Was Bush WIRED for the first debate?- Page 2

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 2:17pm

oh and...i guess they managed to remove his brain from rove's head, "dry" it, and drop it back in his noggin since that last one, huh?

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 2:33pm

papa... in all honesty... do you really think that Bush came off that much smarter in the second debate? I'll give you that he did a better job this time out. It would have been virtually impossible for him not to have. But intelligent? Do you think that this man sounds even remotely presidential? I found him to be his old shrill, angry, and arrogant self. I'm not saying this to get a rise out of you. I'm genuinely embarrassed to have him as my president.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 2:36pm

oh he was "wired" alright! and it had nothing to do with an earpiece.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 2:46pm

in all honesty, curtain, in command of the issues and "strong and resolute." lol. i had to throw that last part in. but yeah, c2, he didn't come off as a rhodes scholar, but he came off as coherent and well versed on the issues. that's what i saw, but more importantly, he was able to look through the camera and kerry didn't.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 7:19pm

This is from a friend in broadcast news. Apparently, all 4 networks (not Fox!) have reporters investigating this story. The White House has yet to offer an explanation.

=====

There is, however, equipment which we in the news business call a "wireless IFB". IFB is "interruptable feed back" and is the next generation of what news anchors wear in their ear to receive instructions from the control room producers. They are the size of a pea, and no longer require the cord to be plugged into the desk. Diane, Charlie, Peter, Barbara... all have them.
If it were me, and I was running the President's debate team, I'd make sure the President was outfitted with one of them.

====

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 7:43pm

If there is one word that has been stripped of its dignity and purpose it's "resolute." It has been rendered meaningless by this regime--at best, a synonym for "stubborn" or "... in the grip of denial." Yeah, the latter works for me.

But so many phrases have been rendered meaning-free, as propaganda-ized, by their efforts to "unify" (add that word!) America. My own least favorite phrase of this horrible era is all over some bumpers these days: "Support Our Troops." It no longer means send prayers and loving concern to the men and women of the armed svcs. It means "I GET IT and YOU DON'T. Now shut the hell up, because you're no American!" It's said often, but ever apparent: Not since 'Nam has honest dissent been so demonized, so Coulter-ized I should say, to turn a passionate investment in a different outcome into something tantamount to traitorous behavior.

Updated On: 10/9/04 at 07:43 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 7:51pm

it was body armor. they're not going to say that because the secret service does not discuss the security procedures as that discussion would invalidate some of them. if you watched this last debate you could clearly see the same outline of the "wire" except that it ran down both sides. watch cspan's coverage and you can clearly see the body armor outline every time bush leans forward, which is often. the fact that folks are still yammering about a non-issue is proof that bush won #2.

[Brunhilde75]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 1:35am

Body armor? I have some Florida swamp land to sell you...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 10:24am

In case you missed the Times story on this on Saturday.

====

October 9, 2004
The Mystery of the Bulge in the Jacket
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - What was that bulge in the back of President Bush's suit jacket at the presidential debate in Miami last week?

According to rumors racing across the Internet this week, the rectangular bulge visible between Mr. Bush's shoulder blades was a radio receiver, getting answers from an offstage counselor into a hidden presidential earpiece. The prime suspect was Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's powerful political adviser.

When the online magazine Salon published an article about the rumors on Friday, the speculation reached such a pitch that White House and campaign officials were inundated with calls.

First they said that pictures showing the bulge might have been doctored. But then, when the bulge turned out to be clearly visible in the television footage of the evening, they offered a different explanation.

"There was nothing under his suit jacket," said Nicolle Devenish, a campaign spokeswoman.

"It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric."

Ms. Devenish could not say why the "rumpling" was rectangular.

Nor was the bulge from a bulletproof vest, according to campaign and White House officials; they said Mr. Bush was not wearing one.

