Bush Lost Without Pre-Selected Audience, when Called on his Lies

All Things Political w/ Dr. Bill

October 8, 2004

Live debates puts Bush out of handlers care, away from pre-cleared Republican audiences for 90 uncomfortable minutes.

In the run-up to last Thursday's presidential debate, we were repeatedly told that George W Bush had the edge: his warm, folksy approach allowed him to connect with people, while Democratic challenger John Kerry was regarded as cold and cerebral.

What chance would Kerry have, then, against a down-to-earth president who came across to voters as someone they could have a beer with, or turn to for comfort when they lost their dog?

We were also told presidential debates are not determined by substance; Richard Nixon lost in 1960 because of his 5 o'clock shadow, while Al Gore was said to lose in 2000 because he sighed too many times.

But when the media pundits were finally cleared off the stage and the real show began, an odd thing happened: a real debate broke out.

To the surprise of many, Kerry came across as strong and even presidential, while Bush appeared faltering, confused, petulant and almost inarticulate at times. He seemed like a schoolboy who'd been sent to the front of the class to discuss a book he hadn't read. And to make matters worse, he was obliged to debate a guy who was suddenly coming off like Abe Lincoln.

It hardly seemed fair, leaving Bush twisting in the wind at the front of the class like that for a full 90 minutes. Wouldn't an hour have been punishment enough?

Seeing their president squirm might come as a bit of a shock to many Americans, who may never have really seen him confronted.

Probably no recent president has been as carefully shielded from public scrutiny, or as tightly scripted, as this one.

Bush's occasional ventures beyond the protective confines of the White House compound have generally been to military events or gatherings of pre-cleared Republicans.

Kerry even managed to tell the public some things they probably didn't know, things that help explain the growing resistance to US occupation

He only agreed to appear before the 9/11 commission on condition that he could bring along Vice-President Dick Cheney. The administration apparently feared allowing Bush to go unscripted into a session where some tough questions could come his way. Better to have the more experienced and savvy Cheney on hand in case any heavy mental lifting was required.

Although allowed little access to Bush, the media have been surprisingly pliant, rarely putting tough questions to the administration. Whatever the reason for this - perhaps fear of being attacked as "liberal" - it has allowed the highly organized and aggressive White House spin machine operated by Karl Rove to largely control the agenda and shape the current presidential campaign.

That's why Thursday's debate was so jarring: all of a sudden, Kerry seemed in control, putting Bush on the spot in a way the president really hadn't been before. Lines that Bush has long tossed off breezily without contradiction in front of a sea of military uniforms were abruptly challenged in the debate.

As usual, for instance, Bush suggested his invasion of Iraq was necessary because "the enemy attacked us." But Kerry quickly pointed out that Bush had gotten the wrong enemy, that it was Osama bin Laden who masterminded 9/11 and who got away while US forces invaded Iraq.

Kerry drove home the absurdity of invading Iraq in response to 9/11 by comparing it to invading Mexico in response to Pearl Harbour.

Bush projected his usual optimism about developments in Iraq, which he portrayed as on its way to freedom.

But Kerry cited senior Republicans who've recently acknowledged things are actually deteriorating over there. He quoted Bush's father, who explained in a book his decision not to push into Baghdad in the 1991 Gulf War because "Our troops would be occupiers in a bitterly hostile land." The elder Bush had a point.

Kerry even managed to tell the public some things they probably didn't know, things that help explain the growing resistance to US occupation. He pointed out that the US is currently building 14 military bases in Iraq, and that US troops marching into Baghdad had failed to protect buildings - except for the oil ministry. Kerry noted that these sorts of things leave some Iraqis thinking, "maybe they're interested in our oil."

Some of the best-paid minds in the US are no doubt at work reconstructing the president's image. But we can look forward to two more debates where once again we'll get to watch the most powerful man in the world operating outside the confines of the White House sheltered workshop.

