"Mission Accomplished" Banner NOT Bush's teams idea???

[DoctorMyEyes]

This is yet another lie!

I hope he gets nailed on this one,too. God, I wish I had access to Lexis/Nexis.

Here's a CNN (mainstream propaganda) piece from May describing the lengths the Bushco's go to for "image"

...."We pay particular attention to not only what the president says but what the American people see," Mr. Bartlett said. "Americans are leading busy lives, and sometimes they don't have the opportunity to read a story or listen to an entire broadcast. But if they can have an instant understanding of what the president is talking about by seeing 60 seconds of television, you accomplish your goals as communicators. So we take it seriously." ....
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/16/nyt.bumiller/

Then.... In September the freepers read THIS in USA Today:

....After weeks of Democratic assaults that President Bush was a nitwit for declaring "mission accomplished" in Iraq during his May 1 landing and victory speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the White House is bidding to set the story straight. The issue should be a simple one: Bush never uttered those words. "The president," argues communications boss Dan Bartlett, "said exactly the opposite: The mission continues." But Bush stood under a banner declaring "mission accomplished." Why? Bartlett says that the Lincoln's captain had the banner made up to thank his crew for the longest-ever carrier tour, not to declare the war over. "It is something the troops are really proud of," says Bartlett. "Of course they can hang the banner." But the picture was all the Demos needed. "On TV," he says, "they never play the bite of the president, they just show the image with the banner." Democratic polls show that the public buys their spin, which doesn't really surprise Bartlett. "Look, perception becomes reality," he says. "But the facts don't back it up."...

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/988552/posts

and the freeps all Baaaaah baaaah on cue!

edited to add another link "Bush as Top Gun:
Deconstructing Visual Theatric Imagery"

http://peaceaware.com/papers/Bush_Top_Gun.htm

[blm]

1. And think what just 250 million will buy in 2004.

It only took 60 million to convince the American people that universal healthcare was a communist policy BAD for them and the country.

[sangh0]

3. $250 million? That's just the recorded portion of the money

Don't forget to add in the millions they'll get under the table.

[northzax]

2. godamn Navy

bunch of unpatriotic, selfish terror loving...


oh please, it's a sad, sad, day when the President blames the NAVY for chrissakes.

[blm]

11. good report from some longtime Navy guys.

Navy rank and file, including many brass, are behind Kerry. Yay! I think Clark pulls some, too, but most of his are Army. Either way, it looks good for Dems.

[jonnyblitz]

76. I know an army guy who is for Kerry. n/t

[TheDonkey]

19. LOL!

chimp will always surprise us on just how low he can go.

[soupkitchen]

4. Well he didn't say "Bring 'em on" either he said, "Bring 'em oooom"

as in Zen awareness and peace. But the liberals deliberately misinterpreted it.

[SeattleRob]

5. I love it...

J'ever notice how Repukes are always talking about "responsibility" when it comes to single moms and welfare reciptients, but when it comes to their own screw ups, it's always someone elses fault.


Reality: We're getting bogged down in Iraq

Repukes: Things are great, it's the liberal meadia highlighting the bad stuff.

Reality: The economy sucks, millions of jobs have been lost.

Repukes: It's Clinton's fault.

I can go on and on.

[fishnfla]

6. Did he declare combat operations over on that day?

in the speech, and then didn't the WH scrub that quote to add "major combat operations"?

[Cocoa]

8. I think he said "major combat operations"

then it got picked up as "combat operations", by a lot of news outlets, including many govt. websites.

The White House went back and scrubbed it, but I think the State Dept. and Defense Dept. left it.

Regardless, everyone uses that day as a benchmark. Just today, I heard it, used in a way that strongly implied failure.

[tom_paine]

16. No, it was the reverse

He said "combat operations", later scrubbed, Orwell-fashion, to say "major combat operations".

It was was of the swiftiest descents in Orwellianism I have yet to see Corporate TV Pravda yet make.

But I'm willing to bet it is a far cry from being the worst case of Orwellianism seen in Imperial Amerika. It wills hortly be superseded by the next Bushevik lie.

[Cocoa]

27. I think it's important to get these things right

Here's a link showing what I remember happened.

http://www.thememoryhole.org/pol/iraq-combat/

Do you have a link showing that the speech text was changed. I think that's much less likely since there's so much video footage out there, it would be kind of pointless to change the text at the White House. If someone has video of Bush saying "combat operations" what good would it do to have their website saying something else?

