Slashdot Mirror
Battle of the Bush Bulge
cyberman11 writes "Get out your tinfoil hats! Salon.com is running an article about Internet speculation that Bush uses an earpiece prompter and
ignores his teleprompter while making speeches. Bush exhibited peculiar pauses between sentences while speaking during the debate and a large solid object appears between his shoulder blades as he leans over the lectern. He also interrupts himself in the middle of one of his responses by interjecting "Let me finish!" while he still had time remaining to answer and no one else had spoken." If Bush was wired, the receiver would be the size of a deck of cards or smaller, not some giant thing strapped to his back. Update: 10/09 16:10 GMT by J : The NYT contacted the Bush campaign and got a few answers that rule out the innocuous explanation that I had assumed.
Let's be real people. Most of us dislike George W. as much as the other guy but do you really think they would try to cheat at the debates? And don't you think that if they did cheat Bush would have done a better job? Do you really see Karl Rove (boy genius ®) couching him to say "It's hard work" over and over again?
Even Michael doubts it's true and we all how about his political leanings. As for the big thing in his back -- may I be the first to make the obvious suggestion: bullet-proof vest?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Indeed. Heck, there wouldn't be anything on the back at all; the earpiece would be all that's needed.
The story's veracity is also hurt by Salon running it, given its reputation for "All Bush bashing, all the time." TeeVee's terrific parody of Salon from earlier this year got that characteristic dead on.
I just assumed that's where the fuel cell's went for our robotic prez. Come on folks, this guy looks identical to the robot at Disney's Hall of Presidents. Indentical!
Too bad all the source sites I've seen for this appear to be fake and its a challenge posted on RTMark . Would have been an interresting story otherwise, myself not being a Bush supporter :)
I just submitted this story along with this image. Its an high resolution version (independent from salon), much improved using frame interpolation. It shows something smaller then a deck of cards. Why the big wire is another thing though. The radio microphones used on stage have bigger wires then your usual headphone becouse of the wear and tear with the amount of movement they get. Wear and tear doesn`t mix well with... sweat. (ask google about something called a "sweat-out" one day, when you are not at work...)
Also electoral-vote mentions that the group organizing the presidential debate confirmed one of the agreed rules was that bush was not to be filmed from the back.
I only checked electoral-vote.com to see if I screwed up calling this SOAP webservice, I started blaming the reversal in the numbers compared to yesterday on SOAP, I guess it doesn`t suck as much as I think it does.
And Kerry took a note out of his pocket and Badnarak wasn't even allowed to show up and nothign of substance got discussed.
Please, can we stick to something that matters?
When will Windows be ready for the desktop?
This is just as silly as all of the accusations that Kerry had a cheat sheet for the debate. Frankly, after listening to the debate a couple times, I've got to say that if Bush was cheating, he did a pretty piss poor job of it.
Instead of an in-ear prompting device, could it be a vest-type body cooler? There are quite a few of them around, though most are passive devices that you cool by freezing, etc. before you put them on.
I can imagine keeping the "calm, cool, and collected" look was a high priority for the candidates, and neither wanted to look sweaty and nervous.
Yes, the green light means he still has a lot of time, but this is Bush. Pay close attention to his inability to pace himself with the lights. At one point he started talking very fast in response to a green light, then slowed down realising that he still had time, but slowed down too much. Then after the light turned red he speeded back up way too late and kept talking after it started flashing.
If Bush was wired, the receiver would be the size of a deck of cards or smaller, not some giant thing strapped to his back.
I believe you are talking about the battery, not the receiver. In any case, a deck of cards is thick, which makes it much harder to conceal, even if it is smaller in width and height. It makes more sense for it to be spread out, like to the size of the bulge, to make it less conspicuous due to a thinner profile.
Everyone knows Cheney switched several years ago from using an earpiece to using anal electrodes to control Dubya.
If Bush was wired, the receiver would be the size of a deck of cards or smaller, not some giant thing strapped to his back.
Everyone knows that this is where the charging unit plugs in, Bush is just a robot puppet, being controlled by others.
I fail to see how having a better speaker make lines for you to speak during a presidential debate is cheating. I mean, they have swarms of people doing their research for them, their speeches are obviously entirely canned, what part do the presidential candidates actually play except for talking heads?
As for the earpiece in general... If I had to write speeches for that man I'd do that too. His intelligence doesn't exactly burn like a nuke-u-ler fire.
The only way this could be actual major news is if the format of the debate forbade audio prompts. Which, if true, would be the kind of trivial infraction that the American people would be able to understand and hate him for. Anyone know the rules?
