# Bush video chat with soldiers was scripted/rehearsed. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276 "2005-10-14T20:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/21 "2005-10-14T22:31:04Z")
Pentagon as a whole denying as well, but some individuals there are pissed. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172262,00.html](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172262,00.html) > [@](#): > > Some senior Pentagon officials told FOX News that they are angry that soldiers were coached at all before the video conference went live. > [@](#): > > Privately, at least one senior military commander told FOX News that he’s outraged by the way the young soldiers were coached. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/22 "2005-10-14T23:22:29Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Bagdad Bob. Has anyone ever seen McClellan and Baghdad Bob together? Just askin’. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/23 "2005-10-14T23:25:04Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Has anyone ever seen McClellan and Baghdad Bob together? > > Just askin’. Touche. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/24 "2005-10-14T23:34:22Z")
Of course it was thoroughly vetted and rehearsed. They had to. GeeDubya has been hauling out military photo ops for years now. How many times have we been subjected to the same stem-winding stump speech for death, served to us as “news”. With no other object but to show us, once again, the boundless enthusiasm of Our Heroes for the Dear Leader. It used to work. Those polls, which the White House is blissfully unaware of, are in free fall. For a politician, this is a spurting artery. So they reached for the old reliable, the military photo op. Wrap a turd in a flag, and some people will salute out of reflex. Vetted? You fucking betcha vetted. Can you imagine how the fur would fly if a handsome young Marine chirped up “Yo, Mr. President, this bites the big green one. Fuck this shit, I wanna go home. I don’t know these people, I don’t like these people. Don’t want to kill any of them but I damn sure ain’t gonna die for them.” They made _damn_ sure who they had in front of that camera. How many of our troops support the policy. I don’t know, niether do you. Can tell you within a margin of error how many citizens at large support the policy. But no clue as to how many of our troops support it. I’m not _going_ to find out. Neither will you. Which means that they don’t know _either_. Probably two, three years ago they wouldn’t have _had_ to vett and script Our Heroes. Only thing they had to say was not too cheer _too_ loud for Dear Leader. Only 10-20 "Hoo-A"s, guys, really, keep it down. Probably not that many of us paid attention to the news story about how that Tillman boy died for a war he had no confidence in. But I’ll bet _they_ did. So, yeah, they vetted them. With a fine tooth comb, they vetted them. Lot of officers, right? Guys with careers to protect. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/25 "2005-10-14T23:51:18Z")
If we’re gonna get a “But Clinton–” response, it’s worth pointing out that John Kerry didn’t have a problem answering questions from hecklers in his Town Hall meetings. But then, the man was a damn _windsurfer,_ so there was no way he could get elected… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/26 "2005-10-14T23:55:20Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > But of course, those of you so eager to jump on the least little thing President Bush does will disregard that this is not news. Go ahead, have your feeding frenzy. I’m going to be busy writing my congressmen about the hideous non-recommendations of the Tax Reform Panel. You know…something _important_. Guesss the WAR isn’t important anymore! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/27 "2005-10-15T00:41:29Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > If we’re gonna get a “But Clinton–” response, it’s worth pointing out that John Kerry didn’t have a problem answering questions from hecklers in his Town Hall meetings. > > But then, the man was a damn _windsurfer,_ so there was no way he could get elected… But then Kerry wasn’t a draft dodging AWOL drunken chickenhawk either. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/28 "2005-10-15T01:50:37Z")
So Sgt. Ron Long, one of the men speaking with the president has his own blog. Take it from the horse’s mouth instead of having it regurgitated by all the media spin machines. Ron Long John does not seem to agree that it was staged or rehearsed event. He thinks it’s merely a matter of having prepared themselves beforehand. Seems to me there ain’t nothing wrong with being well prepared. Anyway Ron Long has a stupid name and his blog is full of bold letters and capitalised words – a sure sign that he should have his girlfriend kick him in the head with a steel boot. I just thought I’d let you guys know about the blog so you get some alternative views into that airtight bubble you live in. Alright, you can go back to throwing shit at your president now. Hells Bells! I love thowing shit as much as the next guy, so I hope you don’t mind I join