[Stephanie]

38. CNN has both video and a transcript

I'm not able to view the video right now, but here's the link.

Video here, lower right column:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/01/sprj.irq.bush.speech/index.html

CNN transcript:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/01/bush.transcript/index.html

Bush makes historic speech aboard warship
Thursday, May 1, 2003 Posted: 9:48 PM EDT (0148 GMT)

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CNN) -- The following is an unedited transcript of President Bush's historic speech from the flight deck of the USS Lincoln, during which he declared an end to major combat in Iraq:

Thank you. Thank you all very much.

Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

[Stephanie]

42. Some diligent reporter needs to ask Admiral Kelly & Captain Card

about the banner.

[tom_paine]

54. Sounds like more scrubbery...

http://www.thememoryhole.org/pol/iraq-combat/

Just what will we do when Imperial Amerika continues it's downward track and information is so routinely scribbed and altered that no one can find the truth, even if they remember it?

I don't know, but this particular scrubbing is very scary in it's scope and implication of how easy it is to rewrite history.

Can Winston and his division of revisionists (from Orwell's 1984) be far behind?

[dweller]

7. in the press conf today

the *moron said it was the idea of an 'ingenious staff member', so why blame the navy?

dp

edit: according to the transcript, he claims it was 'accredited' to some ingenious member of staff'...

i gess i dun unnerstand moronibabble well enuff...sorry

[Old and In the Way]

9. I recall a little revisionism on the WH website

Where the words were changed from the "end of fighting" to the "end of major fighting (or somesuch paraphrase.

Really, I have never seen a group that has spent so much time rewriting the historical record to fit the present circumstances.

I wonder if the WH has a Office of Langoliers?

[Zero Gravitas]

10. How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

Oh Please! everything that little moron does in front of the cameras is tightly controlled, the placement of sailors wearing the different colored flight deck shirts behind the little twit during the speech right down to the sock in his flight suit. The "Mission Accomplished" banner was clearly visible behind the Idiot-in-Chief's head and it was visible for a reason (just like Californian coast wasn't visble). It was there because Rove & Co. wanted it to be there to send the message that "we", or rather George W. Bush, had "won" the war against Iraq.

[Octafish]

12. He DIDN'T say "weapons systems." He said "programs."

The Little Turd from Crawford is so crooked, he can't pee straight.

[donotpassgo]

33. He Didn't say imminent, he said gathering.

n/t

[John_H]

13. Shyeah...The way they control every one of his appearances?

They stage manage the smallest two-minute photo-op down tho the tiniest detail, and they let a fifty foot backdrop to one of his major speeches just fall through the cracks.

[tom_paine]

14. Once again an Imperial Bushevik calls on the servants to take the blame

But since Emperor Bunnypants* is a liar who has used that trick far too often, I choose to disbelieve the liar.

[nolabels]

15. It does become interesting when history keeps coming back to......

Bite the effing liars back in the ass

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd06102003.html
June 10, 2003


Revise and Conquer
Bush Family Whitewashing in Iraq and Nazi Germany
By CHRIS FLOYD


Holocaust revisionism took decades to rear its ugly head, but the whitewashers of war crimes in the Bush Regime are trying to pervert the facts of history mere weeks after their Leader triumphantly declared "mission accomplished" in the war on Iraq. "Weapons of mass destruction?" Never heard of 'em. Never mentioned 'em. Maybe we'll find some. Not that important. Time to move on. Hey, how about a tax cut?

But even as revisionist-in-chief George W. Bush was staging his somber photo-op in Auschwitz last week, the web of lies he and his little buddy Tony Blair concocted to "justify" launching an act of military aggression--on the very Hitlerian grounds of "preventive war"--was being shredded by their own intelligence services. In an unprecedented move, U.S and British spies went public to denounce the cartoonish manipulation of professional intelligence data by the war-hungry leaders. Reports of Saddam's "imminent threat" were "sexed up" on Blair's order, said UK spooks, while American agents said Bush was spoonfed a stew of uncorroborated confabulation by a "special team" of ideological hatchet-men overseen by Pentagon honcho Don Rumsfeld. Congressional and Parliamentary probes are now afoot.

