too bad the quote couldn't give the impression of his long pause and flustered expression while he tried(and failed) to remember the real saying. that was hilarious.
Gore never claimed to invent the interent. Here's what he said in a live interview with Wolf Blitzer: GORE: Well, I will be offering - I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins. And it will be comprehensive and sweeping. And I hope that it will be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be. But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system. As early as 1986, Gore proposed this language to the funding of the National Science Foundation: MR. PRESIDENT, IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE TO SUPPORT THE PROPOSED NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AUTHORIZATION ACT. WITHIN THIS BILL I HAVE TWO AMENDMENTS, THE COMPUTER NETWORK STUDY AND THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT REPORT. THE FIRST AMENDMENT WAS ORIGINALLY INTRODUCED WITH SENATOR GORTON AS S. 2594. IT CALLS FOR A 2-YEAR STUDY OF THE CRITICAL PROBLEMS AND CURRENT AND FUTURE OPTIONS REGARDING COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS FOR RESEARCH COMPUTERS. THE SECOND AMENDMENT REQUIRES THE PRESIDENT TO SUBMIT A REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE ACTIONS TAKEN TO ESTABLISH AN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT. BOTH OF THESE AMENDMENTS SEEK NEW INFORMATION ON CRITICAL PROBLEMS OF TODAY. THE COMPUTER NETWORK STUDY ACT IS DESIGNED TO ANSWER CRITICAL QUESTIONS ON THE NEEDS OF COMPUTER TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS. FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT ARE THE FUTURE REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPUTERS IN TERMS OF QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF DATA TRANSMISSION, DATA SECURITY, AND SOFTWEAR [sic] COMPATIBILITY? WHAT EQUIPMENT MUST BE DEVELOPED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HIGH TRANSMISSION RATES OFFERED BY FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS? BOTH SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO HANDLE THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF SUPERCOMPUTERS AND SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF SMALLER RESEARCH COMPUTERS WILL BE EVALUATED. THE EMPHASIS IS ON RESEARCH COMPUTERS, BUT THE USERS OF ALL COMPUTERS WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS STUDY. TODAY, WE CAN BANK BY COMPUTER, SHOP BY COMPUTER, AND SEND LETTERS BY COMPUTER. ONLY A FEW COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS USE THESE SERVICES, BUT THE NUMBER IS GROWING AND EXISTING CAPABILITIES ARE LIMITED. IN ORDER TO COPE WITH THE EXPLOSION OF COMPUTER USE IN THE COUNTRY, WE MUST LOOK TO NEW WAYS TO ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS -- NEW WAYS TO INCREASE THE SPEED AND QUALITY OF THE DATA TRANSMISSION. WITHOUT THESE IMPROVEMENTS, THE TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS FACE DATA BOTTLENECKS LIKE THOSE WE FACE EVERY DAY ON OUR CROWDED HIGHWAYS. THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS ALREADY AWARE OF THE NEED TO EVALUATE AND ADOPT NEW TECHNOLOGIES. ONE PROMISING TECHNOLOGY IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS FOR VOICE AND DATA TRANSMISSION. EVENTUALLY WE WILL SEE A SYSTEM OF FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS BEING INSTALLED NATIONWIDE. AMERICA'S HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT PEOPLE AND MATERIALS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. FEDERAL FREEWAYS CONNECT WITH STATE HIGHWAYS WHICH CONNECT IN TURN WITH COUNTY ROADS AND CITY STREETS. TO TRANSPORT DATA AND IDEAS, WE WILL NEED A TELECOMMUNICATIONS HIGHWAY CONNECTING USERS COAST TO COAST, STATE TO STATE, CITY TO CITY. THE STUDY REQUIRED IN THIS AMENDMENT WILL IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES THE NATION WILL FACE IN ESTABLISHING THAT HIGHWAY [Upper case shown, indicating a contemporaneous insertion into the Congressional Record at the time of corresponding floor debate.] In 1986, the IBM PC was four years old and entire universities had yet to hook up to what we would come to know as the Internet. In 1988, Gore propoased a bill that establish a nationwide high speed network: THIS LEGISLATION TAKES THE FIRST CRITICAL STEPS TO ADDRESS THOROUGHLY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN PROMOTING HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS, WE CAN REFINE THIS LEGISLATION. BUT WE MUST ACT. THE UNITED STATES HAS MAYBE A 1-YEAR LEAD OVER OUR CLOSEST COMPETITORS IN THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING FIELD. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO HESITATE IN CRAFTING A BLUEPRINT TO ENSURE THAT LEAD FOR THE [*S16898] NEXT DOZEN YEARS OF THIS CENTURY AND TO POSITION OURSELVES FOR THE NEXT CENTURY. REPRESENTATIVES FROM INDUSTRY, ACADEMIA, AND FEDERAL AGENCIES SHOULD DISCUSS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, USING THIS BILL AS A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION. THE NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1988 WOULD EXPAND AND IMPROVE FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND THE APPLICATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY. SPECIFICALLY, THIS ACT WOULD ESTABLISH A HIGH-CAPACITY NATIONAL RESEARCH COMPUTER NETWORK, DEVELOP AND DISTRIBUTE SOFTWARE, DEVELOP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS, STIMULATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF HARDWARE, AND INVEST IN BASIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. THE ACT WOULD DEFINE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. THE ACT WOULD PROVIDE FOR A 3-GIGABIT-PER-SECOND NATIONAL NETWORK, DEVELOP FEDERAL STANDARDS, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT USER VIEWS, EXAMINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, BUILD AN INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE COMPOSED OF DATA BASES AND KNOWLEDGE BANKS, CREATE A NATIONAL SOFTWARE CORPORATION TO DEVELOP IMPORTANT SOFTWARE PROGRAMS, ESTABLISH A CLEARINGHOUSE TO VALIDATE AND DISTRIBUTE SOFTWARE, PROMOTE ARTICIFIAL INTELLIGENCE DATA BASES, INCREASE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, STUDY EXPORT CONTROLS AFFECTING COMPUTERS, REVIEW PROCUREMENT POLICIES TO STIMULATE THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY, AND ENHANCE COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. IT ALSO CLEARLY DEFINES AGENCY MISSIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITH RESPECT TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. I could go on. The point is threefold: 1. Gore did not adequately explain himself in the Blitzer interview which gave an opening to the Republicans to twist the meaning out of context and make him look like he was claiming credit for something he wasn't. 2. National media accepted the Republican interpretation of the comment or at least did not openly refute it. 3. Gore did more than any other congressman to promote the infrastructure and technology needed to create the Internet as we know it today. On a lighter note, check out this collections of Bushisms: http://slate.msn.com/?id=76886
you're right, but unfortunately once something is reported and ingrained in our collective minds, it becomes fact. sad, but true.
There are plenty of Dems who say stupid things too. Look at the Lehey quote I posted above. He's a democrat. All politicians say stupid things. Clinton and Reagan just had the art of communication worked out. They were smooth enough to avoid the big gaffes. Bush Sr. was smart enough to not TRY to be smooth. His Vice President, however... The last president we had that had this many foibles and mis-steps on camera was Ford, but there's been plenty about all of them to make them funny. They are ALL hilarious in one way or another.
By no means am I an expert on the history of the Internet, but some aspects of rimrocker's post don't pass the smell test as I thought the Internet was much older than implied by his post. A quick Google search turned up the following article, "A Brief History of the Internet," which amazingly doesn't contain any reference to Al Gore. It does contain the following quote: "Thus, by 1985, Internet was already well established as a technology supporting a broad community of researchers and developers, and was beginning to be used by other communities for daily computer communications. Electronic mail was being used broadly across several communities, often with different systems, but interconnection between different mail systems was demonstrating the utility of broad based electronic communications between people." This directly contradicts Gore's assertion that he "took the initiative in creating the Internet." http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml I realize Gore has been a strong supporter of technology and the Internet, but can you support this broad assertion?
