# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/101 "2005-10-16T23:35:40Z")
I think Dennis Miller said it best (before his unfortunate attack of 9/11 psychosis…) “President Bush surrounds himself with intelligent men the way a doughnut hole surrounds itself with doughnut.” ---
**Author:** ![Updike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@Updike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Updike)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/102 "2005-10-17T00:08:54Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Of course, I’m a SAHM with toddlers, so all I ever see is Elmo interacting with his good friend, Mr. Noodle. So my standards aren’t all that high. Apparently, too much Elmo and Mr. Noodle affects the brain. The United States is not a fascist dictatorship, by any definition. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/103 "2005-10-17T00:18:55Z")
I won’t deny my brain’s affected. And I’m grateful to live in this country; I wouldn’t dare presume to compare my lifestyle with that of persons living under a true fascist regime. But that son of a bitch lying pondscum narcissistic delusional bastard in the White House is sure doing his damndest to behave as a dictator. He and the rest of his evil cronies ought to be run out of town on a rail. ---
**Author:** ![Updike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@Updike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Updike)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/104 "2005-10-17T00:30:02Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > I won’t deny my brain’s affected. And I’m grateful to live in this country; I wouldn’t dare presume to compare my lifestyle with that of persons living under a true fascist regime. > > But that son of a bitch lying pondscum narcissistic delusional bastard in the White House is sure doing his damndest to behave as a dictator. He and the rest of his evil cronies ought to be run out of town on a rail. Well, your casual use of the “fascist” tag calls into doubt all of your other epithets, just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/105 "2005-10-17T01:09:36Z")
It wasn’t casual. ---
**Author:** ![Updike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@Updike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Updike)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/106 "2005-10-17T01:15:10Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > It wasn’t casual. Oh, I must have misunderstood. If it wasn’t casual, it must have been considered, at least. So what, in your considered opinion, leads you to believe that we are living under a fascist regime? ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/107 "2005-10-17T01:43:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > He is neither dumb nor smart. He’s a tool. He was put in by the wealthy to gut the treasury and give out no bid contracts to the favored. In return, he gets to play president and got to fulfill his conqueror fantasy. Like the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain is nothing special indeed. Bingo! This is exactly the case. Bush is the folksy frontman. He is not and has never been the actual decision-maker. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/108 "2005-10-17T03:50:45Z")
Okay, **Updike** , I withdraw my intentional but uneducated use of “fascist” to describe Dubya. Should’ve checked with my Hubby first, he’s better educated on the subject. Although he agrees with me that Bush’s tendency to respond first with military action does head in that direction. Perhaps someone better read can come up with an appropriate term for a President who stomps all over civil liberties, flat out lies to his constituents, blurs the line between Church and State, and initiates a war because a Bad Man threatened his Daddy. Mr. Noodle would’ve made a better President. ---
**Author:** ![Updike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@Updike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Updike)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/109 "2005-10-17T03:59:02Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Okay, **Updike** , I withdraw my intentional but uneducated use of “fascist” to describe Dubya. Hey, at least you admit when you don’t know what you’re talking about. Kudos to you then! ---
**Author:** ![Updike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@Updike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Updike)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/110 "2005-10-17T04:00:11Z")
> [@Updike](#): > > Hey, at least you admit when you don’t know what you’re talking about. Kudos to you then! Oh wait, I forgot the smiley! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/111 "2005-10-17T09:21:48Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Has Scott McClellan ever, in his entire tenure as Press Sec, actually answered the question that was asked instead of spinning an answer that has nothing to do with said question? Every time I watch a briefing, it seems like the only answers he gives are ones that he’s already been told to give. He spins questions about one event or policy so far around that the answer he gives has absolutely nothing to do with the question. I know it’s his job to spin, but isn’t spin supposed to be subtle? Or is that an outmoded technique now? In all seriousness, the answer to your question is pretty much “yes”. I can remember when it had to be subtle. But the standard has now reached the point where all politicians just state their talking points regardless of the question, and this is accepted. It has to be accepted because, as I say, all politicians do it, so you can’t change the behaviour by voting against it. More on Sgt Long. A quote from his blog: > [@Sgt. Long](#): > > "This is me with TN Senator Bill Ketron (R) posing for a picture or two while we were both at the Marshall County Republican Women’s group meeting. Another page of his blog has him praying. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a picture of this man, bright and clear. > [@Campion](#): > > Craftiest ass buffoon I ever saw. He’s lulled everyone into thinking he’s “childlike and stupid.” He’s not. He’s smart, he’s surrounded himself with smart people, and he knows how to play his audience. I don’t think the buffoon thing is an act; I think he really does flub things sometimes. But I do think that the media likes to play it that he’s buffoonish. (Not real capable of nuanced thinking, is our media.) Bottom line, he really does mispronounce words and stumble and drop things, but smart as a whip is our George. Stubborn, too. Bingo. > [@you with the face](#): > > I dunno. People keep trying to convince me that Bush really has brains and that he’s not as really stupid as he seems. But where is the evidence? What things has he done or said that betray a brilliant mind residing behind his doofy facade? I mean, we can speculate all day that the Emperor really has clothes on and the reason we can’t see them is because they are extremely sheer and form fitting. But to me it is more reasonable to conclude that the man is just buck ass naked. Who is smarter, a few guys who figure out that the Emporer is naked on parade, or the Emporer who fools many into thinking he’s wearing clothes? ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/112 "2005-10-17T09:40:15Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > “OH YEAH?!? BUT CLINTON…” response coming in 5…4…3… > > Oh wait, there it is already. Carry on. I don’t think we should ever lose sight of the fact Clinton got a blow-job. ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/113 "2005-10-17T12:40:37Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by BobLibDem > > He is neither dumb nor smart. He’s a tool. He was put in by the wealthy to gut the treasury and give out no bid contracts to the favored. In return, he gets to play president and got to fulfill his conqueror fantasy. Like the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain is nothing special indeed. > > Bingo! This is exactly the case. Bush is the folksy frontman. He is not and has never been the actual decision-maker. Double bingo! It’s still the same group of people that put King Reagan on the throne, you know. The Clinton period was just an interlude they had to sit out, grinding their teeth. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/114 "2005-10-17T13:30:24Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > But go ahead and believe whatever the Pentagon tells you. Hey DtC, I don’t believe what ANYONE tells me, let alone the Pentagon. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/115 "2005-10-17T13:57:28Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Who is smarter, a few guys who figure out that the Emporer is naked on parade, or the Emporer who fools many into thinking he’s wearing clothes? You think _Bush_ is responsible for fooling the electorate? Do you really think that without his team of Svengalis that Bush would be able to convince anyone that he should be president? I think you give the man too much credit if you think Bush is the one doing the tricking. Remember that in the story the Emperor was just as convinced as the public that he was wearing clothes. George “I have a mandate” Bush is naked but doesn’t know it. He insulates himself from bad press so he doesn’t have to hear anything but praise. He thinks being a “war president” should automatically earn him points, even though he earned that title by starting an unnecessary war. He values loyalty above all other things, because loyal people don’t tell him anything that he doesn’t want to hear. Like the word no. I think this “craftiness” that people attribute to Bush is imagined. There ain’t nothing crafty about this man. Sure, he’s smart enough to surround himself with intelligent people. But even the high school jock who never learned how to read is smart enough to know that if he wants to keep playing ball, he needs to pay a few brainiacs to do his homework for him. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/116 "2005-10-17T16:09:14Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > In all seriousness, the answer to your question is pretty much “yes”. I can remember when it had to be subtle. But the standard has now reached the point where all politicians just state their talking points regardless of the question, and this is accepted. It has to be accepted because, as I say, all politicians do it, so you can’t change the behaviour by voting against it. I’m not sure that i’m quite as pessimistic about the possibility of changing things. If the voters let _all_ their elected representatives know that this sort of obfuscation is not acceptable, then it’s possible we might see some changes. Also, if the media did a better job of pointing out the discrepancies between the bullshit that these people say in their daily press briefings, on the one hand, and the reality of things as they actually are, on the other, then maybe the politicians might actually start to become embarrassed enough to answer some questions properly. We can’t just blame the politicians for this shit. It happens because the media lets it happen and because we, in a general sense, don’t complain about it loudly enough or often enough. And i think that the first step in doing this needs to be a willingness to complain about lying and obfuscation even when it’s our guy up on the podium, and not just when it’s the opposition. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/117 "2005-10-17T16:11:33Z")
Not to worry, folks! Pravda, [I mean FOX News,](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172262,00.html) reports a Pentagon denial of the rehearsal. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/118 "2005-10-17T19:36:31Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Mr. Noodle would’ve made a better President. President Noodle, how would you tackle Al Qaida? No, that’s Iraq. Al Qaida! > [@Updike](#): > > Hey, at least you admit when you don’t know what you’re talking about. Kudos to you then! That puts her ahead of this administration. The thing that stuck me the most upon hearing the clips, was Mr. Bush’s stumbling through the comments and questions. It was a very striking contrast to the confidence I could hear in his speech recently as six months ago. It is becoming painful to hear him speak, rather it’s becoming painful for a new reason. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Loblaw\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@Bob\_Loblaw\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Loblaw_1)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/119 "2005-10-17T21:14:56Z")
> [@Updike](#): > > Apparently, too much Elmo and Mr. Noodle affects the brain. The United States is not a fascist dictatorship, by any definition. The US is not a dictatorship. But the amount of political influence that corporations have and the deference that politicians and the public give to corporations is immense. The definition of fascism is a state run for corporations. As radical/silly as it sounds to call someone or a country fascist, the US has many fascist tendencies and continues to move towards fascism. The nazis didn’t start out with genocide, they gained power with socialist promises and then turned to a corporate state while consolidating AH’s dictatorship. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276/120 "2005-10-17T21:40:34Z")
Does anyone have a media link or transcript to the event so that I can decide for myself whether the soldiers were told what responses to give or what questions to ask? Scripting a photo op is normal and expected… I’m not going to say Clinton did it, I’ll say practically every public figure with the luxury of a press department does it. You can’t have a bunch of people verbally trampling over each other, redirecting questions, or fumbling because they have no knowledge of what they’ve been asked about. What honesty demands is that is people aren’t being stuffed with phony questions or phony answers. So did that happen in this case, or not? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-video-chat-with-soldiers-was-scripted-rehearsed/326276.md?page=7)