08
Oct
Is Bush Wired?
Is President Bush being fed lines through an earpiece in his meetings with the press and other public appearances? It may sound crazy, but many people have reported actually hearing, from time to time, another voice, as if on an audio feed, saying what President Bush then repeats several seconds later.
Since we live in an “information age,” inevitably an entire new website — www.isbushwired.com — is now devoted to discussion of the anomalies surrounding Bush’s often awkward style of public speaking, and to the persistent reports that at least some live Bush broadcasts have included another voice seeming to prompt the President’s responses.
As “The Voice in Bush’s Ear,” a recent posting on the website, explained:
“This site is a clearinghouse for discussion of whether President Bush uses an earpiece through which he’s fed lines and cues by offstage advisers. His speech rhythms suggest this, as do some of his word choices and interjections, and his constantly shifting eye movements while speaking. And there’s another form of evidence: Television viewers have sometimes heard another voice speaking Bush’s words before he says them. ”
One example is from when Bush spoke at D-Day ceremonies in France last June. As the site notes, “viewers watching on CNN, Fox and MSNBC were startled to hear another voice speaking Bush’s words as if to prompt him. ” Some said this continued into the question-and-answer period.
Here’s another example: when Bush appeared on television to address the nation on 9/11, some viewers of television stations in Quincy, Massachusetts and New York City say they heard another voice speaking, slowly and carefully, a few words at a time — words which were then recited by the president. As one Quincy resident reported, “The voice was nondescript, male, definitely not the president’s voice.”
“Reporters should have looked into this long ago,” the Isbushwired site proclaims. But to date the press has failed to ask whether the president secretly relies on unseen handlers for public events and press conferences.
So I decided to investigate, and went directly to the top — to Mark McKinnon, Media Director for the George W. Bush re-election campaign. McKinnon is by most accounts one of the top media strategists and image-makers in the business, having helped to elect a slew of Democrats before switching sides and successfully running media operations for Bush’s first presidential campaign in 2000. Although now a died-in-the-wool convert, McKinnon is different from many Bush operatives in that he is open, responsive, and often displays a keen sense of humor, as evidenced by his emailed response to my query:
“I love this. Am tempted to say, ‘I cannot confirm or deny,’ and let the story get some legs. Or, how about, ‘Since we put the metal plate in his head, we have had some measure of success with audio transmissions to the President.’ Or, ‘Yeah, but it clearly broke down during the debate.’”
McKinnon continues: “Unfortunately, the truth is not nearly as interesting. The answer is, ‘The President has never been assisted by any audio signal.’”
So the official denial is now on the record. Any readers or viewers who think they can prove otherwise please do so. Any bloggers or chatters who can offer more than conspiracy theories — see dailykos.com (Sat Jun 5th, 2004 at 18:43:30 GMT) and rense.com as well as postings on Salon.com and the Washington Monthly online — please do so immediately. And any media professionals — like the “top Washington editor for Reuters” who reportedly told isbushwired last spring that “Sure, Bush uses an earpiece sometimes. State of the Union — he had an earpiece for that. Everybody knows it.” — please identify yourselves.
Wired or no? Audio from the first debate and other appearances . . .
As you may know, film of the first debate appears to show what looks like a bulge between Mr. Bush’s shoulder blades, visible only because his suit was pulled tightly across his back at that moment and because of the positioning of the strong stage lights which cast a slight shadow around the bulge. ( http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/08/bulge/index.html )
Here is some audio of a telling moment in the debate when Bush was answering a question, starts stuttering inexplicably mid-sentence and suddenly and testily blurts out “let me finish” even though he still had plenty of time left to answer and no one on stage was interrupting him:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/125456/index.php
Also, it certainly appears that Bush has been electronically fed lines in the past. Here is a partial clip of a broadcast (from CNN, I believe), which picked up the audio of a transmission coaching Bush on what to say during a joint press conference Bush had with Chirac around the D-day anniversary. I did not hear this broadcast at the time, but I have spoken with people who did and said that it did indeed happen:
http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/BushAndTheOddSync.wmv
Here is a lengthy discussion involving people who heard this CNN broadcast and who heard prompts to Bush during other speeches/public appearances:
http://www.isbushwired.com/
October 8th, 2004 at 12:17 pmNote that McKinnon’s comment - “The president has never been assisted by any audio signal” — does NOT mean an audio signal was never sent to him! It only means he wasn’t helped by it.