The ______ Agenda
If they wanted to get rid of the earpiece, they could have used a Neurophone which is about the right size for that bulge. Flantech's FAQ states that the transducers do not have to be placed on the temples, they can be placed anywhere on the body - but closer to Bush's brain is obviously better (so they were probably placed on Karl Rove).
Money for nothing, pix for free
The larger size is due to the power supply for the electroshock device.
Ever thing it just the shoulder rest for the bulletproof vest that most recent presidents wear when out and about?
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
Your link is slashdotted, but I've seen the image before. It doesn't look like a wire to me; I'm sure you could buy tiny one, and this bulge is huge. I'm guessing we're looking at a pad and strap from a bulletproof vest.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
That is most likely body armor..
When pressed with the claim that the earpiece has been seen before, in his other ear, the source indicated that further information would be forthcoming. A gleeful Terry McAuliffe shot back with the claim that Bush was, "Deaf in one ear or another, depending on which side of him Colin Powell was sitting."
I heard this yesterday and then rewatched the debate.
When Bush begins speaking he spends more time not talking than talking, like he's repeating dictation. Not like a normal person at all.
Good thing the ground rules say Kerry can't come near him or speak to him directly.
"Reactionaries must be deprived of the right to voice their opinions; only the people have that right." - Mao
Looks like you can get relatively inexpensive receivers about the size of a pager.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
i hate bush as much as anyone but i have bought a LOT of suits (was in sales for years) and that bulge is just the fabric bunching next to the stratch between the shoulder blades.
:( let's defeat bush because he is a psychotic half-wit, without breaking out the tin-foil hats
try it yourself. get a piece of fabric and stretch it between 2 smooth surfaces (like shoulder blades). it will bunch up at the opt and bottom of the stretch.
speaking of stretching, this whole theory is a real stretch too
All these comments and not one reference to The Puppet Masters? I'd be shocked at the decline in American literacy, but it's even been made into a movie.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
I didn't know you guys ever took those off. I mean really the kind of idoits that troll around slashdot for politics are the kind of people that go to Kerry for hunting advice.
Bush is a target for assassination. He was probably wearing a bullet proof vest and what you see is most likely a bulge related to that. I hate GW but I can't see him cheating at a debate.
From my experience, it is common for shirts that are not tailored well (or at all), and thus loose-fitting, to be pinched behind the back - a sort of taking up of slack in the shirt, so that your forward appearance is as crisp and clean as possible. I had a few modeling sessions (no, I'm no looker - it was a face-of-the-corporation thing for PR/advertising). Wasn't there a news anchor many years ago that admitted to sitting on his shirttails, his secret for keeping the unwanted billowing out of his camera view? In my military service, we were encouraged to tuck our dress shirts into our briefs/boxers to achieve a similar effect.
To me, that's what this looks like, since the bulge appears more of a thick cable, like the folding or rolling of cloth, than a black box or the uniform displacement of a flack jacket.
main(){char I,l,O[]={'-',1-1,0,(1<<5)-1,0+'-',-10-1,-10,11-0,
Let's try a more plausible explanation for Bush's weird speaking cadence. Bad debate strategy.
The Republican political technique is based on repeating a small number of simple consistent messages to the electorate. It's the "talking point" thing. Get everybody top to bottom saying exactly the same thing in the same phrases over and over and over again in every venue you can put them in, and pretty soon the message starts to stick. The pauses in the President's delivery were him thinking on his feet, trying to find a way to connect the topic to one of these small number of messages they've chosen.
First of all, he's not as skilled as the usual talking heads at this game. Furthermore, this wasn't some cable news segment, this was a presidential debate. Not only is he under greater scrutiny than the the normal talking head would be, he's under it for a lot longer. It's not five minutes of blather then cut to the commercial, it's ninety minutes of white hot attention, stacked up next to a determined opponent who has managed to eliminate all of his rivals up to this point.
As a result, the dominant impression he left was that he didn't have enough material -- exactly the opposite of what you'd expect if he were wearing a wire.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
if he where wired, why wouldnt it be in the small of his back where everone else on tv wears mic transmitters? it would be hidden under the loose part of his jacket instead the between his shoulder blades. which is really the tightest part of any mans jacket.
;>
well next to having a beer belly
always mosh clockwise
This has to be one of the most unoriginal hoaxes.....Come one, it's about as weak as W's WMD claims, and even he's stopped working that.
