WOW, lots of lefty email about the Al Gore story, charging lies, “swiftboating,” and smears. Hmm. Is the story a lie? Well, there’s this:

Kalee Kreider, a spokesperson for the Gores, did not dispute the Center’s figures, taken as they were from public records.

“Swiftboating” seems to mean the disclosure of truths that are, er, inconvenient for Democrats. Likewise “smears.” And, actually, in lefty blogland parlance these days, “lies” pretty much come out the same way. All definitions are permitted the definer, so long as they are clear, but don’t expect me to be impressed with this batch.

UPDATE: But he’s got Richard Cohen.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Bill Hobbs notes that the “smears” seem to be flowing the other way. That’s not unusual.

Plus, perspective from Les Jones: “Our electric and water bill was $79.68 and our natural gas bill was $75.72. Gore is using roughly 2000% of the energy of our family of four in a house that’s roughly 600% bigger, so basically three times as much energy even after adjusting for square footage. Does he have a 24 hour disco or something?”

MORE: This WSJ item says that the figures from TCPR overstated Gore’s energy consumption somewhat, though the difference isn’t huge. He’s still using a lot.