Re: Al Gore's 21 lies

[levien@cc.gatech.edu (Levien de Braal)]

Hello all,

Robbie Honerkamp <robbie@opus.shorty.com>
>I'm completely disillusioned this year with the elections. George W Bush is
>a halfwit, Al Gore is a blatant liar, Harry Browne wants to cut of the US
>from the world and end funding for education, and the other candidates are
>absolute kooks. This is the best we have to choose from for President?

I'll agree the choices aren't great, but the '21 lies' you posted is
an amazing piece of Republican FUD. Just a few comments:

>> FICTION: Al Gore claimed responsibility for inventing the Internet in the
>> 1990's.
>> FACT : Shocked scientists were quick to speak out, explaining that the
>> Internet had been in widespread use by government and educational
>> institutions since the early 1970's.

ACTUAL FACT: Gore said: "I took the initiative in Congress in creating the
Internet." In context: the internet as we know it today. His statement,
although true, limits it to acts of Congress, which is a rather non-techie
way of looking at the net. BTW, folks like Vint Cerf actually back Gore up,
but setting the record straight isn't the main objective of the media.
Poking fun is much more entertaining and draws more eyeballs.

>> FICTION: Al Gore claimed the book "Love Story" was based on his life and
>> Tipper's.
>> FACT: Author Erich Segal called a press conference to deny his claim.
>> (Couldn't he at least lie about a love story where his girlfriend doesn't
>> die?)

The original claim wasn't made by Al Gore, but by Erich Segal himself (!!).
(add 'partly based' to the actual claim tough)
Al Gore was then asked about it, and he responded positively to it.
At most we can say Al Gore is a wimp for liking to be partly the basis for
a sappy novel.

>> FICTION: Al Gore said he was the first to discover the Love Canal nuclear
>> accident.
>> FACT: The incident was already discovered, being investigated, and covered
>> widely in the press for many months before Gore was aware of it.

Also untrue. He gave more attention to it, he found out about the case, but
he never claimed he was the first to discover it happened.

>> FICTION: Gore said just recently that if elected president, he would put
>> harsh sanctions on the sleazy producers of Hollywood's extreme sex and
>> violence.
>> FACT: Just six days later, Gore attended a fundraiser by Hollywood producers
>> where he told them that he would only "nudge" them if elected. He raised over
>> $4 million that night.
>> FACT: Al Gore supported his wife Tipper's creation of the Parent's Music
>> Resource Center, a group that supported the censorship of rock music and
>> led the way to ratings on CDs, flying in the face of his promises to 
>> Hollywood.

Note how this claim runs around in time. Also note how CD ratings are entirely
subjective in whether or not they qualify as 'harsh sanctions' or a 'nudge'.

>> FICTION: Al Gore says parents should not have a choice between private and
>> public schools because public schools are far better.
>> TRUTH : Al Gore attended private school and he has sent his own children to
>> private schools.

That first part is total BS. He opposes vouchers, which ofcourse is freely
'interpreted' / spinned to mean he is against choice.

>> FICTION: Al Gore remembers his mother lulling him to sleep as a baby by
>> singing the popular ditty, "Wear The Union Label".
>> FACT: The popular ditty was created by the unions when Gore was 27 years
>> old.

... but the tune itself is much, much older. Only the text is that recent.

>> FICTION: Al Gore claims to be instrumental in keeping gas prices low
>> FACT: Gore has voted on numerous occasions to raise the tax on gasoline. In
>> his book "Earth In The Balance" Gore claims that the nations' Number One
>> Enemy is the internal combustion engine. 

... back when the price of a barrel of crude was at $17. He has now urged
the release of oil from the national strategic reserve, which Clinton did,
and since the price of oil has actually dropped. The claim still sounds
rather bogus to me though (I haven't heard it before). He's more likely to
have said his plans are better than Bush's.

>> FICTION: Gore pretends to champion the rights of poor women to be tested 
>> regularly for breast cancer with the most modern technology.
>> FACT: While giving a speech on the subject in September, Gore didn't know
>> what a mammogram was.

And this is related how? A politician can be in support of heart disease
research without knowing what a SPECT (Single Positron Emission Computed
Tomography) study is, or how it works.

>> FICTION: AL Gore promised Florida's senior citizens that they would finally
>> have low-cost drugs with no interference from government.
>> FACT: Gore's plan calls for the creation of a huge federal agency that would
>> tell you which doctor you are allowed to see in order to get the "special
>> rates".

FACT: Gore made it a specific point to make clear that his plan allows people
to pick their own doctor and pharmacy. The above was written by someone who
wasn't paying attention during the first debate.

I'm not saying that Al Gore never told a lie, nor that he doesn't have the
tendency to skip over details when mildly exagerating about his
accomplishments, but it's not even nearly as bad as the above post claims.

Levien
-- 
"Do you hear the people sing, Lost in the valley of the night?
 It is the music of a people, Who are climbing to the light.
 For the wretched of the earth, There is a flame that never dies.
 Even the darkest night will end, And the sun will rise." -- Les Miserables