Lies & the Lying Liars Who Tell Them_ A Fair & Balanced Look at the Right - Al Franken [18]
In other words, Gore told his audience of high school students that they should put aside their cynicism and get involved in the political process. Gore had a sterling reputation as an environmental crusader, but here he was handing credit over to an unheralded teenage girl from a little town called Toone. His speech was a beacon of hope for decency and humility in American politics.
A careful observer would have noted Gore’s hands firmly gripping the podium, his ass extended behind him awaiting the brutal violation the media was about to administer.
First, both The New York Times and the Washington Post misquoted Gore, changing “That was the one that started it all” (referring to Toone, Tennessee) and making it into: “I was the one that started it all.” The Republican National Committee helpfully fixed up the grammar, sending a fax to reporters stating that Gore had said, “I was the one who started it all.”
Chris Matthews joined in the gang bang, accusing Gore of claiming to have “discovered” or even “invented” Love Canal. Even though The New York Times and the Washington Post issued corrections, the story was off and running. Rupert Murdoch, in the form of the New York Post, called it “a bald-faced lie.” The National Journal said Gore was “mangling the truth for political gain.” On NBC, ABC, pretty much everywhere, Gore the Exaggerator had done it again.
I mean, was the man sick? Yes, he had held the first hearing on Love Canal, and yes, those hearings had led to a major national law, and yes, he had told the story accurately. But, c’mon, Al! How many times do you have be misquoted before you learn not to ever say anything to anyone that could possibly be taken out of context and changed to make you look bad? Like Oliver Barrett IV, Al Gore was learning the painful truth that being a reporter means never having to say you’re sorry.
Meanwhile, over in the Bush camp, things weren’t too rosy either. Anytime the candidate said something “stupid,” it was jumped on as evidence that he might not be up to the job. Sometimes the criticism seemed fair, like when he said that “more and more of our imports are coming from overseas.” Or when he said, “I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.” Or when he said, “I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy.” Or when he said, “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.” Or when he said, “Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.” Stupid, stupid, stupid.
But sometimes, Bush, too, was the victim of a cynical, hypercritical press. Like when he was ridiculed for saying, “Rarely is the question asked, ‘Is our children learning?’ ” But he was right. Until Bush had had the guts to ask it, I had never heard that question asked.
Or how about when he used the word “subliminable”? Not once, but four times. Personally, I think by using the word “subliminable,” Bush was himself employing a subtle subliminal device. Think about it: “Subliminable . . . sublimin-able . . . sublimin- able . . . subliminally, I am able to be President.” See? It took until this very moment for you to get it, didn’t it?
But while the press may not have been picking up on his clever strategy of lowering expectations and subliminally manipulating the public, they were also ignoring some actual substantive lies.
Bush was lying throughout the 2000 campaign. And unlike Gore’s lies about Love Canal, Love Story, and the Internet, Bush’s lies weren’t even true. Remember how Gore took credit for the Internet, which he funded? Bush took credit for a Texas Patients’ Bill of Rights, which he