====

The upshot is that everyone in the media is now convinced that Bush was being fed lines by Karl Rove, which has added to the general feeling that the emperor has no clothes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coverage of the final debate.
The Mystery of the Bulge in the Jacket

Updated On: 10/11/04 at 10:24 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:53pm

CNN has a poll up about the bulge. Almost 90% think Bush was cheating.

====

What do you think was behind the bulge on President Bush's jacket during the debates?

An Electronic device 89% 5434 votes
A bulletproof vest 6% 344 votes
Bad tailoring 2% 122 votes
A vast left-wing conspiracy 3% 198 votes

Total: 6098 votes

This QuickVote is not scientific and reflects the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Internet users in general, nor the public as a whole. The QuickVote sponsor is not responsible for content, functionality or the opinions
VOTING BOOTH

[badkarma719]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 5:47am

it looks to big to be a cable

I mean honestly
how many of you have worn wireless mics before
the cables are not that big
they are about the same size as headphone cables

although
I dont Bush would have been smart enough anyways to listen ans talk at the same time either so...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 10:07am

Left: President Bush drives his pickup truck at his Crawford, Texas, ranch in August 2002. Right: Bush gestures toward John Kerry during the presidential debate in St. Louis last Friday.

Technical expert: Bush was wired

A Bush spokesman tells Salon there is nothing to the story. But as the final presidential debate looms, speculation grows about the mysterious bulge.

By Dave Lindorff

Oct. 13, 2004 | Speculation continues to run wild about President Bush's mystery bulge. Since Friday, when Salon first raised questions about the rectangular bulge that was visible under Bush's suit coat during the presidential debates, many observers in the press and on the Internet have wondered aloud whether the verbally and factually challenged president might be receiving coaching via a hidden electronic device.

Now a technical expert who designs and makes such devices for the U.S. military and private industry tells Salon that he believes the bulge is indeed a transceiver designed to receive electronic signals and transmit them to a hidden earpiece lodged in Bush's ear canal.

"There's no question about it. It's a pretty obvious one -- larger than most because it probably has descrambling capability," said Alex Darbut, technical and business development vice president for Resistance Technology in Arden Hills, Minn. Darbut examined photographs of the president's back taken from the Fox News video feed at the first presidential debate in Coral Gables, Fla., as well as 2002 photos of the president driving and working in a T-shirt on his Crawford ranch, which were posted on the White House Web site.

Darbut speculates that the device the president wears is provided by the Secret Service, noting, "They're not going to have him driving around the countryside on his ranch without being in instant contact with him."

No one in the White House or Bush campaign, however, has offered such an explanation. In fact, the Bush camp has shed little light on the mysterious protuberance, turning aside questions with dismissive humor or rising tones of exasperation. The president is "a regular guy," White House chief of staff Andy Card told Salon's Tim Grieve before the second debate last week. "Maybe his suit had a little lump in it or something." Campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish took the same line with the New York Times on Saturday: "It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric." But Devenish, the Times dryly noted, "could not say why the 'rumpling' was rectangular." Campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel brushed aside a questioner in a Washington Post chat session by saying, "I think you've been spending a little too much time on conspiracy Web sites."

On Tuesday, in response to repeated questions from Salon, the Bush camp finally issued a flat denial. Campaign spokesman Reed Dickens denied that Bush has ever used an electronic device to aid his public speaking, insisting the president was wearing "nothing during the debates." When asked about the pictures taken at the Bush ranch, Dickens said the president has never used any devices except for cutting tools and earplugs to protect his ears from the high-decibel chainsaw. Nor has the Secret Service outfitted Bush with a hidden communications device, according to Dickens: "He doesn't need something like that because the Secret Service is always with him. They ride in the truck in the back. Wherever he goes, they're with him."

Despite the official denials, the bulge brouhaha is still ballooning. On Tuesday, the New York Daily News produced a master tailor named Frank Shattuck who, after viewing photos from both debates, confirmed, "There's definitely something there, in between the shoulder blades. I can't say what it is, but it's not hidden very well. They should have come to me. I can hide a pistol under the breast."

