Al Gore's Skeletons: His Lyin' Ways
Ron Radfer
The Gulf War Vote - Zelnick’s book is critical of Gore, but it is not
nearly as damaging as it might have been. It tells how Gore agonized
before voting to support the resolution approving the Gulf War in
1991.
Zelnick says this vote "deserves to be recognized as an act of
conscience and moral courage ... If military action failed, the
Democratic Party would likely discard him for higher office. Had he
voted the other way, following the party line, he could have safely
hidden behind the caution of expert opinion.”
Senator Alan Simpson, the Senate Republican whip in 1991, tells a
different story.
He recently said on MSNBC’s "Hardball” that the day before the vote,
Gore asked him and Bob Dole, the minority leader, how much time they
would give him to speak in the floor debate if he supported the
resolution. He told them that the Democratic leadership had offered
him seven minutes. Dole offered him 15 minutes, and Simpson said he
thought he could raise that to 20.
Gore said he wanted to think about it overnight. They later sweetened
their offer, sending word that they would schedule his remarks during
the news cycle.
Gore accepted it, and was the only Democratic senator with
presidential aspirations to break with his party. It appeared to be
"an act of conscience and moral courage,” as Zelnick said, but if Sen.
Simpson’s recollection is accurate, Gore really sold his vote for 20
minutes of time in front of the Senate’s television cameras.
Pot-Smoking Denials
Zelnick’s book has only this one sentence about Gore and drugs:
"Marijuana was abundant (in Vietnam) and Gore smoked his share.” He
did not mention, much less dispute, Gore’s claim that his use of
marijuana was "rare and infrequent.”
At the time, this was hailed as an indication of Gore’s honesty
because he volunteered the statement without being asked. Thanks to
Bill Turque, a Newsweek reporter who has written the book, "Inventing
Al Gore: A Biography," we now know his claim was a lie.
In November 1987, Judge Douglas Ginsburg withdrew his name as a
Supreme Court nominee when it was reported that he had used marijuana
while he was teaching at Harvard Law School. Reporters then began
asking potential presidential candidates if they had smoked pot.
Turque says in his book that Gore had a meeting with some of his
campaign staff and his father to discuss what he should do. He decided
to make a public statement, saying that he had smoked marijuana only
occasionally and not since 1972.
He assured his father, who was angry when he learned that his son had
smoked marijuana, that the statement he planned to make was the truth.
Turque says: "Supporters hailed Gore for breaking new ground with his
candor about drugs. ‘Al Gore is the first real political leader of his
generation ... to come clean on the ‘60s,’ said the late media adviser
Bob Squier. ‘It’s an indication of his honesty.’”
Turque had interviewed three of Gore’s friends who had smoked pot with
him after he returned from Vietnam. One was John Warnecke, who had
been a close friend of Gore’s since 1970 and had worked with him when
they were both reporters for the Nashville Tennessean.
Warnecke, the son of a famous architect, claims he smoked pot with
Gore hundreds of times, often on a daily basis, over a six-year
period. He says he supplied, free of charge, the high quality
marijuana they smoked and that Gore "loved it.” This went on until
1976, when Gore ran for Congress.
Bill Turque confirmed Gore’s frequent use of marijuana in that period
with two other Gore friends, Andrew Schlesinger, the son of Arthur
Schlesinger Jr., and another who didn’t want his name used.
Warnecke says Gore personally telephoned him in 1987 and demanded that
he tell reporters nothing about his use of marijuana. Warnecke said
Gore wanted him to stonewall the press, but he did not want to do
that.
When asked, he told reporters that Gore smoked pot a couple of times
but he didn’t like it. He says his conscience has bothered him ever
since because he had lied.
Gore was angry because he had said anything, and they haven’t spoken
since 1987. Warnecke says he still intends to vote for Gore, but he
feels betrayed by him.
He favors decriminalizing marijuana and thinks that Gore is a
hypocrite, having spent years smoking the stuff and now being part of
an administration that is carrying out a war against it. He admits
that he abused both drugs and alcohol, but he says he has been "clean”
for 21 years. He is being treated for depression, and a former Gore
aide has tried to discredit him by calling him "a schizophrenic who
hears voices.”
