[at-l] OT - Or Maybe NOt

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C)]

At the time Gore made his statement, it received no attention whatever. The interviewer didn?t ask Gore to explain his remark; he showed no surprise at what Gore had said. And in its on-air promotions for the taped interview, CNN showed no sign of thinking that Gore had ?made news? with his comment. Meanwhile, major papers which covered Gore?s interview completely ignored the comment. On March 10, that year, for example, the Washington Post ran a full report about the Gore-Blitzer session. But the paper only discussed Gore?s remarks on U.S. relations with China. 

On March 11, the Washington Times? Greg Pierce reviewed the interview in his ?Inside Politics? column. But Pierce only mentioned what Gore had said about early campaign polling. Similarly, the AP?s dispatches about Gore?s interview completely ignored his Internet comment. 

Why did Gore?s comment provoke no reaction? 

Because the press in Washington knew that Gore had taken the leadership, within the Congress, in developing what we now call the Internet. Gore was explicitly discussing his achievements in Congress, and if ?I took the initiative? meant ?I took the leadership,? his statement was perfectly accurate. A wide array of Internet pioneers described Gore's key role, within the Congress, in creating what we now call the Net. 

In the March 21 Washington Post, for example, Jason Schwartz quoted several Internet pioneers, including Vinton Cerf, the man often called ?the father of the Internet.? Cerf praised Gore?s role in the Net?s development. ?I think it is very fair to say that the Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the vice president,? he said. 

Meanwhile, Katie Hafner, author of a book on the Internet?s origins, penned a short piece in the New York Times, quoting experts who said that Gore ?helped lift the Internet from relative obscurity and turn it into a widely accessible, commercial network.? 

How well-known was Gore?s leadership role? The press corps was full of experienced scribes who knew all about his work in this area. According to Nexis, the Washington Post?s first reference to the Internet occurred in November 1988; a ?virus? had attacked the little-known network, which connected some 50,000 computers, the Post said. But as journalists began to report on the Net, Gore?s key role in its development was clear. One month later, for example, Martin Walker wrote this in The Guardian:

"American computing scientists are campaigning for the creation of a ?superhighway? which would revolutionise data transmission. Legislation has already been laid before Congress by Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, calling for government funds to help establish the new network, which scientists say they can have working within five years, at a cost of Dollars 400 million. "

Nine months later, the Post reported that the Bush administration ?plans to unveil tomorrow an ambitious plan to spend nearly $2 billion enhancing the nation?s technological know-how, including the creation of a high-speed data ?superhighway? that would link more than 1,000 research sites around the country.? This network was ?comparable to an interstate highway system for electronic data,? the paper said?and it noted that ?a similar plan has been proposed by Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.), whose legislation also proposes creating a vast electronic library that could be accessed by users seeking federally gathered information.? Simply put, Gore?s leadership role had been widely reported?and was thoroughly understood in the press. 

Five years later, the Internet was becoming well known, and the Washingtonian?s Alison Schneider looked back on its years of development:
"There?s no escaping it. It seems like only yesterday that Al Gore was preaching the merits of the I-way to a nation that still thought the Net was something used only for catching butterflies.

Within the press corps, everyone knew that Gore was the leader, within the Congress, in creating what we now call the Net. Indeed, by the time of the 2000 election, even one of Gore?s long-standing foes was praising his work in this area. On September 1, 2000, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addressed the American Political Science Association. His remarks were broadcast on C-SPAN:

GINGRICH: In all fairness, it?s something Gore had worked on a long time. Gore is not the Father of the Internet, but in all fairness, Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet, and the truth is?and I worked with him starting in 1978 when I got [to Congress], we were both part of a ?futures group??the fact is, in the Clinton administration, the world we had talked about in the ?80s began to actually happen.

Gingrich knew what Gore had done. Indeed, Gore and Gingrich had almost been friendly rivals in these technological areas. Their leadership roles had long been clear. In 1995, for example, the New York Times? Peter Lewis attended a national cyberspace conference, where he interviewed a group of Gingrich supporters. ?A number of participants said Mr. Gingrich had effectively seized the mantel of top Government cyberspace visionary from Vice President Al Gore, who is credited with creating the phrase ?information superhighway,?? Lewis wrote. 

Long before the press corps ginned up the Internet flap, Lewis? statement reflected what everyone knew?that Gore had enjoyed a long-standing reign as the government?s King of the Net.

Had Gore misstated his role? You have to work very hard to tease a lie out of Gore?s statement. Gore had said this: During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. 

Gingrich said this: Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet. It?s hard to torture a difference from that pair of statements, and a Gore biographer, the Post?s David Maraniss, seemed to complete the Rule of Three. In August 2000, Maraniss said this on CNN?s Reliable Sources: ?Gore really was instrumental in developing the Internet. He was the one congressman who understood the whole thing in the ?70s, when no other congressman gave a darn about it.? 

Had Gore misrepresented his leadership role? Only those determined to make him a liar would draw that conclusion.


> ------------Original Message------------
> From: Snodrog5@aol.com
> To: tinman@antigravitygear.com, l_parker@cacaphony.net
> Cc: at-l@backcountry.net
> Date: Sun, Feb-5-2006 3:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [at-l] OT - Or Maybe NOt
> 
>  
> In a message dated 2/5/2006 2:37:17 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
> tinman@antigravitygear.com writes:
> 
> Al never said he  invented it, he said he is responsible for creating 
> it. 
> See the  difference?
> 
> 
> :::yawn:::
>  
> snopes.com:
>  
> Claim:   Vice-President Al Gore claimed that he "invented" the  
> Internet. 
> 
> Status:   False. 
> 
> Origins:  Despite the derisive references that continue even today, Al 
> Gore 
> did not  claim he "invented" the Internet, nor did he say anything that 
> could 
> reasonably  be interpreted that way. The "Al Gore said he 'invented' 
> the 
> Internet" put-downs  were misleading, out-of-context distortions of 
> something he 
> said during an _interview_ 
> (http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/transcript.gore/index.html)  with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Late 
> Edition"  program on  with W 1999. 
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