In the end, the "weapons of mass destruction" that the Christian Coalition had sworn were "armed and ready" to unleash unspeakable carnage on the world turned out to be--by Bush's own admission--a couple of trucks, which contained not a speck of hazardous material. Not exactly the fearsome arsenal the Dear Leader had invoked, in ever-increasing detail, throughout the long buildup to aggression. The actual CIA report which Bush cited was even more--or rather, less--revealing, noting that the trucks' designs were in fact consistent with their stated purpose: the production of hydrogen for weather balloons, Slate.com reports.

Thus revisionism--panicky, cynical, maladroit--was the order of the day. Rumsfeld--whose smirking rictus of iron certainty was a mainstay of the drive to war--began backing off big-time. Maybe there ***weren't*** any WMD, he shrugged; maybe Saddam destroyed them before the war. Unfortunately, the UK press dug up a quote from St. Tony himself on the subject: "We are asked to accept Saddam decided to destroy those weapons. I say that such a claim is palpably absurd." But to be fair, Blair's broadside ***was*** fired long ago, practically in cave-man times: March 18, 2003, to be exact. It's certainly irrelevant in our go-go modern world, where history is written with water and each day is a new blank page.
(snip)

[loudnclear]

17. Plausible deniability!

Bush has his cake and chokes on it too. It's the old game of good cop, bad cop. You get your cabal to make the statements, accusations, allegations, and smears that you really want to make and you use every opportunity to use these as back drops, inferences, etc. You don't have to be the one to SAY the exact words as long as you can benefit from thier inference. They when you get called on the inaccuracies, you claim that "I never really said that." My kids use it all the time.

[The_Gopher]

18. the buck stops...um....ahh....uhh.....over..........over there.

[Nailzberg]

20. Question for Navy types, does a captian outrank the CIC?

Just wondering, because if the banner was hung by the captain, and the President thought it was a confusing message, why wouldn't he say, "Captain, have your men take that down, so we do not mislead the American people in our live televised speech."


on edit: Hey Navy people, you don't really have to answer.
on 2nd edit: Man I suck at typing today.

[Spazito]

37. Or even easier...

position his podium so it was NOT directly under the banner he says he didn't put up! They lie, they lie, they lie,....

[bif]

21. Every Naval vessel has a $30 million printing shop

On board. Everone knows that. Today, he apparently said that the Navy put it up. So technically he didn't deny that the White House didn't print the banner. Just that they didn't physically didn't put it up. (What's the definition of "is"? They nailed Bill on that one.)

[Brian Sweat]

48. Of course the Navy put it up.

Even if the banner was originally conceieved by the Bush team, they had to give it to Navy personnel to put up.

This is how their spin and parsing works. First they say that the Navy put it up. Meaning that they physically put it up, but giving the impression that it was they Navy's idea to put it up. Then they come back and use the latter interpretation and say it was the Navy's idea.

[qanda]

22. Wolf Blitzer just repeated this lie

Word for word. He was conducting an interview with Ann Coulter and some other guy (supposed to a Democrat, but didn't sound like one to me). Anyway, the guy said that since bush* stood under the Mission Accomplished banner in May there have been over 200 deaths. Wolfie jumped in and said, "Wait a minute! That banner was put there by the staff of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Because they had been out too sea for some 9 to 10 months and their mission was accomplished." The guy just said that he heard Bush* repeat that same thing in his earlier press conference.

It's so nice that Bush* has the press to just line up right behind him whenever he wants to get his latest lie to stick in the minds of the American sheeple.

[DoctorMyEyes]

23. and I just e-mailed wolfie about it, too

though, I see my e-mail didn't get any "air time".

Instead an e-mail urging some of the dems to drop out of the race was aired.

s'okay - I e-mailed David Corn as well.

[JohnyCanuck]

30. I emailed him too.

Dear Mr. Blitzer

I see you are propagating the latest White House spin that the "Mission Accomplished" banner under which President Codpiece made his statement was put there by the sailors - like the White House didn't have any input into this at all and doesn't plan these appearances by Mr. Pretzeldent down to the last millimeter. You really must take your audience for fools, and seeing as how almost half your coutnrymen voted for this underachiever, I suppose you won't be far off the mark.

I came across and excellent article on the web by Dr. Norman Livergood, formerly head of the Dept. of Artificial Intelligence at the US Army war college. Here's what he says in his article "Brainwashing America."

