Al Gore's ritualistic political suicide with his speech last week to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco continues to draw fire. Former Secretary of Education, Bill Bennett wrote an excellent article on Gore's speech over at OpinionJournal.com.

As a U.S. senator, Mr. Gore backed the resolution to go to war with Iraq in 1991, and he later chastised President George H. W. Bush for leaving Saddam Hussein in power. As vice president in 1998, Al Gore supported--and President Bill Clinton signed--the Iraq Liberation Act, calling for the removal of Hussein. As a candidate for president in 2000, Mr. Gore said, "We have made it clear that it is our policy to see Saddam Hussein gone." He then concluded his remarks on Iraq with this bold statement: "And if entrusted with the presidency, my resolve will never waver."

Bennett isn't the first person to point out that Gore is a candidate in search of a message. It's not about what Al Gore stands for, it's about what Al Gore thinks 271 members of the electoral college stand for.

For a long time, Gore was considered a "new Democrat," one who had moved closer to the political center. Who, in the past week, has echoed some of Gore's specious arguments?

The ultra-liberal Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.):

...the administration has not made a convincing case that we face such an imminent threat to our national security that a unilateral, preemptive American strike and an immediate war are necessary.

Of course, all of this, and the arguments that Saddam is still "years away" from producing a nuclear weapon.

However, with reports like this, it is probably easier to keep the American people safe by getting rid of Saddam than it would be to hope that someone stops the right taxi cab.