Police have cleared former Vice President Al Gore of sexual harrassment charges in a case that created BIG HEADLINES in the tabloids and on some Internet news and partisan websites.
Here are the details via ABC News:
The AP’s video report:
Al Gore has had some public relations problems in recent years, some of them beyond his control, so his overall image is not the same as when his documentary won an Oscar. Among the problem: the continued debate over the existence global warming (but, then, there are also some who today even debate evolution) and his divorce from his wife Tipper.
Look for the tabloids and some talk show hosts to still try to keep the story alive and for some to imply that although he has been cleared he really is not innnocent. Because that’s the way our politics works: partisans will seize on any tidbit of negative or unflattering information to try and undermine an image since if the messenger is discredited to some it discredits the (political) message.
Also don’t expect the cheap jokes at Al Gore’s expense to cease.
PS: Did you know that Al Gore invented the clearing of charges?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.