More ‘Is Bush Wired?’ Yammering
Another day, another one-day pass from Salon to read Dave Lindorff on the subject of Bush’s electronic receiver: Technical expert: Bush was wired.
I’m posting this mainly because traffic to lies.com continues to run about 80% referrals from isbushwired.com, in the wake of their slashdotting a few days ago.
I find this story really interesting. Not the story about whether Bush is wired or not, but the story about how y’all are obsessing over the question so much, and what the rampant conspiracizing out here on the Internets might mean in terms of the election.
I’ve been publicly wringing my hands, liberal-like, over the prospect of dishonest campaigning by Bush successfully returning him to office. What would that say about the gullibillity of the electorate, and the future of US democracy? Whinge, whinge, whinge.
Well, lookee now: It seems at least possible that the same gullibillity might lead to Bush losing the election, as some ambiguous bulges in his jacket and a realtime communications medium that serves as a mind-boggingly powerful amplifier of random wingnuttery spreads the meme that he’s a dirty trickster who cheats in debates. Which, while it seems at least somewhat credible to me, is a hell of a long way from being adequately demonstrated. For people to actually alter their voting behavior based on this story would be just as damning, in its own way, as Bush being able to successfully use crap like the Swift boat ads to sabotage Kerry.
So, am I as depressed at the prospect that a broken democracy might cause Bush to lose the election as I am that it might let him win it?
Hm. I’ll have to get back to you on that.
October 13th, 2004 at 5:35 am
On the off chance that you didn’t get my E-mail (which I sent to about twenty different people), I’ll post it here.
————————————————-
Subj: URGENT: How Kerry Can Finish Bush Off in the Debate
I was going to record this tune and spread it on
the internets, but there just isn’t time. Forward
to anybody you want, it needs to reach the right
people (i.e. the Kerry campaign) in just 24
hours.
Tom
_________________________________________________
Not In The News (Furious George Mix)
Tom Buckner
Mister Kerry, if you want to win, you can do it
in a single move
Just pat George on the back, that’s all you have
to do
You may just find a lump
The debate is the time to jump
Your time is fleeting, but if he’s cheating
When you shake hands at your next little meeting
You can find out if he’s wired
If they’re feeding him all his lies
Chorus:
It must not have happened if it’s not in the news
Or maybe it’s not important like a Hollywood
divorce
It must not have happened if it’s not in the news
Or maybe it’s just a question of who controls the
source
Get him rattled in the heat of battle
And when he’s getting bugged
Just say “Yes, I understand,
It’s no fun when your ears are plugged
Please, Sir, show America
You’re an honest man, please sir, remove your
jacket,
I’ll even remove mine first!
Do you love truth or attack it?”
Chorus:
It must not have happened if it’s not in the news
Or maybe it’s not important like a Hollywood
divorce
It must not have happened if it’s not in the news
Or maybe it’s just a question of who controls the
source
(Spoken coda)
Hey! Furious George! Why didn’t you take your
flight physical? How many times have you been
arrested? Who ratted out an active CIA agent?
Isn’t that treason? Why didn’t you just warn the
public that there might be suicide hijackers?
That woulda worked, you know. Passengers would
have beat them to a pulp before they ever got to
the twin towers! Didn’t think of that, did you?
————————————————–
I think you get the idea. Either Kerry finds that
lump and sandbags the cheating SOB, or else Bush
has to debate without it and leaves the stage in
a straitjacket. Either way, I raise a toast.
Tom Buckner
October 13th, 2004 at 6:59 am
Like so many things, the reason the “Bush was wired” theory has legs is because, to a large number of American’s, it is believable. This is one of the reasons the Bush campaign tried to get so far ahead of Kerry in creating a public persona of a “flip-flopper”, such that the realities were filtered through that preconception. Who cares what the truth is – it’s all about spin.
October 13th, 2004 at 10:21 am
I think it was a bullet proof vest. However I think its silly for Bush to just admit that. The only reason I can think of is that he wants people to feel like there isn’t much of a threat and that he isn’t paranoid.
October 13th, 2004 at 10:40 am
You said “conspiracizing” — I love it.
October 13th, 2004 at 2:22 pm
The Bushists said he was NOT wearing a flak jacket. They also said the fotos were faked until it was pointed out that they came from the video feed. They are REAL.
Aaron says “Who cares what the truth is – it’s all about spin.” Well, that, Aaron, is just what the Bushists want you to say. “They’re equally bad, I think I’ll stay home.” Let the brainwashed superchristians make your decisions for you.
Dude, there is such a thing as truth (even if one is not in a position to know what the truth is). It’s easy to say “It’s all spin” when you are still getting regular meals and disinfotainment (bread and circuses).
I CARE WHAT THE TRUTH IS, Aaron. We are not merely deciding the fate of the United States, but very possibly that of the human fuckng goddamn race.
Do you know who Sir Martin Rees is? He holds the position of Astronomer Royal in Britain. All you need to know is that he’s smarter than me and you, and has written a book called Our Final Hour which you can easily find on amazon.com. He says there is a 50% chance that our species will be EXTINCT by the end of this century.
Now, you tell me: do you think a corrupt, brain-damaged, Revelation-believing rapture-maniac anti-environmentalist warmonger is a GOOD choice to run a global superpower at this particular moment?
In other words, moving to Canada if he wins is but a temporary measure. When he says “You can run, but you can’t hide,” Bush refers not only to terrorists, but to lovers of freedom, hell, even to those who want their grandchildren to grow up.
And you think “Who cares?”
I think this is the point where I say “Gimme a fucking break.”