The "Old News” Gambit Works
Just before Newsweek’s January 24th issue went to press, Richard M.
Smith, the chairman and editor-in-chief, canceled plans to include the
excerpt from Turque’s book that covered Warnecke’s charges.
At the same time it was announced that Houghton Mifflin was delaying
publication of the book until March.
Angered, Warnecke gave his story to a pro-drug-legalization Web site,
with greater detail and minor differences from Turque’s account. This
was picked up by Matt Drudge and Salon, an Internet magazine, on the
weekend of January 15-16.
It was downplayed or ignored by the establishment media. The
Associated Press put out a 144-word story that gave Gore’s denial that
he had smoked pot on a daily basis after returning from Vietnam. "No,”
he said, "When I came back from Vietnam, yes, but not to that extent
... This is something I dealt with a long time ago. It’s old news.”
The 1987 lie that had elicited praise for his candor now helped Gore
divert the media from reporting the truth. It was successfully
dismissed as "old news.”
When the excerpt from Turque’s book was finally published in the
February 14 issue of Newsweek, it was treated as old news squared. It
was posted on MSNBC’s Web site, but we saw no stories about reporters
challenging the truth of Gore’s claim that his use of marijuana was
rare.
No one reported Turque’s claim that Andrew Schlesinger, a friend who
had joined the Gores in New Hampshire to celebrate the primary
victory, had said that "in 1971, he had smoked with him ‘at least a
dozen times’ at the Warneckes’.”
Useful Lies Versus Harmful Truths
Bill Clinton has been called a pathological liar. To hide serious
misdeeds and crimes he tell big lies, such as "I never had sex with
that woman,” with no shame and with such conviction that millions of
people believe them.
Al Gore is a frequent liar, but he is not as good at it as Clinton.
From force of habit, he tells little lies designed to make himself
look better than he is. These are almost always quickly exposed as
false, making him look worse.
But he also tells big lies to cover-up his wrongdoing or damage his
opponents. Lying to cover up a harmful truth is more serious than
exaggerating one’s achievements, but both reflect badly on one’s
veracity.
Gore’s denial of his heavy use of marijuana from 1970 to 1976 was a
lie told to conceal a harmful truth. In 1987, when it was first told,
the truth would have been enough to derail his presidential campaign,
as it did Judge Douglas Ginsburg’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
In 1992, it would have kept him from being the running mate of "I
didn’t inhale” Bill Clinton. In these more decadent days, many more
voters appear willing to overlook marijuana use by the baby boomers,
but those who are sick of Clinton’s lies may prove to be equally sick
of a candidate who denies claims by his friends that he was a heavy
smoker of pot.
There are other serious lies that call Gore’s veracity into question
—the denial that he knew the event at the Buddhist temple was a
fund-raiser, his denial that he knew that fund-raising calls he made
from his office were illegal, because there was "no controlling legal
authority,” his claim that he has always been pro-choice, and his
claim in a televised debate with Bill Bradley on January 26 that he
has never said anything during the campaign that he knew to be untrue
are all efforts to replace a harmful truth with a useful lie.
Two days after that debate, the Boston Globe published an article on
Gore’s veracity record. The writers unearthed two memos written to
Gore during his run for the 1988 presidential nomination, one by Mike
Kopp, his press secretary, and the other by Arlie Schardt, his
communications director.
The Kopp memo of September, 1987 warned him that his image "may
continue to suffer if you continue to go out on a limb with remarks
that may be impossible to back up.” Six months later, this was still a
problem. Schardt wrote, "Your main pitfall is exaggeration.”
In a New York Times op-ed column on Feb. 16, Schardt argues that
Gore’s exaggerating is being exaggerated. Listed below are 17 Gore
lies. Those in bold face were addressed in Schardt’s column.
