One thing that really disgusted me about DOGE is that we did have a very successful reduction in the scope of the federal bureaucracy 30+ years ago, the National Partnership for Reinventing Government: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Partnership_for_Rei... . But we didn't want a thoughtful, respectful plan for reducing the scope of government, we wanted a WWE bomb thrower.
Side note, I think Al Gore was one of the most effective politicians of the last 50 years who wasn't president and he got tons of shit for it: 1. He never said he "invented the Internet", but he did give critical federal support to the Internet in its early days when he was a Senator, and technologists who actually know what they are talking about credit him with this, 2. He implemented the most successful reduction in the federal bureaucracy since WWII, 3. He conceded the 2000 election for the good of the country - he did not foment an uprising to try to fulfill his narcissistic supply, 4. He made many people aware of the dangers of climate change (though this may have admittedly backfired as some people interpret anything that comes from a Democratic voice as a "liberal hoax").
He said "During my service in the United States Congress, 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", which is very very close to being indistinguishable from "inventing the internet"
> very very close to being indistinguishable from "inventing the internet"
For a native English speaker, no it isn't.
Also fwiw, if you weren't working in the field at that time, experiencing the process of connecting to the then Internet, I don't think you can comment on this authoritatively.
Your own quote you posted didn't say "I created the Internet". It said "I took the initiative in creating the Internet", which when coming from a politician is most reasonably interpreted as creating the conditions and policies (e.g. funding and regulatory framework) to make the Internet possible, which, according to the inventors of TCP/IP, he did.
I create a Local Area Network by connecting and configuring devices to a local router, as opposed to inventing Local Area Networking hardware equipment and respective protocols.
> Gore's actual words were widely reaffirmed by notable Internet pioneers, such as Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, who stated, "No one in public life has been more intellectually engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the Vice President."
> Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development.
> No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community. But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to
our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.
Side note, I think Al Gore was one of the most effective politicians of the last 50 years who wasn't president and he got tons of shit for it: 1. He never said he "invented the Internet", but he did give critical federal support to the Internet in its early days when he was a Senator, and technologists who actually know what they are talking about credit him with this, 2. He implemented the most successful reduction in the federal bureaucracy since WWII, 3. He conceded the 2000 election for the good of the country - he did not foment an uprising to try to fulfill his narcissistic supply, 4. He made many people aware of the dangers of climate change (though this may have admittedly backfired as some people interpret anything that comes from a Democratic voice as a "liberal hoax").