>> In an earlier article, I reviewed the varied aspects of personality profiling and simulation. While serving as Head of the Artificial Intelligence Department at the U.S. Army War College, 1993-1995, I conducted studies on profiling, psychological programming, and brainwashing. I explored and developed personality simulation systems an advanced technology used in military war games, FBI profiling, political campaigning, and advertising. Part of my discovery was that:

unenlightened human minds are combinations of infantile beliefs and emotional patterns

these patterns can be simulated in profiling systems

these profiling systems can be used to program and control people

Personality simulation systems are being used to create political campaigns that apply voter profiles to control their voting behavior. TV commercials and programs use personality simulation to profile viewers to control their purchasing and viewing behaviors. And sophisticated propaganda and brainwashing techniques are being used by the Bush junta to keep American citizens under control.<<

http://www.hermes-press.com/brainwash1.htm

Does any of this resonate with you Wolf, or do you just not care that you and your fellow media presstitutes are being used as tools by the Bush gang to bamboozle your fellow citizens in a propanda exercise worthy of Joseph Goebbels?

Regards
xxxxx

[nolabels]

39. Spot on link, wake up people, you are being managed

This is why you need to push away from that stuff or at least question everything at all times when you’re taking any of it in.
The kind of things that scare these people that do this shit is them places like Venezuela.

Luckily many people there in Venezuela they were trying this crap on did not have them outlets to be sucked into. Even with 24/7 wall to wall, no holes barred propaganda they failed and HUGO kicked their arses. Turn it off and be MORE skeptical, it don't hurt too much, it's just a matter of seeing where you really stand in context


http://www.narconews.com/themasses.html
And then came Venezuela…

The Wind from Below
On April 11th, 2002, the moneyed classes of Venezuela, with an assist from the foreign governments of Washington, Madrid and Bogotá, almost set back the cause of Authentic Democracy in our América for 30 years.

For a moment this spring, Caracas 2002 almost became the Santiago de Chile of September 11th, 1973, with a US-sponsored coup against a democratically elected government. The 1973 coup was a successful bloodbath. It installed that narco-dictator, General Pinochet. And the lesson hung for 29 years like a cloud over every Latin American nation: The message delivered on that September 11th was that democracy is only allowed if power and money agree with the decisions the people make. If the people stray from the will of the tyrants, then even democracy gets overthrown and your authentic songwriters (¡Viva Victor Jara!) and leaders will be rounded up in the stadium, tortured and shot dead.

What occurred in Venezuela last April almost reasserted that rule with a new twist: The coups no longer come mainly from the military, but, rather, from the real occupying force over our daily lives and our very consciousness: the Media.

The Venezuelan commercial media and the U.S. commercial media provided the drumbeat, for months before April 11th, to set the stage for The End Of Democracy As We Know It. If they had succeeded in Venezuela, the ascension to the throne by the mediating tyrants would have been complete. This is all so very well documented and obvious to anyone who was paying attention during the immediate history of April 2002.

We reported the facts as they were happening during those Three Days that Shook the Media in Venezuela. The coup did not go according to plan. My essay of April 18th focused mainly on the role of the U.S. media - exposed, now, as enemy of the very democracy that gave it life and rights under the First Amendment - and its attempt to simulate the coup as something other than a coup.
(snip)

[Stephanie]

24. This lie should be easy to disprove, and we should make sure that happens

Do ships sent to war have banner-printing facilities on board? Which captain was it, exactly, who ordered that banner to be made? And when? And who precisely put it up? And who decided what it would say? And did the WH have NO conversation with anyone on the ship as far as the banner?

I think this can be exposed as a huge, blatant and outright stupid lie.

[bif]

28. Hell, they made the ship turn around

So the cameramen wuoldn't catch the San Diego skyline on camera, they were that close to shore. They were in constant communication. This was a very well orchestated photo-op.

[DoctorMyEyes]

31. I agree

This should be easy to prove/disprove.

I e-mailed David Corn, and after I think about it some more, I'm sure I'll e-mail a few more writers.

I know it's a "small" thing in the scheme of things, but it just pisses me off. Gore would have been immediately raked over the coals (and was) for much less.