GW does make plenty of screw-ups but he also has some great speeches, like this one. He just has to avoid speaking without thinking, he doesn't have the mojo for it. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-09-19-bush-iraq_x.htm
So is it better to have someone who says something wrong accidently or someone who blatantly lies? I did not have sex with that woman For those of you who thinks W is incompetent have someone follow you around with a camera all day, or heck just check your typos on the board here. No one is perfect but I would rather be led by a person who makes an honest mistake than someone who sleeps with his subordinate (which in most jobs would get you fired when reported) and then leid under oath and to the US Public during his speech to deny it. Clinton may have been a great politician, but his ethics sucked.
show me a politician who's ethics don't! btw, I'm not a Clinton/Gore/Bush/"insert politician here" supporter
gore has his office right across the street here where I park my car.... there haven't been any anthrax scares there lately.so I think it's safe to go back over there....... so i'll just have to go ask him about this internet thing........... as far as presidents saying stupid things.... EVERYTHING they say is looked at carefully.. in 4 years with constant cameras i'm sure we'd all say some stupid stuff...
Gore's assertions that he initiated the work on the internet is false or he's exaggerating..Here is a timeline of the ARPANET and when it turned into the Internet. http://www.pbs.org/internet/timeline/timeline-txt.html 1960 - There is no Internet... 1961 - Still no Internet... 1962 - The RAND Corporation begins research into robust, distributed communication networks for military command and control. 1962 - 1969 The Internet is first conceived in the early '60s. Under the leadership of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), it grows from a paper architecture into a small network (ARPANET) intended to promote the sharing of super-computers amongst researchers in the United States. 1964 - 'Dr Strangelove' portrays nuclear holocaust which new network must survive 1965 - The DOD's Advanced Research Project Association begins work on 'ARPANET' 1965 - ARPA sponsors research into a "cooperative network of time-sharing computers." 1967 - First ARPANET papers presented at Association for Computing Machinery Symposium 1967 - Delegates at a symposium for the Association for Computing Machinery in Gatlingberg, TN discuss the first plans for the ARPANET. 1968 - First generation of networking hardware and software designed 1969 - ARPANET connects first 4 universities in the United States. Researchers at four US campuses create the first hosts of the ARPANET, connecting Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. 1970 - ALOHANET developed at the University of Hawaii 1970 - 1973 The ARPANET is a success from the very beginning. Although originally designed to allow scientists to share data and access remote computers, email quickly becomes the most popular application. The ARPANET becomes a high-speed digital post office as people use it to collaborate on research projects and discuss topics of various interests. 1971 - The ARPANET grows to 23 hosts connecting universities and government research centers around the country. 1972 - The InterNetworking Working Group becomes the first of several standards-setting entities to govern the growing network. Vinton Cerf is elected the first chairman of the INWG, and later becomes known as a "Father of the Internet." 1973 - The ARPANET goes international with connections to University College in London, England and the Royal Radar Establishment in Norway. 1974 - Bolt, Beranek & Newman opens Telenet, the first commercial version of the ARPANET. 1974 - 1981 The general public gets its first vague hint of how networked computers can be used in daily life as the commercial version of the ARPANET goes online. The ARPANET starts to move away from its military/research roots. 1975 - Internet operations transferred to the Defense Communications Agency 1976 - Queen Elizabeth goes online with the first royal email message. 1977 - UUCP provides email on THEORYNET 1978 - TCP checksum design finalized 1979 - Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, two grad students at Duke University, and Steve Bellovin at the University of North Carolina establish the first USENET newsgroups. Users from all over the world join these discussion groups to talk about the net, politics, religion and thousands of other subjects. 1980 - Mark Andreesen turns 8. 14 more years till he revolutionizes the Web 1981 - ARPANET has 213 hosts. A new host is added approximately once every 20 days. 1982 - The term 'Internet' is used for the first time. 1982 - 1987 Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf are key members of a team which creates TCP/IP, the common language of all Internet computers. For the first time the loose collection of networks which made up the ARPANET is seen as an "internet", and the Internet as we know it today is born. The mid-80s marks a boom in the personal computer and super-minicomputer industries. The combination of inexpensive desktop machines and powerful, network-ready servers allows many companies to join the Internet for the first time. Corporations begin to use the Internet to communicate with each other and with their customers. 1983 - TCP/IP becomes the universal language of the Internet There is alot more if you're interested. Now, how does this timeline (which is correct AFAIK, at least this is what they teach in CIS classes) jibe with Gore's assertions?