in. Your president is a fat stupid turdbungler that makes a below average intelligence platypus look smart by comparison!!!1 heh heh So is your piece of shit country. Heh heh. So are all americans heh heh or was that taking it too far? [http://278medic.blogspot.com/](http://278medic.blogspot.com/) ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/29 "2005-10-15T01:56:13Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Anyway Ron Long has a stupid name and his blog is full of bold letters and capitalised words – a sure sign that he should have his girlfriend kick him in the head with a steel boot. Why do you hate America, you trrrst supporter? In all seriousness though, why is this even a blip on the radar screen? It’s such a non story…just another opportunity for the impotent to whine, I suppose. Whining does feel good sometimes, though. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/30 "2005-10-15T02:24:57Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Hells Bells! I love thowing shit as much as the next guy, so I hope you don’t mind I join in. Your president is a fat stupid turdbungler that makes a below average intelligence platypus look smart by comparison!!!1 heh heh So is your piece of shit country. Heh heh. So are all americans heh heh or was that taking it too far? > > [http://278medic.blogspot.com/](http://278medic.blogspot.com/) Fuck that, I didn’t vote for him, in either election. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/31 "2005-10-15T02:36:20Z")
You misunderstand, **Ruin**. There’s a blog by a service man that supports the Chosen One? Well, of course there is! You take any random group of one hundred American citizens your’re gonna find at least one who thinks GeeDubya heals the sick and raises the dead. I’m sure that holds true in the services as well. Add to that the entirely understandable human emotion _not_ to believe that what you are doing is useless, or worse, destructive. Of course, it is admirable that said Sgt. is willing to take such a risk, boldly and courageously agreeing with his superior officers. Inspiring. What about the other ones? There must be _some_, mustn’t there? How many, do you think? I don’t know, neither do you, and they damn sure aren’t about tell us. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/32 "2005-10-15T02:42:19Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > So Sgt. Ron Long, one of the men speaking with the president has his own blog. Take it from the horse’s mouth instead of having it regurgitated by all the media spin machines. Well Sgt. Long (porno name!) was one of the hand picked little bitches. wasn’t he? He was selected for this stunt precisely because he was willing to be a suck up and a stooge. What else would you expect him to say? I would also remind you that US troops are not permitted to say anything critical of their leadership in public, so if this guy has a blog with his real name on it, he has no choice but to clap his little flippers and bark like a good little seal. As for the “media spin machine” they caught the rehearsal right there on camera. It doesn’t require much spin. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/33 "2005-10-15T02:46:10Z")
The thing that bothers me the most about these staged events is that Bush now thinks he knows the true feelings of the troops over in Iraq. “Why, I just talked to a buncha them the other day. They all think things are going great and that the Iraqi people are behind them 110%. Anyone thinking differently is just a defeatist liberal who is looking to cut and run. We gotta stay the course and fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here. Bring em on!” :wally ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/34 "2005-10-15T02:50:28Z")
**elucidator** > [@](#): > > GeeDubya has been hauling out military photo ops for years now. Oh you are so damned right !! Having dinner with the troops for what was it ? Thanksgiving? Oh and how can we forget his strutting on that aircraft carrier after the Mission was Accomplished? One other reason President Dubya likes appearing with the military is they are a “captive audience” so to speak. Since he is the Commander In Chief, aren’t people in the military obligated to treat him with the respect that would be accorded any _real_ military officer? So, even if the military personnel were _not_ pre-selected, they would still be obligated to behave in a manner consistent with the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Yes, even if you had a disgruntled soldier talking to the President it would be _very_ detrimental to tell the President to go fuck himself. