Vice President Gore Writes for Slate

calibanDNS writes "Slate Magazine (owned by Microsoft) is running an article by VP and presidential hopeful Al Gore. In the article he downplays tension over the recent 'Findings of Fact' and suggests a crucial issue for voters: 'Whose finger do you want on the ALT-CONTROL-DELETE button?' He also talks about the features of Win 2K. The article has the normal Gore tone to it, but it gives us a good idea of what Gore's policy on monopolies and dealing with them is." All in all, a surprisingly decent article. Really. Sure wish we could get VP Gore to do a Slashdot interview, but every time we ask we get fobbed off on a different campaign staffer. Oh well.

Comments

ALT-CONTROL-DELETE?

[kootch]

I'm curious, but how many of your would actually say "ALT-CONTROL-DELETE"?

normal pronunciation, correct me if I'm wrong, would be "CONTROL-ALT-DELETE", wouldn't it? Don't most people, in the instances when they have to, go from left to right? And wouldn't you say it aloud the same way that you normally hit the buttons?

now try doing it the way Gore suggested.

ALT CONTROL DELETE

go on. try it with me.





sorry about that, I really wanted to see how many of you almost rebooted your computer

More Comments

[calibanDNS]

Slate has its own thread of comments on the article that can be seen here. There are several good comments and A LOT of flames. Maybe they should impliment a moderation system over there.

~Caliban

Hate crimes

[Col. Klink (retired)]

Al Gore says "And to me, in a year when Matthew Shepard was crucified on a split rail fence because of his sexual orientation; when James Byrd was dragged to his death because of his skin color; and both a Filipino-American and a Korean graduate student were murdered because of the shape of their eyes--I cannot comprehend how some can argue that hate crimes are no different from all other crimes. That is why we need tougher laws to prevent and punish them."

Two of the killers of Byrd have already been given the death sentence, the third is still on trial.

The killer of Matthew Shepard avoided the death penalty because the family did not seek it, but he will still face life behind bars.

How, exactly, could "hate crime" legistlation possibly affect these crimes?

Re:Hate crimes

[mochaone]

How, exactly, could "hate crime" legistlation possibly affect these crimes?

Okay, two can play that game. I'll answer your question if you can answer mine:

Why is premeditated murder considered more reprehensible than other murders? Why are cop murderers more likely to face the death penalty than someone who drives a cab?

You're looking for equity in a system where there is none. We have already acknowledged gradations of criminilality with proportional punishment. Why do you have a problem with elevating hate crime to the lofty status of premeditated murder or cop killing? Is it because it serves to protect people that you feel don't deserve extra protection in the law? If so, I hope you are beseeching your congressmen/senator to overturn the laws in use now that provide disparity in dispensing justice.

Re:Hate crimes

[Sxooter]

I'm a bisexual, polyamorous pagan. There are many people for whom I am on the short list of "people who the government could haul away and I wouldn't say anything."

I think the hate crime legislation is wrong mainly because it tries to take the decision of sentence length away from the judge and jury and tries to give it a pre-defined standard that cannot consider all the possibilities.

I prefer the jury and judge have large leeway in sentencing of crimes based on ANY motive or circumstance, not just one or two.

I imagine that most of us would agree that someone who killed hundreds of school kids just for fun should be put away forever, or to death. Another man kills a man he finds in bed with his wife in rage. Whould that guy be just as screwed if the other man happened to be another race? I could see racially motivated sentencing guidelines becoming 1984ish in nature over time.

Let the jury decide, not congress.

It's very very unlikely he wrote the article.

[MattXVI]

..Sure wish we could get VP Gore to do a Slashdot interview, but every time we ask we get fobbed off on a different campaign staffer. Oh well.

Guys, I work on Capitol Hill, and can assure you that Al Gore did NOT write the article. A staffer did. Vice-Presidents, Presidents, and Congressmen do not have time or inclination to do this, especially when they are campaigning. Everything is written and edited by staffers and looked over (sometimes) by the politician.

I can think of only a handful of exceptions to this. Nixon was the last President to write a significant number of his own speeches. Ronald Reagan was the only President to write a book while in office (It was a short book on the subject of abortion). Al Gore actually was one of the few to write a book himself while in office (the execrable Earth in the Balance), but a few of his Senate staff did most of the research. Anyway, Senators serve six-year terms, and have more time on their hands. Almost any other example I can think of was ghostwritten.

Re:It's very very unlikely he wrote the article.

[technos]

You've a point. Most pols seem to pass it off to staffers. Perhaps we should forget asking for a 'Gore' interview and just ask for the uber-staffer? We might stand a chance: the staffer will spend his/her political career in the shadow of 'The Candidate', and a dose of limelight might just be enticing enough.

Re:Hope he comes through

[SoftwareJanitor]

I won't vote for Gore because of his stance on gun control, for his stance on crypto (he was the poster-boy for Clipper, for instance), etc. His continual boneheaded remarks are the least of my concern, as I don't think any other politicians at his level have much of a clue when real tech issues come up.