Why the “New” Al Gore can’t get elected. By John Dickerson
Who knew Al Gore could be such fun? He’s the toast of Cannes and was hilarious on Saturday Night Live. He’s also Topic A in political conversation. A lot of Democrats start to sound a bit giddy when the subject of a Gore presidential run in 2008 comes up. Even with recent troubles in the GOP, many of them have been preoccupied with the weakness of their leaders and the party’s uncertain future. When discussion turns to Gore, everyone gets excited.
At the center of the Gore boomlet is the New Al Gore. He’s full of the vision and ass-kicking clarity for which Democratic activists are thirsting. Markos Moulitsas, the founder of Daily Kos, has praised the change, calling him “passionate, eloquent, and utterly suffused with energy.” Arianna Huffington got the bug in Cannes: “When people are exposed to the new Gore—authentic, funny, self-deprecating—you can almost feel their relief and surprise as they suddenly come to face to face with what a real leader could be.”
There are lots of other reasons that Gore probably shouldn’t run, often articulated by inside-the-beltway types. A lot of Democrats still have sour feelings about a nominee who blew a winnable election. Gore never liked the day-to-day work of politics (as opposed to governing) and was a lousy campaigner. He struggled to beat a weak Bill Bradley in the 2000 Democratic primaries and lost to George Bush (sort of) with the wind of peace and prosperity at his back. In polls, voters still react to him as negatively as they do to Hillary Clinton, or even more so. He may provide a nice contrast to George Bush now, but Bush won’t be on the ballot, and in 2008 the Republican nominee is likely to be running against Bush, too.
John Dvorak already posted the internet line.
‘I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal. ‘
About the Earned Income Tax Credit
“I was the author of that proposal. I wrote that….That is something for which I have been the principal proponent for a long time.”
The EITC passed one year before he came to Congress.
If this is all a mistake and Gore wasn’t trying to claim these things, that would make him a talker as bad as Bush.
#35 says Gore was talking “About the Earned Income Tax Credit” when he said, “I was the author of that proposal. I wrote that….That is something for which I have been the principal proponent for a long time.”
FALSE — the original text of the Time Magazine interview clearly shows that he was talking about a proposed EXPANSION of the EITC. Doesn’t Gore’s use of the word “proposal” rather than “law” give you a clue? Senator Gore introduced a bill to expand the EITC in 1991. And the ellipsis in your quote hides a very important phrase that also helps negate your interpretation — “so I say, welcome aboard.” He is welcoming Senator Bradley in the effort to EXPAND the EITC, since Bradley is also advocating the expansion of that tax credit. Gore’s whole point was that Bradley’s proposal to EXPAND the tax credit was not a new or differentiating idea, so he was saying “welcome aboard.”
Character assassination is so much fun, isn’t it? Rather than just give you a link to the original Time interview, finding it can be your make-up homework assignment, AB CD, since you failed in your first effort. Quotes are much more accurate when you have the full context, but much more fun when you get to obliterate whole phrases.
#30
I was working at an ISP in the early 1990’s. The primary fuel for the Internet was exposure not the musings of ozone boy. I can honestly say that not one customer ever mentioned Gore as the motivation for getting an Internet account (and yes they were asked). The primary motivator was actually seeing someone browse the Web.
So let’s look at your article.
> As far back as the 1970s Congressman
> Gore promoted the idea of high speed
> telecommunications
So did the Bells. Doesn’t mean they “invented” the Internet. The defense industry had been working on high speed telecommunication for years.
> The fact of the matter is that Gore
> was talking about and
> promoting the Internet long before most people were listening.
Do you see how crafty this is worded? What people? Almost everyone I knew was aware of the Internet in late 1980’s and early 1990’s as were most universities and people working in the defense industry. If “most” translates to “computer illiterate elected officials”, then sure. You could argue that most people at the time didn’t know anything about personal computers either. That doesn’t mean he invented or created the personal computer.
>As an example, he sponsored hearings on
> how advanced technologies might be put
> to use in areas like coordinating
> the response of government agencies t!