In Orlando, Florida, TV station WFTV polled its viewers, asking, “Do you believe the accusations that President George W. Bush was wired during the presidential debate?” Of 35,000 respondents, only 42 percent answered no, while 36 percent replied yes, and 22 percent said possibly.

Meanwhile, blogs, chat rooms, bulletin boards -- and Salon's letters pages -- continue to buzz with discussion about Bush's possible electronic enhancement. Reports are flying around the Web about earlier televised events where audio glitches allegedly permitted TV viewers to hear someone directing what Bush to say, including his public remarks at the Sea Island G-8 summit meeting in June, his D-day anniversary speech in France, and a New York speech following 9/11.

One thing is certain: During the final presidential debate in Tempe, Ariz., on Wednesday night, all eyes will be on Bush's back.

salon.com

About the writer
Philadelphia-based journalist Dave Lindorff writes regularly for Salon. His latest book is "This Can't Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy."
Technical expert: Bush was wired

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 10:26am

It made it on TODAY this a.m., with Couric and Russert.

Dismiss it as hysteria if you want ...but it explains his phumpering, and poor performance. This board is the perfact place to deconstruct such a practice -- because it's one of the main reasons actors generally hate prompters: the ear is focussed on the material being cued, rather then letting the brain do its job. It creates a kind of paralysis.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 10:27am

OK:

1) If Bush was going to be wired, you'd think the CIA, FBI, etc could produce something MUCH smaller. For example, a receiver completely (the whole thing) hidden within the ear canal.

2) If you're the President and there is a decision to be made, you have a whole truckload of people there to advise. If it's OK for the National Security Advisor to advise the President on a day-to-day basis, then why is it NOT OK for a campaign advisor to advise during a debate?

3) If Bush is as stupid as many people out there like to think, he would not be able to use an ear prompter. Hell, I'm a pretty smart guy and I have good public speaking ability, but even I have difficulty with an ear prompter.

4) What's with the hump under the t-shirt while driving down the road?

5) Prehaps this issue beeing made such a big deal of is an indicator of 'panic' from our friends on the Left.


DON'T FLAME ME JUST BECAUSE MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT THE SAME AS YOURS!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 10:33am

Fact is, the entire media has decided that he was receiving coaching during the debates--which is against the rules.

Which means he just used up his last "Get Out Of Jail Free" card.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:22am

I swear, sometimes people are blind.

No one wants to see that Kerry has no shame as he is now trying to use a dead Christopher Reeve to get votes. John Edwards is now claiming that in a Kerry administration paralyzed people like Reeve will walk. Hallelujah!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:29am

Christopher Reeve on Bush:

The actor was infuriated with Mr Bush's position on stem-cell research and, in the Independent interview, berated Congress, which was debating a bill to make it illegal for Americans to receive treatment abroad. "I could go to the UK, have a procedure done, arrive at Kennedy airport, get off the plane and be arrested," he noted. "That would be the height of absurdity."

...

"When he was elected governor in Texas, he made a speech in which he declared that it was part of God's divine plan for him. I think that the way he is running this administration shows that he believes he is on some kind of mission, guided by a higher authority ... The problem with that is it has closed the door to debate."
Actor, family man and champion of stem cell research: Superman Reeve dies

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:33am

Well, I've said before I don't agree with the President on the stem cell issue.

My point was that I think it's bullshat for Kerry to use Reeve's death for his campaign.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 7:09pm

I suspect that Christopher Reeve would applaud Kerry getting the message out about stem cell research.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 7:10pm

Amen, iflit - what better tribute - and sense of the cause carrying onward.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 10:08pm

My gut tells me this prediction: look for Dana Reeve to come out in a specific way, representing her husband's wishes, supporting Kerry.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 8:27am

From Salon this morning.
The bulge returns