October 8th, 2004 at 1:13 pmSounds like a distinction without a difference, Barry.
October 8th, 2004 at 1:52 pmMcKinnon’s denial is pretty straightforward.
Remote Control President?
October 8th, 2004 at 3:48 pmToday’s Salon.com reports on this mysterious buldge on President Bush’s back during the first Presidential debate. The story echoes blogger speculation President Bush was wearing an earpeice with someone feeding President Bush lines. You can see thi…
Bush finished a speech yesterday and left the podium but almost immediately turned back while patting his chest as though he was looking to make sure that he had put something in his pocket. He looked concerned. Then a man crossed behind him and handed him something that was bigger than a pen. Bush placed the item in his right hand trouser pocket. I’ve thought about it and cannot think of anything he would have had at the podium other than papers or a glass of water. This item was neither of those. Sorry I did not note the time or TV channel but it was on 10-7-04 I’m pretty sure.
October 8th, 2004 at 4:20 pmMcKinnon’s statement is not consistent with the CNN video. “The President has never been assisted by an audio signal.” Either the video clip is bogus or McKinnon’s statement is.
October 8th, 2004 at 5:08 pmI don’t know that much about tracking radio signals, but is it not possible to have the DNC and Co. put the next two debates under radio surveillance to hear who is feeding Bush his lines?
October 8th, 2004 at 5:08 pmTo markinkc–The video clip provides no proof of any audio assist. If you have evidence to the contrary, please supply it.
October 8th, 2004 at 5:16 pmto Liberty: Assuming someone IS feeding Bush lines, it may be technically possible to surveill. The answer lies in the precise nature of the equipment that might be used. Presuming the USG has access to the state of the art technology, however, which would be wireless and would employ frequency-shifting, it might be quite difficult to do. I don’t know if the DNC could–or would — but the DIA or NSA probably could!
He did not answer the question. He said “Bush has never been assisted by any audio signal”. I think we can all agree that, if Bush was wired, it certainly did not “assist” him.
October 8th, 2004 at 6:12 pmmmmm… well the truly conspiratorial might point to the theories regarding devices that cause bone vibrations which can then be picked up by the “listener”. I guess that wouldn’t be “audio” then would it?
Personally I’m just curious as to what the answer was when you asked Mr McKinnon what the device on the President’s back during the debate was? You *did* ask this obvious question didn’t you?
October 8th, 2004 at 6:58 pmit’s “dyed-in-the-wool”
October 8th, 2004 at 7:09 pmI assume most have now seen the NY Times article on the mystery bulge,complete with the absolute denial from the Bush camp, as well as the various ‘Tailor did it” articles:
Bulge in Bush suit wasn’t a radio, campaign says
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/9877053.htm
Secret debate device denied
http://www.freep.com/news/politics/wired9e_20041009.htm
Bush’s tailor unravels Web rumor
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002058469_bushbulge09.html
Speaking of tailors, ‘nitpicker’ is right about ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ but hopefully this story will now become ‘dead in the water,’ although given the consiratorial natture of much of the blogosphere, I suppose that is far too much to hope for.
Still, it seems sad that a post about such a relatively inconsequential item led to such a storm of Internet commentary — and eventually even pickup in much of the MSM –while my previous post, ‘Cheney, the Sauids, Saddam and the Bomb,’ a substantive analysis of the long history of and ties between the Cheney/Bush faction, their Saudi pals, and Saddam Hussein’s nuclear bomb development, went relatively unnoticed–and needless to say, occasioned no more pickup in the MSM than did the 1993 film it referenced.