Then again, maybe it's not such a little thing. Shit in Iraq looks worse everyday, and this administration is scrambling to rewrite history and convince the public that they never said any of the things they certainly did say and imply all during the lead up to the invasion.

Yeah, we're all stupid... we didn't understand.... bullshit!

[lovedems]

25. When I saw that speech

the first thing I thought was a presidential ad during 04 elections at the taxpayers expense. It was an unecessary grand arrival with the banner. It was all intentional and for a purpose. There is no doubt in my mind we would have seen that image played over and over again during the campaign. This administration thinks we are all so stupid! Hopefully we will have the last laugh!

[Stephanie]

26. Check it out, searching at whitehouse.gov

"Search whitehouse.gov by keyword

Results for: "mission accomplished"



No results were found for your search.
Try changing some of the words in your query. "



http://www.whitehouse.gov/query.html?col=colpics&qt=%22mission+accomplished%22

[NNN0LHI]

29. No. But the 'lil fucker didn't mind smirking like a Cheshire Cat under it!

[DinahMoeHum]

32. Live by the photo op, die by the photo op.

n/t

:evilgrin:

[Eloriel]

34. For the "what did he say" or not say discussion -- here's a link

http://www.differentstrings.info/archives/002813.html

See if it helps.

It was embedded in the quote from the DNC blog on Dean's blog:

http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002022.html

Eloriel

[ZenLefty]

35. I find that difficult to believe

This is an administration who asks the republican, bussed-in audience to remove their ties so they can look more like ordinary people on the photo op.

This is an administration that covers up "Made in China" on boxes to replace them with "Made in USA" for a photo op.

This is an administration that covers up aluminum boobs so they can't be photographed next to them.

They carefully manage every single element in the background when bush is on television. And now they're trying to say that "oh, gee, we weren't really responsible for that whole 'mission accomplished' thing, it was all the Navy's idea." Give me a fucking break. It was there because they wanted it there, and if they didn't want it there, it would have been gone.

[GOPisEvil]

36. Damn straight!

You took the words right out of my mouth. This is the most politically-motivated admnistration ever. Everything is calculated for its political impact. It MIGHT have been the Navy's idea, but no doubt the White House signed off on it.

Bastards. :grr:

[Stephanie]

40. WH has the transcript up - let's bust this blatant lie wide open

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031028-2.html

Q Mr. President, if I may take you back to May 1st when you stood on the USS Lincoln under a huge banner that said, "Mission Accomplished." At that time you declared major combat operations were over, but since that time there have been over 1,000 wounded, many of them amputees who are recovering at Walter Reed, 217 killed in action since that date. Will you acknowledge now that you were premature in making those remarks?

THE PRESIDENT: Nora, I think you ought to look at my speech. I said, Iraq is a dangerous place and we've still got hard work to do, there's still more to be done. And we had just come off a very successful military operation. I was there to thank the troops.

The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way. But my statement was a clear statement, basically recognizing that this phase of the war for Iraq was over and there was a lot of dangerous work. And it's proved to be right, it is dangerous in Iraq. It's dangerous in Iraq because there are people who can't stand the thought of a free and peaceful Iraq. It is dangerous in Iraq because there are some who believe that we're soft, that the will of the United States can be shaken by suiciders -- and suiciders who are willing to drive up to a Red Cross center, a center of international help and aid and comfort, and just kill.

It's the same mentality, by the way, that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001: we'll just destroy innocent life and watch the great United States and their friends and allies crater in the face of hardship. It's the exact same mentality. And Iraq is a part of the war on terror. I said it's a central front, a new front in the war on terror, and that's exactly what it is. And that's why it's important for us to be tough and strong and diligent.

Our strategy in Iraq is to have strike forces ready and capable to move quickly as we gather actionable intelligence. That's how you deal with terrorists. Remember, these are people that are willing to hide in societies and kill randomly. And therefore, the best way to deal with them is to harden targets, harden assets as best as you can. That means blockades and inspection spots. And, as you notice, yesterday, one fellow tried to -- was done in as a he tried to conduct a suicide mission. In other words, an Iraqi policemen did their job.

But, as well, that we've got to make sure that not only do we harden targets, but that we get actionable intelligence to intercept the missions before they begin. That means more Iraqis involved in the intelligence-gathering systems in their country so that they are active participants in securing the country from further harm.

