Is winning an Oscar the best revenge?

OK, before you e-mail to complain: Sure, I know Al Gore himself didn't receive the Best Documentary prize. But there's no denying that he's a bona fide star now, basking in a comfy-cozy post-Oscar glow while repeatedly stroked by many of the same folks who once mocked him. But Joe Conason doubts that Gore is taking too much of the make-nice talk to heart. Indeed, Conason thinks he knows why, despite all the great reviews from former critics, the former Vice President won't be launching another Presidential campaign:

"The answer may be found, of all places, in the Note, that snarky weblog on the ABC News site, which often betrays the true emotions roiling the minds of mainstream journalists. Said the Note, in explaining the recent spate of positive coverage of the old press nemesis: 'Basically, the political press wants to tempt Al Gore into the race, and then they will destroy him as a flip-flopping, exaggerating, stiff loser. And Gore knows this.'

"Sad, small, pitiful and quite probably true. "

Unfortunately. Tragically.