October 9th, 2004 at 2:02 pmWhat does that say about the state of both the MSM AND the blogosphere?
Very odd nobody mentioned Cheney’s and Rove’s obvious hands up his ass.
October 9th, 2004 at 9:14 pmNot pretty big fan of american politics, i passed around a website hosting this book wrote by dr John Coleman, nammed committee of 300 (well that speaks conspiracy, bush, england etc..) And now, the jacket outfit.
October 9th, 2004 at 11:06 pmIt seems that people are quite obsessed by bush familly conspiracy things - why is that ?
That the voice precedes Bush’s is very suspicious, especially at Chirac news conference. All those who would shoot this whole thing down have alot more than tailoring to explain. We all know that Rove & Company will stoop at nothing to win the election, and, even though Bush messed up bigtime in the first debate, seems it may have been that his feed did not work properly, since he is incapable of speaking unscripted. This story cannot die, since Bush cannot be allowed to be fed lines in third debate.
October 10th, 2004 at 4:13 amASIDE FROM THE PUPPETMASTERS PULLING HIS WIRES,WHAT’S WITH HIS JAW GOING BACK AND FORTH LIKE A SPEED ADDICT?
October 10th, 2004 at 10:07 amHow does the video clip not prove anything? I understand that a digital file on the internet is not the best proof, but why isn’t CNN (and other networks) being called upon to provide their copies of the taping? How can a voice that preceeds the President speaking be explained (following it would have implications of transcript or translation, but not preceeding)?
October 10th, 2004 at 12:00 pmHey look, that “bulge” in the photo of BUsh’s back during the first debate is NOT a wardrobe malfunction (uh - tailoring error). It appears to be perfectly rectangular, and, I mean, who would let the president go on tv with a messed-up suit - it’s like having a blob of gravy on his tie.
This is exactly where one would place an electronic receiver, since having it in, say, his breast pocket could deliver feedback to the microphone in front of him. This is especially true assuming the device is wireless, in which case no line can be seen proceeding toward his ear. As for the earpiece, even high-end hearing aids are so small they can barely be detected.
Can we possibly believe the word of any member of this administration on any subject? They don’t want to admit their guy is a blithering idiot. This is why he, like Reagan, hates press conferences, where his utterances must be responsive and unscripted. Thank goodness for modern technology, eh?
And can you believe the fairly unbalanced network tried to rag on Kerry for, they claimed, extracting a piece of paper (i.e., cheat notes) from his pocket before the debate, but it turned out it was only a pen.
October 10th, 2004 at 5:31 pmFor links to stories and other blogs covering this issue, I invite you to check out http://www.mysterybulge.com . Thanks, Jim
October 11th, 2004 at 12:23 pmRory, someone says that he got more information on bush wire, (from isbushwired), his name is Scott Zale at the bush-cheney campaign in knoxville. his “speech” is on isbushwired, section : Latest: Odd Goings-on in Tennessee
October 11th, 2004 at 9:02 pmFor those still interested in exploring whether or not Bush’s bulge was ‘tailor-made’ or not, I pass along Bush-Cheney Media Director Mark McKinnon’s final comment on the controversy.
McKinnon emailed me over the weekend in response to my earlier, jocular remark to him, to wit:
“Please tell the prez he definitely needs a new tailor…even my suits look better than that!”
To which McKinnon responded:
“His tailor has been tailor to like last six presidents…”
Seems like a checkable fact, so anyone out there in cyberspace who wants to investigate and report back, please do so.
Which begs the question, of course: “If the same guy has been tailoring presidents for decades — how come W. is the only one whose jacket’s bulge so mysteriously?”
October 12th, 2004 at 11:35 amIt’s odd that the voice precedes Bush’s speaking, but it’s possible for one signal to overtake another, eg through one being subject to greater digital delay than the other.