And last week's debate - on national security - was supposed to be Bush's strong suit. As for the next debate, bring it on.

Linda McQuaig is an award-winning journalist and a columnist with the Toronto Star, in which this column originally appeared. She is the author of It's the Crude, Dude: War, Big Oil, and the Fight for the Planet,, published by Doubleday Canada, 2004.

Bush's mystery bulge

The rumor is flying around the globe. Was the president wired during the first debate?

by Dave Lindorff
Salon
Oct. 8, 2004 

Was President Bush literally channeling Karl Rove in his first debate with John Kerry? That's the latest rumor flooding the Internet, unleashed last week in the wake of an image caught by a television camera during the Miami debate. The image shows a large solid object between Bush's shoulder blades as he leans over the lectern and faces moderator Jim Lehrer.

The president is not known to wear a back brace, and it's safe to say he wasn't packing. So was the bulge under his well-tailored jacket a hidden receiver, picking up transmissions from someone offstage feeding the president answers through a hidden earpiece? Did the device explain why the normally ramrod-straight president seemed hunched over during much of the debate?

Bloggers are burning up their keyboards with speculation. Check out the president's peculiar behavior during the debate, they say. On several occasions, the president simply stopped speaking for an uncomfortably long time and stared ahead with an odd expression on his face. Was he listening to someone helping him with his response to a question? Even weirder was the president's strange outburst. In a peeved rejoinder to Kerry, he said, "As the politics change, his positions change. And that's not how a commander in chief acts. I, I, uh -- Let me finish -- The intelligence I looked at was the same intelligence my opponent looked at." It must be said that Bush pointed toward Lehrer as he declared "Let me finish." The green warning light was lit, signaling he had 30 seconds to, well, finish.

Hot on the conspiracy trail, I tried to track down the source of the photo. None of the Bush-is-wired bloggers, however, seemed to know where the photo came from. Was it possible the bulge had been Photoshopped onto Bush's back by a lone conspiracy buff? It turns out that all of the video of the debate was recorded and sent out by Fox News, the pool broadcaster for the event. Fox sent feeds from multiple cameras to the other networks, which did their own on-air presentations and editing.

 To watch the debate again, I ventured to the Web site of the most sober network I could think of: C-SPAN. And sure enough, at minute 23 on the video of the debate, you can clearly see the bulge between the president's shoulder blades.

 Bloggers stoke the conspiracy with the claim that the Bush administration insisted on a condition that no cameras be placed behind the candidates. An official for the Commission on Presidential Debates, which set up the lecterns and microphones on the Miami stage, said the condition was indeed real, the result of  negotiations by both campaigns. Yet that didn't stop Fox from setting up cameras behind Bush and Kerry. The official said that "microphones were mounted on lecterns, and the commission put no electronic devices on the president or Senator Kerry." When asked about the bulge on Bush's back, the official said, "I don't know what that was."

So what was it? Jacob McKenna, a spyware expert and the owner of the Spy Store, a high-tech surveillance shop in Spokane, Wash., looked at the Bush image on his computer monitor. "There's certainly something on his back, and it appears to be electronic," he said. McKenna said that, given its shape, the bulge could be the inductor portion of a two-way push-to-talk system. McKenna noted that such a system makes use of a tiny microchip-based earplug radio that is pushed way down into the ear canal, where it is virtually invisible. He also said a weak signal could be scrambled and be undetected by another broadcaster.

Mystery-bulge bloggers argue that the president may have begun using such technology earlier in his term. Because Bush is famously prone to malapropisms and reportedly dyslexic, which could make successful use of a teleprompter problematic, they say the president and his handlers may have turned to a technique often used by television reporters on remote stand-ups. A reporter tapes a story and, while on camera, plays it back into an earpiece, repeating lines just after hearing them, managing to sound spontaneous and error free.

