The lakes and rivers sustain us; they flow through the veins of the earth and into our own. But we must take care to let them flow back out as pure as they came, not poison and waste them without thought for the future.
--Al Gore in "Earth in the Balance"

What amazes me most about Bill Clinton and Al Gore is their ability to accuse others of what they do -- and get away with it.

Many of you, out there, are going to blame the media. It's just too easy. There's more to it than that. Even when the media expose these guys, it just doesn't stick.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about.

Who is Al Gore? Most people, even those who don't like him, would probably describe him as a strong advocate for the environment. Right? But how do we reconcile that rhetoric with the fact that Al Gore is one of the biggest polluters in the state of Tennessee? Are words more important than deeds? Should we watch what politicians say, not what they do?

I'm not breaking any news here. Gore's record as an industrial polluter in Tennessee has been well-documented -- not by WorldNetDaily, but by the Wall Street Journal and others.

Here are the facts: Every year, Al Gore lists on his tax return income of $20,000 in royalties for the extraction of zinc from beneath his family farm in Carthage, Tenn. After his vice presidential salary and the royalties from "Earth in the Balance," this is the biggest source of income for the Gores. Gore has earned $500,000 from the zinc mine operation on his property.

And guess where the tailings from that mining operation end up?

That's right. In the Caney Fork River and then into the Cumberland.

Last May, even the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued a notice of violation against the operation, informing the company that runs the mine and pays Gore his $20,000 a year that it had infringed the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act due to high levels of zinc in the river.

The zinc levels exceeded standards established by the state and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. And this wasn't the first offense. In 1996, the year Gore was running for re-election as vice president, the mine twice failed monitoring tests designed to protect water quality.

But that's not even the biggest outrage. How Gore got his property and the lease on that zinc mine is an even bigger scandal.

Besides touting himself as "Mr. Environment," Gore is also fond of attacking the oil companies. Guess who handed Gore the sweetheart deal for the farm and the mine? You guessed it. Occidental Petroleum's Armand Hammer, not only an oil baron, but one who used a good part of his clout and fortune to fund the Communist Party USA and to curry favor with Communist leaders in the old Soviet Union. He was also convicted of providing hush money in the Watergate scandal.

Hammer bought the property in 1972 for $160,000. A year later, he sold it to Al Gore Sr. for the same price, plus the $20,000 mineral royalty. Do the math. That deal was almost as sweet as Hillary Clinton's cattle futures investment. Gore Sr. got a nice six-figure no-show job with Occidental after he lost his Senate seat. Some saw it as a payoff for the protection Gore gave Hammer, whose activities were under scrutiny from the FBI for years.

Hammer has been there throughout both Gores' careers -- especially whenever they needed campaign cash.

So, Gore's an environmentalist who pollutes the river in his own hometown. And he's the scourge of Big Oil who made his political career currying favor to a subversive oil baron.

But he gets away with it. How? It's too easy to blame the media. These stories are out there for anyone to read. It's as if Gore has that Clintonesque "Svengali effect" on the American people. It's magic. Or, maybe it's just ineptitude on the part of those opposing him.

I mean, let's face it. This isn't even a close call. Al Gore gives hypocrisy a bad name. Was P.T. Barnum right? Could the American people be this stupid?