The Penultimate Part (we think - there is a weekend coming)
So what do our two parables have in common?
- They both involve former vice presidents running for president.
- They both involve embarrassments that happened in front of lots of people with access to the tools of mass communication.
- They both are based on …
… wait for it …
… lies.
In our first parable, Bush’s fascination was not with the existence of barcode scanners but with a software product that was able to read UPC codes even when torn or partially obscured. Judging by the performance I see in the self-scan aisle of my local mega-low-mart, this technology remains intriguing. I swear, a single drop of condensation on the frozen peas and, well, you know.
In our second, it seems that Erich Segal had NOT based his character on Al Gore. What?
But he had told him he had. That is actually what Gore said to the folks on the plane: That Segal had TOLD him he had based the character on him.
In fact, Segal told anyone else who would listen that the Ryan O’Neill character (for you movie fans) was a composite of Gore and his college roommate. Some guy named Tommy Lee Jones.
Tommy Lee Jones as a roommate still doesn’t punch your “cool” ticket? I give up.
But what about Gore’s claim that he invented the Internet?
Well – surprise! – as it turns out he didn’t.
I mean he didn't claim that he did.
What he actually claimed was to have “taken the initiative” to create the Internet. That claim, by the way, was supported by no less than who most people say is the guy who actually did invent the Internet.
What Gore was probably talking about was his authorship of the legislation that made it all possible.
Hmmm.
How could so many people be so wrong?
Next … How to Avoid (Maybe) Falling into the Wrong Dominant Narrative
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