The Voice in Bush's Ear

Some of the comments being posted about the Bush earpiece on other sites are clearly planted by Bush supporters who hope the story won't make it out, [Postscript, Friday a.m: Salon just posted a story by Dave Lindorff, adding a bit more to his Counterpunch piece] because when people start thinking about it, it's obvious that Bush's been doing this for at least four years in plain view. And there goes the election for the Republicans: the president is not only a miserable flub, but a cheat.

That's why Drudge et al are puffing up silly stories about Kerry's pen!

The point of the Bush wire wasn't to voice entire answers for him. It was to slip him critical information and phrases and cues and prompts. Bush can talk perfectly well for the limited kinds of things he wants to say. He can be folksy and funny. Dyslexic, yes, but he can talk. What he can't and won't do is apply himself (you know, "hard work") to learning things, or considering issues carefully, formulating arguments, assimilating facts. He's lazy. He hates thinking.

And he's always cheated when he could. He believes in cheating and dirty fighting as much as he believes in anything. Still, I suspect that it's been a slippery slope for Bush and Rove and Karen. First they gave him an audio prompter, so he wouldn't have to read speeches and stumble on words. Nothing wrong with that -- it's like a teleprompter for a dyslexic. They should have 'fessed up to it, though. When he started using a human cue card in his ear for press conferences, that's when it became very wrong. Taking it into the debate was outright fraud, a "fuck you" to truth, justice, and the American people.

To me, the most appalling aspect is the role of the press. The Washington press have sat on their smug behinds for four years and watched him do it, and closed their eyes and ears to it, even denied it in his behalf on occasion. They think "reporting" is giving the White House the benefit of the doubt, without even asking the question in the first place! Most amazingly, they actually think they're smarter than Bush.

Here's a posting from The Washington Monthly online."I was watching the Bush press conference and I saw something that I think is interesting. I remember seeing some comment on another blog (Eschaton?) about Bush wearing an earpiece during press conferences and being fed answers. I think it was a joke or idle speculation. Well, if you watch the press conference starting at about 13:23, Bush is going through a list of names of Al Qaeda terrorists they have caught and he stumbles over the name of Ramzi Binalshibh, eventually calling him Ramzi Alshibh. He jokingly apologizes to Ramzi if he got his name wrong and then, at 13:32, he looks down and to his right intently for about 2 seconds, like he is listening to something, and looks up and says "Binalshibh, excuse me." As I recall, people usually look up and to the left when trying to recall something from memory. So where did he get the correct name from? I've watched the segment several times, and I am sure he has an earpiece in his right ear. It just looks so obvious from the expression on his face and the way he holds his head."

Actually, he looks as if he's being prompted in the minutes after that, too, straining to "listen" at times, and pausing and hedging as he awaits a cue.

About This Blog

IsBushWired was created by a journalist with twenty+ years of experience in print, radio and television. It originated during the first debate, when I noticed a boxy shape under the president's jacket. As a viewer, I had previously suspected Bush of being coached via an earpiece in interviews and news conferences, because his language rhythms, strange pauses, and sudden access to facts or phrases were like nothing I'd ever seen. That was far from my mind when I watched the first debate, however. Although I've written or worked for some of the best news outlets in the country (and never had to retract or apologize for a story, either) I've chosen to remain anonymous here in order to keep the focus on the story rather than on the messenger, and to hold at bay Rove's squads and Freepers, who like nothing more than to personalize issues that they can't defend based on the facts.
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