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/35 "2005-10-15T02:50:51Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > You misunderstand, **Ruin**. There’s a blog by a service man that supports the Chosen One? Well, of course there is! You take any random group of one hundred American citizens your’re gonna find at least one who thinks GeeDubya heals the sick and raises the dead. I’m sure that holds true in the services as well. Add to that the entirely understandable human emotion _not_ to believe that what you are doing is useless, or worse, destructive. > > Of course, it is admirable that said Sgt. is willing to take such a risk, boldly and courageously agreeing with his superior officers. Inspiring. > > What about the other ones? There must be _some_, mustn’t there? How many, do you think? I don’t know, neither do you, and they damn sure aren’t about tell us. No the point with Sgt. Ron Long Silver wasn’t that he was just any old fool in the shirt, but that he was actually one of those guys talking to the Anointed One. So. You wasn’t there, Keith Olbermann wasn’t there, I sure as hell wasn’t there, Clinton might have been there but he isn’t saying. However Ron Long was there. So what we gonna do? Go with all those who wasn’t there and only know by hear-say, or take the word of the one guy who was there? **Ruin**? A freudian slip I presume. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/36 "2005-10-15T02:59:36Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Well Sgt. Long (porno name!) was one of the hand picked little bitches. wasn’t he? Well, I also hand pick my bitches with the utmost care. Not that that ever made any of my girls do as I told them. > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I would also remind you that US troops are not permitted to say anything critical of their leadership in public, so if this guy has a blog with his real name on it, he has no choice but to clap his little flippers and bark like a good little seal. Supposedly he could have kept mum. Anyway it’s your president, not of my problem and I’m off to bed. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/37 "2005-10-15T03:00:08Z")
So we should take his word for everything becasue he was there, and discount any agenda he might have? You’re kidding, right? “I didn’t rape, kill, and eat those boys!” “Well, you were there, I guess you’d know. Let’s pack it up, boys!” ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/38 "2005-10-15T03:06:00Z")
> [@andros](#): > > So we should take his word for everything because he was there, and discount any agenda he might have? … > [@SGT Ron Long](#): > > …President Bush told us, during his closing, that the American people were behind us. I know that we are fighting here, not only to preserve our own freedoms, but to establish those same freedoms for the people of Iraq. It makes my stomach ache to think that we are helping to preserve free speech in the US, while the media uses that freedom to try to RIP DOWN the President and our morale, as US Soldiers. They seem to be enjoying the fact that they are tearing the country apart. Worthless! > The question I was most asked while I was home on leave in June was, “So…What’s REALLY going on over there?” Does that not tell you something?! Who has confidence in the media to tell the WHOLE STORY? It’s like they WANT this to turn into another Vietnam. I hate to break it to them, but it’s not… Sounds like an agenda to me. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/39 "2005-10-15T03:11:34Z")
Several years ago The Daily Show did a short bit about Bush speaking to some factory workers. They pointed out that he was standing in front of a painted backdrop of boxes that said “made in America” while in front of his podium were real boxes from the factory with tape over them to cover “made in China” It struck me as totally symbolic of what this guy and his presidency was all about. Total Bullshit. It proven more and more true since that clip. We shouldn’t tolerate this kind of staged dishnest BS from any public official. If you know the cameras are watching and decide to do something that you think might get points for you thats one thing. If you totally falsify and orchestrate the event with complete bias in order to present a one sided and dishonest view to the public then that should tell us enough about a man’s charecter to know we should get him or her\*\* OUT \*\* ASAP ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/40 "2005-10-15T03:21:31Z")
[Iraqi army graduates mark transfer of responsibility from Task Force Liberty By Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo](http://www.42id.army.mil/newsstory/2%20IA%20Graduation.htm) [Lombardo speaks with Bush:](http://villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/001948.php) > [@](#): > > Is it possible to give us a sense, kind of a calibration of what life was like when you first got there, and what it’s like today? > … > SERGEANT LOMBARDO: I can tell you over the past 10 months we’ve seen a tremendous increase in the capabilities and the confidences of our Iraqi security force partners. We’ve been working side-by-side, training and equipping 18 Iraqi army battalions. Since we began our partnership, they have improved greatly… _ibid_ > [@](#): > > David Axe, who’s made several forays into Iraq for the Voice — read his latest, “Powerless,” a dispatch from southern Iraq — knows Corine Lombardo from having spent time in Tikrit. He tells me: > Her job when I was with the 42nd Infantry Division included taking reporters to lunch. > She lives in a fortified compound in Tikrit and rarely leaves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276.md?page=3)