July 7, 2000

3:46 PM

"There is a nose that is getting longer every day but it doesn't belong to Gore."
I'm not here to defend Al Gore; I think working alongside Bill Clinton for eight years is enough to corrupt any human being to the very depths of his soul, and he's certainly not alone being glibly mis-characterized by the press (the aftermath of Dubbya's "failing the foreign leaders quiz" comes immediately to mind).
But so many web-heads, including MetaFilterers, (two recent examples) are so invested in perpetuating the myth that "Gore lied about inventing the Internet", it makes me wonder why. Maybe the "libertarian spirit" of the Web can't face the facts that without a hell of a lot of U.S. Government initiatives (oxymoron?) and intervention, many of which can be credited to this otherwise non-outstanding politician named Al, this incredibly powerful tool (and toy) of personal expression and individual freedom might - no, WOULD still be a closed system serving the Military Industrial Complex.
And yes, I have put on my kevlar underwear.
posted by wendell (3 comments total)

Thank you wendell. Not that Mr. Gore doesn't have a tenuous relationship with the truth sometimes--but I loathe seeing misinformation being spread by people who should know better. In fairness, the same should apply for the shrubster.

posted by feckless at 4:26 PM on July 7, 2000

What Gore said was different: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the internet". Gore was indeed in the forefront of legislative initiatives to create the internet.

How is that different from "I invented the Internet"? This is still laughable, and the soundbyting of it doesn't take his words out of context too much. He still claims to have taken the initiative in creating the Internet. Same thing. He was one of the first *.gov people to open his eyes to it. So? By the time the politicians started to notice, *.edu, *.mil and even *.org were already involved.

Al Gore was not The Father of the Internet; he wasn't even the midwife. Maybe he was around when people started passing the cigars, but to say he had anything to do with the inception (or conception, if you will) of the Internet reveals ignorance on his part. However, he does know his joystick from his disk drive, which is more than I can say for practically every politician other than Senator Leahy.

I say we keep making fun of Gore, AND THAT WE VOTE HIS BUTT IN OFFICE cuz George W. Bush would sell the privacy and inalienable rights of users of the Internet up the river in a heartbeat. Bush Jr is too pathetic to make fun of. I'm a humorist supporter. I want the potentially funniest man for the job of president so people like Dana Carvey and Jay Leno can entertain me another four years.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:31 PM on July 9, 2000

"In an interview that aired March 9, 1999 with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Gore said, 'During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.'

"The Internet's initial development, a system called ARPANET, here-to-for had been credited to scientists in the 1960's, with approximately thirty universities having ARPANET by 1971. Al Gore did not serve in Congress until 1979."

???

The news media got initial reports correctly. Of course many of them insist they reported it first which is just as laughable. Back in March 99 when this first happened, most people got the quote right but it has been slightly altered because that's how the American english language works. Simplification.

With other people quoting or paraphrasing Gore, the longwinded phrase, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet" has gone to "Albert Gore (during his years in congress) took the initiative (of other people) in creating the Internet (by making up a catchphrase that no one else would want to claim for themselves)." The words "took the initiative" has been shortened to "claimed." The word "creating" was changed to "invented" and we have the much shorter equivalent now: Al Gore claims to have invented the Internet.

The sentence structure is smaller, but it is not twisting his words. It's the same thing, just less words.

I'm not calling Gore a liar. I'm calling him a buffoon. But name for me a politician who isn't at least a little moronic? It seems to be a prerequisite for the job.

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
- Vice President Al Gore
"If the Vice President created the Internet then I created the Interstate highway system,"
- Representative Dick Armey, R-Texas
"If Al Gore created the Internet, I created 'spell check.' "
- Former Vice President Dan Quayle

Oh please keep 'em coming! Even a year and a half later, this is still funny! =)
posted by ZachsMind at 12:58 PM on July 9, 2000