TEXAS Gov. George W. Bush, his running mate, the Republican Party, and several members of the media have attacked Vice President Al Gore recently on the issue of trustworthiness. Specifically, many have called him "a liar" guilty of "embellishments," "inventing facts," "making up stories," and "complete fabrication." Looking into the statements in question does raise the issue of exaggeration and lying; on the part of the reporters and politicians - not Gore.
Over the course of the past few years, Gore repeatedly has been accused of twisting the facts. Let's look at some of the examples:
The Internet:
Everyone's heard the story: Al Gore said he invented the Internet. He said it was his idea.
Actually, he didn't say that. What he said, on March 9, 1999, was "I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Which means that, during his service in Congress, he was a pioneer in bringing forth legislation that supported the creation and growth of the Internet.
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Gore's statements are valid. He introduced such legislation as the Supercomputer Network Study Act in 1986 and the National High Performance Technology Act in 1989.
And according to James Traub, Columbia professor and former chair of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, "Al Gore was perhaps the first political leader to grasp the importance of networking the country ... I was amazed at his national vision."
While Gore certainly didn't "invent" the Internet, one can see that his claims were not foolish or false, but can be considered valid. But the media paraphrased Gore and made him sound more outrageous, and his opponents have attacked him on the issue. In the first presidential debate, Bush said "I'm beginning to think not only did he [Gore] invent the Internet, he also invented the calculator."
The Florida School:
Also in their first debate, Gore said that he received a letter from a Florida man who claimed his daughter had to stand in class, because there was not enough room for her to sit. This happened only once, however, and when the school principal released a statement saying that Gore's facts were "misleading," the Republicans and media once again attacked him.
"This is another in a disturbing pattern of the vice president simply making things up," said Bush Communications Director Karen Hughes. On the front page of The New York Post was a picture of Gore waving his finger, with the headline "Liar, Liar." However, these attacks on Gore were lies and exaggerations themselves.
Gore was sent a letter and a clip from the local newspaper of an article entitled "No room to stand." It detailed specifically how one girl was left without a desk. And several school officials admit that there have been more cases of children without desks, some "for days and weeks."
While Gore should have checked up on his facts better, this is not grounds for outrageous Republican attacks.
Love Story:
Two years ago, an article was published in Time magazine that said, "[Gore] has also said that he and his wife, Tipper, were the models for the book, 'Love Story,' only to be contradicted by the author, Erich Segal."
Journalists ripped Gore apart on this, saying that he "inflated his past" and "willfuly lied." In fact, neither Gore nor Segal had said what Time reported.
Gore had mentioned an interview of Segal, where the newspaper incorrectly said that the Gores were the influence for the two characters in "Love Story." In fact, Gore and his roommate, actor Tommy Lee Jones, were the influence for the main character, but Tipper was not the model for the female lead.
Similarly, many of Gore's "outright fabrications" can be traced to honest slip-ups, or exaggeration on the part of the Republicans and media. In September, Gore said that he remembers an old song, "Look for the Union Label," as a lullaby. However, this was written when Gore was 27; several aides said the he got this confused with an older song with a similar title.
Last year, the press jumped all over the "Love Canal" issue, where Gore allegedly claimed to have discovered a toxic waste disaster in the 1970s. Gore actually said "that was the one that started it all," "that" referring to a similar toxic waste issue in his own state.
But the quotation that most people criticized, and that all of the newspapers ran on their editorial page, wasn't even correct. Gore's quotation was changed to "I was the one who started it all," by an editorial in The Washington Post and a Republican National Committee press release.
Also, in his first debate with Bush, Gore claimed to have visited Texas fire sites with Federal Emergency Management Authority head James Lee Witt. In fact, the two men went at different times, but Gore has traveled with Witt many times all over the country, and he claims that he was just confused. That doesn't seem unreasonable.
The Republicans, however, have gone all out in attack on Gore on this issue. Dick Cheney, Bush's running mate, has said "Once again, like he's done previously in claiming to invent the source of inspiration for 'Love Story,' [Gore] is playing fast and loose with the facts in terms of trying to win an argument." He also refers to Gore as having "an uncontrollable desire periodically to add to his reputation ... things that aren't true."
Gore is not perfect; he certainly has exaggerated, even lied outright in his political career. But those attacking Gore seem to be exaggerating and lying the most.
(Brian Cook is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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