Suggestions that Bush may have using this technique stem from a D-day event in France, when a CNN broadcast appeared to pick up -- and broadcast to surprised viewers -- the sound of another voice seemingly reading Bush his lines, after which Bush repeated them. Danny Schechter, who operates the news site MediaChannel.org, and who has been doing some investigating into the wired-Bush rumors himself, said the Bush campaign has been worried of late about others picking up their radio frequencies -- notably during the Republican Convention on the day of Bush's appearance. "They had a frequency specialist stop me and ask about the frequency of my camera," Schechter said. "The Democrats weren't doing that at their convention."

Repeated calls to the White House and the Bush national campaign office over a period of three days, inquiring about what the president may have been wearing on his back during the debate, and whether he had used an audio device at other events, went unreturned. So far the Kerry campaign is staying clear of this story. When called for a comment, a press officer at the Democratic National Committee claimed on Tuesday that it was "the first time" they'd ever heard of the issue. A spokeswoman at the press office of Kerry headquarters refused to permit me to talk with anyone in the campaign's research office. Several other requests for comment to the Kerry campaign's press office went unanswered.

As for whether we really do have a Milli Vanilli president, the answer at this point has to be, God only knows.

Electronic ear used by Bush: Official specs by the company who delivered these to the White House

PRODUCTS: PROFESSIONAL AUDIO BY HME
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Innovative features like PC and PDA interface, automated power control, simultaneous dual-channel interface, Wireless ISO - plus all the standard capabilities - give you more operating power and flexibility to achieve the best performance. Combine all that with a ruggedly-constructed design, the PRO850 provides the utmost reliability and sound quality.

System Highlights

• Frequency agile/Exceptional operating range

• Wide frequency response with low distortion

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• PC and PDA interface

Founded in 1971, HM Electronics, Inc. (HME) is an innovative technology company focused on enhancing your company's productivity and customer service. Our groundbreaking products, passion for excellence, and commitment to service have earned us the distinction of being the leader in quick service restaurant communication, timing and surveillance technologies. HME offers an integrated line of products that streamlines operations and enhances customer service.

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HME is privately held and provides products to over sixty countries. We have installed over 50,000 systems worldwide. The key to this success lies in the importance we place on meeting your evolving needs and the competitive spirit that drives us to be the best

And More on the subject….

They Gave This Device To Bush, Told Him To Stick It In His Ear, Shut Up And Repeat What You Hear

by Earl Nash, ECTV Political Analist

Oct 10, 2004

The electronic device that Bush wore under his suit jacket that allowed him to repeat what he heard in his ear is called "Receive-A-Cue" and is detailed in this article.

The RC-216 Receive-A-Cue system is a professional quality, digitally synthesized wireless cueing system operating in the interference-free 216-217 MHz band. The IR-230 induction receiver and NTC-102 neck-loop eliminates the need for visible wires going directly to the ear. With the adjustable volume control and low residual noise, this discrete earpiece is loud enough for even the most demanding environments. The dual function M-216 transmitter can be used with a lapel microphone for live cueing, or the AUX input and whip antenna can be used to send cues from a line level audio input source. Also, the AUX input on the transmitter allows for prerecorded material to be played back from another sound source such as an MP-3 player, dat recorder, or even a feed from a mixing board. When using the mic input and the AUX input simultaneously, the AUX input will automatically lower its level to prioritize the signal from the mic input.

The complete RC-216 system includes:

• M-216 wireless microphone transmitter

• CM-183 omni-directional lapel microphone

• PR-216 personal receiver

• NTC-102 neck-loop transductor

•  SM-N earphone assembly

•   IR-230 inductor receiver

• Auxiliary audio input cable

• C-216 carrying case

RC-216 Option 1: Separate microphone muting switch only mutes voice from the M-216 transmitter microphone, allowing auxiliary input program to remain on.

The complete system includes:

• IR-230 universal-fit ear canal inductor receiver

•  NTC-102 neck-loop transductor with two 32" down-lead cords (one 1/8" and one 3/32" plug)

P-11 storage pouch.

IFB & Cueing