When Slashdot started to post political stories Cmdr Taco said: "We'll do our best to be fair with story selection. We think we can do a good job since the Slashdot editors represent a diverse spectrum of political ideologies." I fail to see the objectivity in Slashdot posting. The left again fails to understand that when they control a given media outlet they have a responsibility to show evenhandedness as they excercise that control. This blatant bias is what gave birth to the likes of the Drudge Report and Fox News that the left hates so much. The left at one time had a virtual lock on all media outlets in the United States. They did a fairly good job as custodians of free speech and the public trust for a long time. Then they decided to use this control as a vehicle to influence public opinion. Net result, public backlash and along comes Fox News claiming to be fair and balanced (neither of which are entirely true). The incredible growth of Fox News and other outlets like Drudge for example have spurred conventional (read left wing) media attacks against conservative outlets which in turn fuels the continued rise of conservative media. The big loser in this situation is the public because there is nobody doing a credible job of presenting intelligent viewpoints from both ends of the spectrum. Note that I did not say an unbiased view just a fairly represented one. I believe that Slashdot is primed for a fork due to this type of irresponsibility and will lose a lot of its credibility and almost half of its readership when its "fair and balanced" alternative shows up. Thus will end the only unified forum for our community because Slashdot editors and a good chunk of the Slash community at large are constantly failing to learn that when some voices are silenced all of our voices are diminished.
I think I am going to have to add another layer of tinfoil to my hat to block this one out.
Slashdot - Where the slash is most definitely to the left.
It was a radio jammer so Kerry's men could take over Bush's receiver and whisper subversive comments into his ear.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
Check out the rear-camera video feed grabs available from several different sites (my fave is http://www.isbushwired.com). There's definitely a small rectangular object under there, along with a wire or something snaking up to his right shoulder.
Is that the same technologie the CIA used to show that Saddam had an ICBM in his backyard?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Nixon-Mecha from Futurama anyone?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Suppose W actually did set out to have an earpiece/receiver set up so that Karl Rove could coach his dumb ass.
He's all set to go but
Now wouldn't that be funny? He's got no way to complain at all.
It probably didn't happen that way but it's fun to think about.
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
I hate conspiracy theories, but explain this video: http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/BushAndTheOddSy nc.wmv
The democrats should get Parker Lewis to jam Rove's signal and make Bush say "I.. uh.. love snorting unborn babies" during tonight's debate.
Actually, the bulge in the picture looks to be just about the size of a deck of cards.
This is such a lame farse. How about we hold a contest to see how many things we can photoshop into the President's suit.
RTFA.
The article says
"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. "
I'm curious why no one has come up with the obvious answer: the bulge is the casing protecting the parastic larval cacodemon that taps directly into his spine.
Bush Bulge?
Oh, I thought you meant This Bush Bulge.
Is he trying to impress us or is that just body armor?
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
In his diary, Bush admits to hearing voices.
Could it be...?
True, but the rest of the object is taken by a 10,000 wolt zapper that smacks the dummy in the back every time he missbehaves.
I wonder who has the zapper button.....
It's really great to have you here....but Mr. Vice President, are you still trying to push that nonsense that Saddam attacked the US? There never was any evidence backing up that charge whatsoever. It's fiction.
that since they speak such different languages, it was neccessary for bush to resort to using a babelfish
;)
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
http://www.isbushwired.com/
Conspiracy theories aside, the explanation is mundane.
This was analyzed in a Language Log post by Mark Liberman. Conclusion: very easily Bush was trying to control the flow of the debate, and more specifically, Bush was probably talking to Lehrer because it might have seemed like he was done.
That bulge is just the spot where the Bavarian Illiminati's henchman Donald Rumsfeld inserts the key to wind up his favorite tin soldier.
I'd link to my source, but I read it on indymedia just before the feds took their site down.
They're coming for me now, I can hear 'em coming onto the porch. Quick, mirror this comment!
... is the alien symbiont. Haven't you guys seen The Puppet Masters?
1) I had roommates in college studying to be translators who explained to me how difficult it is to provide "live" translation because you have to speak while still listening to the speaker. If you're sufficiently fluent in both languages, the actual translating almost doesn't factor into it. Similarly, very few people could listen to a handler while speaking to the cameras, hence Dubya's difficulties. The hunching/slouching over the podium seems to be common unconscious body language to people who are concentrating on listening.
2) Generally speaking, since the networks were never interested in audience shots (or it was stipulated that they wouldn't show the audience), they would have no interest in placing cameras behind the candidates: why bother to explicitly stipulate against it unless it was to avoid exposing Dubya's coaching?