Al Gore’s Lies
(1) His use of marijuana was "rare and infrequent.” (2) He didn’t know
the Buddhist temple event was a fund-raiser (3) He didn’t know that
fund-raising calls from his office were illegal. (4) He has always
been pro-choice. (5) He has never said anything in the campaign that
he knew to be untrue. (6) He was cosponsor of the McCain/Feingold
campaign finance reform bill in the Senate. (7) He took the initiative
in creating the Internet. (8) He and Tipper were models for "Love
Story.” (9) He uncovered the pollution at Love Canal. (10) His
reporting for the Nashville Tennessean "got a bunch of people indicted
and sent to jail.” (11) His views on the Vietnam War were written into
Hubert Humphrey’s speech to the 1968 Democratic National Convention by
a journalist who had interviewed him. (12) His claim that as an army
reporter in Vietnam: "I pulled my turn on the perimeter at night and
walked through the elephant grass and was fired upon.” (13) One reason
he enlisted and went to Vietnam was to spare some other family the
agony of sending a son. (14) He had been a small businessman and a
homebuilder, helping develop a subdivision on his father’s land in
1969. (15) He is responsible for the "one-click-away” tool that helps
parents block, filter or monitor Internet content to protect their
children. (16) He was taught how to clean out hog waste, how to clear
land with a double-bladed ax and how to plow steep hillsides with a
team of mules. (17) His claim at the Des Moines Register offices in
January that he bought his own farm when he came back from Vietnam and
that he has owned and operated it for 26 years. [This is the 80 acres
Hammer sold to his father on which he has collected $20,000 a year in
mining royalties since 1974.]
Schardt addresses only numbers 1, 4, 7, 12, 14 and 16.
#1. He repeats Gore’s 1987 lie, but gets the date wrong.
#4. He says, "Let’s just say his position evolved.”
#7. He says, "That can be interpreted anyway you like.”
#12. "Our campaign always presented him as an army journalist, nothing
more.” [Attached to an engineering brigade at Bien Hoa, Gore did not
have to do guard duty on the perimeter or trod through elephant grass
under fire.]
#14. This is what prompted Schardt’s "pitfall” memo. He says it was
written to warn Gore to be careful in answering questions from a
reporter who was looking into Gore’s claim that he had worked briefly
as a homebuilder. [He had not.]
#16. "Al Gore naturally talked to farmers about working on his family
farm.” [But how much hog waste had he cleaned, how much land had he
cleared and how many acres had he plowed on steep hillsides with a
team of mules?]
wilskro
IMPEACH BUSH JR. NOW!
<wilskro>
Ron Radfer <ose...@cal.net> wrote in message
news:398DA868...@cal.net...
Johann von Tebbes
wilskro <185...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:8mlojc$2f9i$1...@newssvr05-en0.news.prodigy.com...
>
> IMPEACH BUSH JR. NOW!
There's NO Bush, Jr. AlGore is the junior. Clinton Jr, I think!
----- Original Message -----
From: Gail Weasel <gai...@jps.net>
Newsgroups:
alt.society.liberalism,talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.fa
n.rush-limbaugh,alt.society.conservatism,alt.politics.bush
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 6:04 PM
Subject: Re: Bradley SAT's only 465
Replicant wrote:
AL GORE, STUPID QUOTES - http://gargaro.com/algore.html
The Republicans controlled the Senate in '93? Do the Democrats know
this?
From Meet the Press 12/19/99 MR. RUSSERT: Senator, what did you think of
the
1996 Clinton-Gore campaign's approach to fund-raising?
Gore Invented the Internet
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative
in
creating the Internet," Gore said when asked to cite accomplishments
that
separate him from another Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen.
Bill
Bradley of New Jersey, during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN on
March
9, 1999. Gore supported technological advances related to the
advancement of
the Internet, but to say that HE took the initiative in creating the
Internet is a bit much.
A spotted Zebra.
