I hear a voice in the distance, whispering to me. It's fairly distant but sweet, and full of visions of peace and traniqulity and things put back to where it's supposed to be and karma restored and balance being restored to the force and it sounds like this: Al Gore in 2008.

Turned on SNL last night and like a lot of people, I watched his opening bit and was, well, struck. More so than the Colbert bit. You know how in all those sci-fi tv shows there's an episode where somebody from the future goes into the past and changes everything to make things worse for everyone because they're evil? That's what the past six years have been like. We need somebody from the future, a James T. Kirk figure if you will, to come and make things right.

Or, it's more like this. You know how sometimes in the middle of the night, when it's you and your psyche, and you wake up with the cold sweats dreaming of visions of What Could Have Been and What Should Be? You know, when you realize that if you just did this instead of that, you're life would be totally different and better and maybe in truth, it wouldn't be and the grass is always greener but still? That's Al, right now. The one who got away.

And if Al were to run again? Well, how many times do you get to correct the biggest regret of all?

That's what this country needs to do, to just fall prostrate in front of his Al-ness and beg forgiveness.

Only, until then, maybe, will this darkness pass.