House. But Bush changed the date to accommodate Gore's schedule and then, according to Gore, the two earnestly discussed global warming for 40 minutes in private. The two look mildly uncomfortable -- it's the first time they've gotten together personally since 2000 -- and I have little doubt that at least some of their mutual animosity is genuine. But at the end of the day they're both members in good standing of the political class, the "appalling people who rule us," as my old friend Dick Cowan used to put it.