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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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
It's significant because the debuates give Americans a chance to see the candidates "one-on-one" presenting their ideas and defending their actions. If one of them is using a audio prompt, it gives a significantly unfair advantage to the one with the technological superiority, in this case the incumbent, and misrepresents the candidates ability to think on their feet, and explain themselves.
First Falcon-1 to orbit, then Falcon-9. Then I can die a happy man.