"A zebra does not change its spots." - Al Gore, attacking President
George
Bush in 1992. (Sources: The Toronto Sun, 11/19/95; May 13th page of the
"365
stupidest things ever said, 1999 Calendar." ALL quotes from this
calendar
are from a book called "The 700 Stupidest Things Ever Said") The book
and
calendar are by a brother and sister team called Ross and Kathryn
Petras.
The original book "The 776 Stupidest things ever said" was printed in
March
1993, and the calendar was printed August 1998.)
E plu...what?
"We can build a collective civic space large enough for all our separate
identities, that we can be e pluribus unum -- out of one, many." E
Pluribus
Unum is the motto on the Great Seal of the United States of America, and
is
Latin for "out of many, one," not "out of one, many." (Source: January
1994.
From a Milwaukee speech to the Institute of World Affairs as quoted in
Investor's Business Daily, October 25, 1996
Who ARE these people??
Listen to Al Gore (Algore) asking who the busts of our Founding
Fathers are at Monticello before the Inauguration. DUH. gore.au
(71k)
Watch the video of this!
Michael who?
Maybe Michael Jordan hasn't made an indelible impression on everyone
outside
Chicago. Speaking at a D.C. function, Vice President Al Gore, wowed by
the
Bulls, said: "I tell you that Michael Jackson is unbelievable, isn't he.
He's just unbelievable." (Source: The Chicago Tribune June 17, 1998
Manliness Thanks!
In 1996, Al Gore visited a school in a largely Hispanic portion of
Albuquerque, New Mexico. In an effort to fit in, he decided it would be
appropriate to say something in Spanish as he took the stage. He was
supposed to say "Muchos Gracias" - many thanks. Instead, he walked on
stage
saying "Machismo Gracias" - roughly translated to "manliness thanks.
There's
a video clip of the press in Albuquerque giggling about it and saying,
"Oh
well, he's trying." (Source: KKOB-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1996 --
in
the process of obtaining the exact date)
James who?
In his first appearance in a nationally televised candidates forum, Gore
was
asked to name a past US president from whom he drew personal
inspiration. He
replied that he especially admired another "dark horse" candidate, and a
product of his home state, the great "president James Knox". The only
problem is that the history books show that nobody named Knox ever
occupied
the White House. He most likely meant James Knox Polk. (Source: The
British
Sunday Times; Michael Medved of KIEV radio. I am looking for a more
specific source for this, so if anyone has one, or, if this quote is not
accurate, please e-mail me)
Bow and Missouri
"The Japanese surrendered on the 'bow' (he pronounced it like 'bow '
tie) of
the 'aircraft carrier' (instead of the battleship) Missouri." (Source:
from
George Putnam on KIEV radio 12:00 to 2:00 P.M. in Glendale California
I
am looking for a more specific source for this, so if anyone had one,
or, if
this quote is not accurate, please e-mail me)
Rip-Tootin'
At the opening of the new Gore 2000 HQ, Gore said something about a
"rip-tootin'" campaign. Maybe he meant "rip-snortin'" or "rip-roarin'"
or
"rootin'-tootin'"? (Source WTVF (TV) News, Nashville, Tenn. 10/6/99)
Daily Town Hall Meetings
"I certainly learned a great deal from 3,000 town hall meetings across
my
home state of Tennessee over a 16-year period" in Congress, the vice
president told NPR's Bob Edwards. Do the math. That's 187 town hall
meetings
per year, or a meeting in Tennessee every other day for 16 years,
including
weekends, holidays, vacations, and time spent running for president in
1988
and for vice president in 1992. (Source:
http://www.cei.org/UpdateReader.asp?ID=777)
Microsoft doesn't share code, Al.