In Bush-Chirac.zip there’s also a second voice that repeats the journalists questions, a voice that coughs before Chirac coughs, and the female voice at the end translating Chirac’s words appears to be ahead of him.
October 12th, 2004 at 9:38 pmwell i finally managed to get a copy of the bush-chirac press conference and it seems fairly obvious to me its a feed mixup of the actual audio. When the phantom voice is quite clear it sounds just like George Bush. What’s more, just before the question session, the voice sighs and then starts to talk all exactly in sync with what bush does and says a moment later. The sync is to precise. The parts where people claim it is different seemed to me to be the parts where the phantom audio was least clear. When it’s clear, i’m pretty certain it’s Bush’s own voice. And I’m not even republican. Ineed, I’m not even an American! :-)
Still - the Mystery … what is that bulge? There is a second photo doing the rounds with Bush driving a truck on the ranch showing a similiar bulge …. curiouser and curiouser …..
October 13th, 2004 at 10:40 amIf you, DJS, have a copy of the DDay press conference, then perhaps you could upload it to the net somewhere, particularly the parts where you believe the voices are in sync and identical?
October 13th, 2004 at 4:34 pmAlready posted. Just click on my name.
October 13th, 2004 at 4:51 pmThe voice does seem to have the same cadence and inflections of Bush. Is there a way to separate the two voices and match them together to see if they match exactly?
October 13th, 2004 at 4:53 pmAnother odd thing is that although the Bush-Chirac news conference was months ago and we’re told that “rumours have been circulating for months” that Bush is wired, I’ve not been able to find any online references to this matter before about 6 October. I’m not an expert researcher by any means.
TimB
October 13th, 2004 at 5:00 pmI don’t understand how anyone can claim that the other voice is just a “shadow” of Bush’s own voice? Listen (and watch) the first 15 seconds of the clip and you will hear very clearly the “shadow voice” say: “I look forward to working with president Chirac on the…” (without stuttering), whereas Bush says: “I look working.. uh.. look forward to working with..”.
By looking at the video one can also see that the stuttering is real.
So. Did the stuttering and wrong choice of words somehow just disappear from the “digital shadow”?
October 26th, 2004 at 12:55 pmPS! Another interesting fact. If you watch the end of the CNN video from the first comment in this thread, you can see the CNN reporter shaking his head like in disbelief before he goes off the air. Why does he do that?
October 26th, 2004 at 1:08 pmBush busted by NASA
October 29th, 2004 at 4:07 pmwww.salon.com…
‘That mysterious bulge on President Bush’s back during the first presidential debate was not an electronic device feeding him answers, but a strap holding his bulletproof vest in place.’
Seems plausible, no?
More:
http://www.hillnews.com/under_dome/110404.aspx
Found via:
November 5th, 2004 at 2:24 pmhttp://www.wonkette.com/archives/gossip-roundup-put-some-ice-on-tinas-head-please-024952.php
When this question first arose whitehouse was quoted as saying Bush did not wear a bullet-proof vest during the debates.
I’m willing to accept that it was a strange rectangular object without any explanation. :)
November 5th, 2004 at 4:17 pmOkay I was going to let this die, but…
FAIR: New York Times Killed “Bush Bulge” Story
Five days before the presidential election, the New York Times killed a story about the mysterious object George W. Bush wore on his back during the presidential debates, journalist Dave Lindorff reveals in an exclusive report on this week’s CounterSpin, FAIR’s weekly radio show. The spiked story included compelling photographic and scientific evidence that would have contradicted Bush’s claim that the bulge on his back was just a matter of poor tailoring . . .
http://www.fair.org/press-releases/bush-bulge.html
November 5th, 2004 at 5:32 pmYes, George Bush is wired. For laughs, not for sound.
But seriously, before any of the hooplah began about this subject, I thought he was being prompted. I’m sure he is. But Tarzan doesn’t want anybody to know that.
January 20th, 2005 at 10:42 am