Whooopie. Still doesn’t pass for “creating the Internet.” There were many discussions across a broad range of elected officials about how to improve government response time.
> This “Gore Act” supported the National Research and
> Education Network (NREN) initiative that became one of the
> major vehicles for the spread of the Internet beyond the
> field of computer science.
He makes it sound as if this wasn’t already wanted by numerous people in the tech industry. Students and universities had been clamoring for greater access to the Internet for years prior to that time.
Was Al Gore a *champion* or *early proponent” of the Internet? Sure. Was he the Federal government’s most prominent champion? Sure. Did he “create” it? No. Sorry but there is just no way you can weasel the words “create” or “invent” to fit his contribution.
Since you are making the claim that Al Gore “created” the Internet, the burden of proof is on you to establish what *exactly* he “created.” What did he cause to “come into being” that did not already exist before? What specific idea did he have or what exact thing did he create that no one else had? Be specific. To say that he created “the Internet” is as useful as saying he created a “thing”.
> I really can’t wait to find out what you invented that
> exceeds the technical excellence of TCP/IP. Damn, just when
> I was ready to drop the issue, you rope me back in with a
> completely uninformed statement.
*I* am not claiming to have “invented the Internet.” Let’s not forget that Gore probably still can’t spell TCP/IP much less “invented it.” I was working an ISP at the time Gore claimed he “invented/created” “the Internet.” We got a great laugh out of it. It became the laughable example used to belittle wild claims. “Yeah, sure is true and Gore invented the Internet.”
The words “create” and “invent” simply cannot be applied to Gore’s contribution. Proponent or champion I might buy.
So you were merely working for an ISP at the time, and that qualifies you to argue with people like Cerf, Kahn, and Gingrich on the legislative role that Gore claims to have played? Do you you think you paid closer attention to pending legislation and research funding than Cerf and Kahn? Hint: they participated in the process!
You keep trying to force the word “invent” into the discussion, but anyone who looks at the text of Gore’s statement and claims that the word “invent” is a suitable synonym either has a political axe to grind or is borderline retarded. There’s only one reason the word was changed to “invent,” and if you truly can’t see it, then I apologize for thinking you were disingenuous. You’re just retarded.
Definition, “create” (from Encarta dictionary)…
2. transitive verb give rise to: to produce something as a result, or make something happen
(hmmm, doesn’t sound quite so technical, does it?)
As most people know, the internet wasn’t created out of nothing, it came out of the existing ARPANET that had a much more narrow and restricted use. If you look at the research funding and other impetus Gore’s bills provided, you’ll realize how truly ignorant your earlier claim (#29) was, that “The ONLY contribution this loon made to the Internet was mentioning the word on national television.” Can you say “government funding,” boys and girls? You’ve overlooked at least two significant pieces of legislation, plus numerous speeches to get both politicians and the private sector thinking about hastening the transition to connected computing. No one is saying it wouldn’t have happened anyway, but his was a very significant voice that speeded things up.
Finally, here’s an interesting article for you…
http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2006/anniversary/032706-where.html
At some point, you’re going to realize that you’re arguing with people WAY out of your league (not me, but all the others). I’ll let you do your own research on any of the bills mentioned. I’m not your research gopher. I’m still busy trying to locate your conscience, or your brain, whichever is missing.
> So you were merely working for an ISP at the time, and that
> qualifies you to argue with people like Cerf, Kahn, and
> Gingrich on the legislative role that Gore claims to have
> played?
Frankly, yes it does because the claim is not just that he was a political proponent of the Internet. The claim is that he *created* the Internet. Since I happen to know how many of the protocols and tools were designed, I know that Al Gore had nothing to do with this. Al Gore did not design the browser. Al Gore did not design the TCP/IP stack. Al Gore did not design the router.