Vice President Al Gore's attempt to speak nerd-talk to computer
programmers
has developed into a high-tech faux pas. A message hidden in the
programming
code for Gore's presidential campaign Web site touts his support for
sharing
software codes. But the high tech aficionados who went looking behind
the
scenes found the entire site is built using products from Microsoft
Corp. -
a company that refuses to share its programming code. "It's like he's
saying
he's all for buying American cars and then driving around in a Honda,"
said
Jim Jagielski, a core developer of the Apache software that powers most
Internet Web sites. (Source: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 4-9-99)
(Sources: http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/18390.html;
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/9903/09/le.00.html)
More on Gore's vast computer knowledge
"We feel, and the Defense Department feels, that problem is not going to
be
a problem. Of course, it can't be a problem. We won't allow it to be a
problem.... We're confident that it is going to be solved, but we're
going
to be doubly, triply and quadrupally confident that it's going to be
solved
before September of this year." And I didn't even know "quadrupally" was
a
real word! Special thanks to http://www.duh-2000.com for this! (Source:
Quoted on San Jose Mercury News Gore says U.S. will be ready for Y2K
February 28, 1999.)
Special exception for Clinton.
"I seek this office to restore the rule of law and respect for common
sense
to the White House." ...
"Americans in every region and in both political parties have been
shaken by
the betrayal of public trust ... and the dishonesty of the public
officials."...
"Any government official who ... lies to the United States Congress will
be
fired immediately." Gore must be talking about the standards he'd apply
to a
Republican White House! After all, he referred to Clinton as "one of our
greatest presidents" at the White House Post-Impeachment Pep Rally on
December 29, 1998! (Source: Seattle Times, June 29, 1987)
The inspiration for "Love Story"?
"Around midnight, after a three-city tour of Texas last month, the Vice
President came wandering back to the press compartment of Air Force Two.
Sliding in behind a table with the two reporters covering him that day,
he
picked slices of fruit from their plates and spent two hours swapping
opinions about movies and telling stories about old chums like Erich
Segal,
who, Gore said, used Al and Tipper as models for the uptight preppy and
his
free-spirited girlfriend in Love Story; and Gore's Harvard roommate
Tommy
Lee Jones, who played the roommate of the Gore-like character in the
movie
version of Segal's book." (Time, 12/15/97)
"Vice President Al Gore acknowledged Sunday a 'miscommunication' on his
part
in leading reporters to believe he and his wife were the model for the
1970s
romance novel 'Love Story'."
"The author, Erich Segal, told The New York Times he was 'befuddled' by
the
comments in the first place. He said he called Gore, and the vice
president
said it was a misunderstanding." (Sources: The Des Moines Register,
12/15/97; Gore concedes 'miscommunication' about 'Love Story' role)
Cameron
We are going to find out what Gore did with the E-Mail.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — Opening the door to possible criminal charges,
Independent Counsel Robert Ray has impaneled a new grand jury to hear
evidence against President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky
scandal, The Associated Press reported Thursday, quoting unidentified
legal sources. Word of the new investigation came hours before Vice
President Al Gore was to deliver his nomination acceptance speech at
the Democratic National Convention.
Ausbrook noted that "we've made public that the Lewinsky investigation
remains open and that the E-MAIL investigation remains open."
At issue is whether Clinton committed perjury or obstructed justice
when he denied an extramarital affair in sworn testimony in the Paula
Jones case.
The e-mail probe focuses on whether the White House concealed
thousands of electronic messages sought by investigators. Presidential
aides have denied any wrongdoing.
The judge in the Jones case has already ruled the president gave
intentionally false testimony and fined him for civil contempt of
court. The disciplinary committee of the Arkansas Supreme Court has
also moved to revoke Clinton's law license.
Ray got the go-ahead to continue his investigation Wednesday from the
three judge panel that appointed him last year.
Cameron
More skeletons from the Democrats coming out of the closet.
STAMFORD, Conn., August 17 — A Juvenile Court judge ruled Thursday
that there is sufficient evidence to try Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel
in the 1975 slaying of a neighbor girl, but ordered an investigation
into whether the 39-year-old man should be tried as an adult or a
juvenile.
SKAKEL is charged with murder in the death of 15-year-old Martha
Moxley, who was bludgeoned with a golf club. The case is being handled
for the time being in juvenile court because Skakel was 15 at the time
of the killing.
Judge Maureen Dennis ruled Thursday that enough evidence exists to try
Skakel, a nephew of the late Robert F. Kennedy.