3) If he was in fact being coached by radio, he wouldn't clip any devices to his belt because he didn't want to be seen getting help from offstage.
4) The idea of a back massager or heat pad doesn't wash with a "tough guy" image if he couldn't "suck it up" and "take the pain like a man" for 2 hours
The current administration started scaring me before 9/11 and it doesn't help to think that Dubya has to be spoonfed at any/all public appearances, but I'm not sure this is any different or worse than teleprompters, except that they act like they're hiding something (if, in fact, they are)
When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
So...why would he want the receiver strapped to his back instead of, oh, I don't know, on his belt? I don't know what it was, but a radio taped to your back seems like the dumbest possible way hide a radio.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
How do you think this would've come about? Bush approached Rove (with others) willing to humiliate himself and sacrifice his "power" as president? Or did Rove and the rest of the security council suggest it to Bush and then he agreed?
Am thinkink not, comrades.
The biggest evidence of this, as far as I saw it, was that he didn't mispronounce or mangle that many words. I was amazed. At first I chalked it up to coaching, but almost every one 4 and 5 syllable words he used were perfectly enunciated. Honestly, I don't fault the guy when he mispronounces stuff -- he knows what he wants to say and maybe he doesn't hit every word on the head, but I can tell where he's going with his points most of the time.
I'm a little dyslexic myself, but it was caught when I was really young. Every now and again, I'll read or write a word with transposed letters. (Ex. I'll read "tevelision" but will still understand it as "television") I practiced a lot as a kid to read, write, spell and speak carefully. It's tough enough as a kid, but at the president's age, you're pretty much locked into your condition.
I don't think getting earpiece help is a bad thing, particularly for speeches or at functions that require the delivery of a planned address. I do, however, see the debates as a way for the candidates to speak in a less scripted way -- a more extemporaneous approch to delivering the messages. I would rather see the president not use the earpiece for the debates and thereby let his natural way of speaking be a part of the show. Clearly, he's going in prepped to the hilt, and he knows where he stands on the issues even if his delivery is a little awkward. That awkwardness is actually the better part of his "folksy" charm, because he's so open about it.
I won't be voting for the president in November, but I don't hate him, either, and if he wants to use an earpiece to make himself appear more erudite, then that's fine by me. I truly believe that he's a good man and that he honestly wants what he believes is the best for the country. I like the man and his motives. I'm just not dazzled by his performance while in office.
Where I think the earpiece can go bad is when he's depending on it for everything -- when he ceases to be himself and becomes the moving mouthparts of some other person (Rove, his wife, whoever) with better language, cognitive and memory skills. I hope he avoids depending on it for his answers. In a townhall venue like this upcoming debate, it will be less easy to fall back on an earpiece, anyway.
I'll be watching for the long pauses before he starts talking, like last time, and if I see them, I'll be very disappointed in him, even more disppointed than I've been with the progress he's been able to make for the country.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
As it happens, putting it on your back when you believe nobody is going to film you from the back (as were the "Debate" conditions) strikes me as being a reasonable way to hide a radio.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Why not put it on your belt in the small of your back?
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Source Associated Press... Please visit this location the photo is from here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/041 009/480/pd13510090242 This AP photo that shows that w's back was padded in the second debate to hide the device. I guess they do learn from some of their mistakes.
Sometimes I hate how right I am all the time. I read Interface at the start of this year as a prequel to the election, and have had the impression that Bush is remote-controlled ever since.
:)
Sadly nobody posted this obvious reference before, so I had to and couldn't moderate the very funny Seinfeld joke ("bro! - brazier!") above
Which btw is even funnier if you know that the candidate in Interface is named Cozzano
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
Ooops, looks like I upset a lot of Bush fans. It is not a troll, it is a joke :-)
--
http://www.cannonfire.blogspot.com/
Joseph Cannon refers to the controversy as "Promptergate". A few samples from his blog:
Fred Burks has acted as an interpreter for George W. Bush. (Note: "translation" is written, "interpretation" is oral.) Burks wrote the following letter to Bob Fertik of Democrats.com, who avers that he has verified that Burks did indeed hold down that job:
and to my great surprise it looks like bush **was** wired....
http://cryptome.org/bush-bulge.htm
Hmmm...
Any ideas on how to jam the RF being used by Bush's device?
Or better yet, get our own coaches giving Furious George some tidbits?
If we can indeed get our voices onto his channel, what might we get him to say??
Hours to go... this could be a prank for the history books.
Kinda reminds me of when Crunch phreaked into the Nixon hotline, and claimed to be the Pope calling...