From American Heritage
1. to cause to exist, bring into being
2. to give rise to; produce (“That remark created a stir”)
3. To invest with an office or title; appoint
4. To produce through artistic or imaginative effort.
Gore did not CREATE the Internet. No matter how much you try you simply cannot shoe-horn his contribution into the word “create.” Gore clearly helped foster the development of the Internet. Gore clearly worked to get legislation to expand access to it. But he did not CREATE the Internet.
At this point I suspect that you must be in sales, marketing or politics. Only one of these three would take an engineering project and try to take credit for “creating” it.
Since you are clearly far too slow to see the only viable argument available to you, I’ll help you along. The only legitimate argument here is that Al never meant to say he “created” the Internet when he responded to Wolf Blitzer that day. He probably meant to say he championed the ideas, pushed for greater access etc. I’m guessing he would freely admit that he did not “create” the Internet but rather helped bring about common access to what someone else had created. Create implies he thought up the idea and/or implemented that idea. Al didn’t think of the idea nor did he implement it. Rather, he helped other people implement it and made helped people get greater access. That is NOT the same thing as “creating the Internet.”
Thomas, as slow as I am, you seem slower still. Once more, Gore said “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” You keep getting back to technical inventions such as protocols, browsers, routers, etc, to show what he DIDN’T do. How ludicrous do you really want to get? I keep having to remind you that he never CLAIMED to have a technical role. Try to get the word “invent” out of your head, because it is a technically-oriented word that Gore NEVER spoke.
He said that during his service in the United States Congress (which clearly shows the TYPE of role he’s claiming), he took the INITIATIVE in creating the internet (“giving rise to,” to use your definition, “or make something happen” according to Encarta). No one took bolder legislative INITIATIVES than Gore did in transitioning to a publicly accessible internet from the old ARPANET, starting in 1986 with his introduction of the Supercomputer Network Study Act. Only a fool would interpret his INITIATIVE statement as claiming sole credit for such a huge undertaking, or as a claim of having invented protocols, browsers, routers, etc. Stop being that fool. Now you can see why I trust Cerf, Kahn, Gingrich, and even Michael Cooney of Network World for their versions of events, over the word of some guy named “Thomas.” Those people have a credibility that you’ve never earned, and they all disagree with you. Sorry, I’ve got to take their side.
Gary, I’d give it a rest. Thomas is sounding more and more like a troll, trying to bait you into arguing with him. Either that or he’s a Republican who can’t get over Bush winning over Gore and turning out to be such a twit.
Let’s simplify this for you. There are two issues here.
1. Did Al Gore “create” the Internet
2. Did Al Gore claim he “created” the Internet.
There is no question that the first one is false. Clearly people in the US no longer study grammar. There is no way to take the statement “I created [tangible thing]” without implying you came up with the idea or actually built it. In other words, the statement “Gore created the Internet” clearly implies that Gore was the sole person responsible for the invention of the Internet. It is reasonable to say that Gore never made this statement. It is idiotic to attempt to twist the meaning of the words to somehow make it true.
As I said in my last post, it is reasonable to presume the second phrase is also false. Did he ever actually deny that he created the Internet? You could easily take his actual statement one of two ways: “I helped get the Internet created” (reasonable), “I’m the guy that made the Internet happen.” (bullshit). Let’s not forget that the media, both liberal and conservative, pushed the idea that Gore had created the Internet.
Arguing that because Cerf, Kahn, Gingrich said Gore was responsible for the Internet that it must be true is an appeal to authority. You need to learn that just because someone lofty says something, it does not make it true or true from all perspectives. Cerf, Kahn, Gingrich are looking at this from the perspective of a politician not the perspective of the people that were actually responsible for building the Internet. From their perspective, Gore was the politician most responsible and that is reasonable stance.
Gore did NOT create the Internet but as you said he never really meant to imply he had.
Uncle Dave,
To tech people, there is nothing more insulting that saying that “Gore created the Internet.” It is laughable to the extreme.
Since 1988, the Presidential elections have been between douche bags and shit burgers. Did Gore suck? Yeah. Does Bush suck? Yeah. It has been a choice of lesser evils and choosing which candidate or party will screw us the least.