If you were referring to my post, read my entire point on Clinton...I stated that he should have been impeached...and I meant booted...for lying under oath. But that doesn't make him less of a leader than W in type...I'm not just talking style here..not at all...I'm talking of a man who gives you the sense that he is in charge, and knows whereof he speaks...Bush does not give me that impression at all...neither did Gore...
Here's an email sent out during the controversy by Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf.... Forwarded email from Vint Cerf (vcerf@MCI.NET), September 28, 2000: Al Gore and the Internet By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development. No one person or even small group of persons exclusively “invented” the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community. But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore’s contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time. Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role. He said: “During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” We don’t think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he “invented” the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore’s initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it is timely to offer our perspective. As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship. Though easily forgotten, now, at the time this was an unproven and controversial concept. Our work on the Internet started in 1973 and was based on even earlier work that took place in the mid-late 1960s. But the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises. As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to consolidate what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks into an “Interagency Network.” Working in a bi-partisan manner with officials in Ronald Reagan and George Bush’s administrations, Gore secured the passage of the High Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991. 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. As Vice President Gore promoted building the Internet both up and out, as well as releasing the Internet from the control of the government agencies that spawned it. He served as the major administration proponent for continued investment in advanced computing and networking and private sector initiatives such as Net Day. He was and is a strong proponent of extending access to the network to schools and libraries. Today, approximately 95% of our nation’s schools are on the Internet. Gore provided much-needed political support for the speedy privatization of the Internet when the time arrived for it to become a commercially-driven operation. There are many factors that have contributed to the Internet’s rapid growth since the later 1980s, not the least of which has been political support for its privatization and continued support for research in advanced networking technology. No one in public life has been more intellectually engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the Vice President. Gore has been a clear champion of this effort, both in the councils of government and with the public at large. The Vice President deserves credit for his early recognition of the value of high speed computing and communication and for his long-term and consistent articulation of the potential value of the Internet to American citizens and industry and, indeed, to the rest of the world.
I know this will sound unfair, but it's the nature of the beast...Bush sounds at his worst when he's on his own, wandering the quagmire of malapropisms and terrible ad libs...His speech writers are, by and large, fine.
I personally think politics suck in general and laugh when I see democrats and republicans going at it, but I do know that the Internet's history dates back to the late 60's and ARPANET, Vint Cerf, and Bob Metcalfe. The Internet was around probalby before Gore could knew what it was.
The Internet was around probalby before Gore could knew what it was. Of course, the definition of the internet you're using is nothing like what is considered the internet by the average American person.
Then the average American person needs to be educated. Ok, ok so I'm joking. However, what popularized the Internet for the masses was the development of things such as hypertext which eventually led to the "creation" of the WWW in the early 90's. The building blocks of the Internet were already in place by the time Gore started espousing the virtues of an "information superhighway". TCP/IP was already in place, Ethernet was already in place, a network was in place, etc. All this would've come about no matter which liberal, conservative, etc. decided to claim that they helped give birth to it. The average person does equate the browser and the WWW to the Internet - you're right about that. That doesn't necessarily make it right, however.
