shaking head and sighing - had to explain that Al Gore did not claim

[zbdent]

to invent the internet - and this was to a guy with whom I agree with mostly politically!

(We differ a bit on the application of the 2nd amendment, and definitely on women's choice).

I also informed him that the "Love Story" story wasn't true. He claims he had never heard that one . . .

[Doctor_J]

1. Yes, Limpballs' lies have permeated the nation

one of the biggest reason we're broke, at war, and living under fascism

[jean]

4. 18 yrs of right wing hate radio has fully indoctrinated the ditto heads

They don't have to read, think or even wonder for a minute. It's too easy to regurgitate Limbo's rants. :puke:

[ClassWarrior]

2. Did you explain to him what Gore really said and did?

NGU.

[zbdent]

7. I didn't have the actual quote handy, but I did explain that one of

the "fathers" of the internet did say that Al Gore was very instrumental in the spur to bring it about.

[swag]

3. Vint Cerf's word should have been good enough on this.

(mods - there aren't copyright issues with this one. Cerf and Kahn intended this article for public distribution)

http://absoluteone.ljudmila.org/37.php

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.
___________________

on edit: Who is Vint Cerf?

"He is routinely referred to as "the father of the internet," having helped to found the Arpanet in the early 1970s, a forerunner of today's internet. As part of that development, he co-designed the TCP/IP protocol for internet communication. His frustration with communication with other researchers reportedly was one of the motivations for his work to develop internet communications protocols."

[realFedUp]

5. It doesn't help that Rep. Pelosi repeated it recently....

www.dailyhowler.com
May 27

snip

ANOTHER DEM LEADER IN ACTION: How clueless can current Dem leaders be? We’ve marveled as they’ve understated the transition costs of Bush’s private accounts. We’ve marveled as they’ve repeatedly vouched for the SS trustees’ gloomy forecast. But just how bad does it sometimes get? Last Saturday, we got an e-mail under the heading, “Nancy Pelosi does it again.” You’ll assume our e-mailer, BL, was joking:

E-MAIL (5/22/05): I'm a student at Goucher College, and today was the senior class's commencement. The address was given by Nancy Pelosi, and she said the following: "When I graduated from college, many of the terms you use today had totally different meanings for me: Back then, chips were something you ate, Windows were something you washed, discs were something you played, and the Internet, well, let's just say, Al Gore hadn't invented it yet."
You’ll assume the mailer was joking. But no—the full speech is here, on Pelosi’s web site. Let’s enjoy the fuller context of the leader’s remarks:

PELOSI (5/22/05): All progress requires a faith in ourselves, our country, and the future. Today, you are stepping into a world in which new advances in science and technology are allowing us to explore vast new frontiers from a galaxy billions of light years away to the smallest genetic switch inside a human cell. These advances carry with them the prospect for incredible progress to strengthen us at home, and maintain the peace abroad.
When I graduated from college, many of the terms you use today had totally different meanings for me: Back then, chips were something you ate, Windows were something you washed, discs were something you played, and the Internet, well, let's just say, Al Gore hadn't invented it yet.

Pelosi instructs the grads to take advantage of the “new advances in science and technology are allowing us to explore vast new frontiers.” And what does she do in her very next breath? Like a vessel of medieval rumor, she repeats a six-year-old canard—a piece of utterly phony cant the RNC used to defeat her party’s candidate (and put George W. Bush in the White House). Six years later, Pelosi still doesn’t know the simplest facts about her party’s recent history. We can only imagine how Karl Rove must laugh when he observes such a gonzo performance.

[zbdent]

8. Here's an interesting note:

I have yet to find a computer book dated prior to 1993 (when Al Gore & Bill Clinton were talking about the "information superhighway") which has the word Internet in it.

So, I guess, in a way you could say that "Al Gore DID invent the internet" - he brought the term out to the forefront. This was back at the time in which the sitting president was hunting and pecking on an old typewriter. If that. Bush41 claimed that he typed. I don't think so. In his day, that was "women's work" - when they weren't at home popping out babies . . .

[KurtNYC]

6. And btw, Clinton NEVER said "I feel your pain"

that was a SNL skit.

[janx]

9. This won't matter should Al Gore run again (and I hope he does).

It has been played over and over.