Today is a day of redemption for Al Gore. Today is a day of achievement in the field of “invention.” Today is a day when Al Gore will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Webby Foundation for his role in bringing government agents and AOL clones to the vast virtual wasteland called “the internet.”
During a March 19, 1999 interview on CNN's Late Edition, test-tube baby Wolf Blitzer asked Al Gore what separated him from his Democratic challenger, Bill Bradley:
BLITZER: I want to get to some of the substance of domestic and international issues in a minute, but let's just wrap up a little bit of the politics right now.Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate? What do you have to bring to this that he doesn't necessarily bring to this process?
GORE: [Political gibberish]…During a quarter century of public service, 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… [Political gibberish]
BLITZER: On this political front, the polls currently see Governor George Bush of Texas and even Elizabeth Dole ahead of you in a hypothetical race nearly two years away from today. Why do you think that's the situation?
Gore's words cannot be considered anything beyond a poorly stated claim to pieces of irrelevant legislation but that didn't stop the gremlins of the future Bush Administration twisted Gore's words by quoting him as “the father of the internet.” The real crime that allowed the subsequent slander is the utter incompetency of Wolf Blitzer. Instead of doing his job and asking Gore to clarify his internet comments, Blitzer moved to the next question—a hypothetical question. Over six years later, Blitzer is still outright ignoring whatever his guests are saying to prepare for his next question.
This award does nothing for Al Gore. Nobody cares about Webby recipients. Nobody cares about Gore's persistent internet paternity problems. Wolf Blitzer deserves to cover front-line action in Iraq.