Remember, the action in Iraq was -- to get rid of Saddam Hussein was widely supported by the Iraqi people. And the action -- the actions that we're taking to improve their country are supported by the Iraqi people. And it's going to be very important for the Iraqi people to play an active role in fighting off the few who are trying to destroy the hopes of the many. You've heard me say that before. That's just kind of the motto of the terrorists. It's the way they operate.

Plante.

If you'd like to review the speech, it's here:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/01/bush.transcript/index.html

[Stephanie]

43. Here is a picture of the banner - it looks suspiciously like bush's usual

backdrops. Or do you think the ship's captain had it made up at Kinko's?

[nolabels]

45. Very impressive

Thanks so much for the picture :thumbsup:

[Brian Sweat]

51. This is a non-denial denial.

"The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way. "

He says it was put up by members of the ship, but this doesn't necessarily mean it was their idea. Then he say, "I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way." This sounds like he is going to deny that someone on his staff came up with the idea. He never does, but it sounds like a denial.

[Iverson]

41. and they covered up Guernica by accident

for crying out loud!

[Stephanie]

44. Mr. Sforza embedded himself on the carrier to make preparations days befor

Keepers of Bush image lift stagecraft to new heights
By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
Friday, May 16, 2003 Posted: 7:08 AM EDT (1108 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/16/nyt.bumiller/

The president's image makers, Mr. Bartlett said, work within a budget for White House travel and events allotted by Congress, which for fiscal 2003 was $3.7 million. He said he did not know the specific cost of staging Mr. Bush's Sept. 11 anniversary speech, or what the White House was charged for the lights. A spokeswoman at the headquarters of Musco Lighting in Oskaloosa, Iowa, said the company did not disclose the prices it charged clients.

<snip>

The most elaborate — and criticized — White House event so far was Mr. Bush's speech aboard the Abraham Lincoln announcing the end of major combat in Iraq. White House officials say that a variety of people, including the president, came up with the idea, and that Mr. Sforza embedded himself on the carrier to make preparations days before Mr. Bush's landing in a flight suit and his early evening speech.

Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot. The speech was specifically timed for what image makers call "magic hour light," which cast a golden glow on Mr. Bush.

"If you looked at the TV picture, you saw there was flattering light on his left cheek and slight shadowing on his right," Mr. King said. "It looked great."

The trip was attacked by Democrats as an expensive political stunt, but White House officials said that Democrats needed a better issue for taking on the president. A New York Times/CBS News nationwide poll conducted May 9-12 found that the White House may have been right: 59 percent of those polled said it was appropriate, and not an effort to make political gain, for Mr. Bush to dress in a flight suit and announce the end of combat operations on the aircraft carrier.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

47. I noticed Bush didn't turn around and say: "Take that thing down"

lest the good American people be confused by his image makers.

Good work Stephanie!

[Spazito]

52. Wow! Good catch!

Here it is in black and white:

Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot.

Again, it is the old "Bush never said imminent threat" crap! They lie and lie and lie some more.

[proud patriot]

65. Whoop There It Is .....Thanks Stephanie

:hi:

[Athletic Grrl]

77. Stephanie.....

:yourock:

[Grins]

78. Excellent!!!!

Good catch. I wish I had it when I slammed some ex-college folk I know who sent me this despicable RW rant: <http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/200306011755.html>

I had a great time picking this one apart, but it would have been so much better had I this article about Sforza.

Thanks!

[Cat Atomic]

46. Does anyone have any other pictures of banners/posters used

by Bush at public speaking engagements? We could compare the fonts and stock imagery. They may use the same flag, or typeface.

[DoYouEverWonder]

50. Here's one that's similiar

edit: never mind

[DoctorMyEyes]

57. I'm looking

From the end of the CNN article in the original post:

The White House takes great pride in the backdrops, which are created by Mr. Sforza, and has gone so far as to help design them for universities where Mr. Bush travels to make commencement addresses. Last year, the White House helped design a large banner for Ohio State as part of the background for Mr. Bush; last week, the White House collaborated with the University of South Carolina to make Sforzian backdrops for a presidential commencement speech in the school's new Carolina Center.

"They really are good," said Russ McKinney, the school's director of public affairs, as he listened to the president.

Television camera crews, meanwhile, say they have rarely had such consistently attractive pictures to send back to editing rooms.

"They seem to approach an event site like it's a TV set," said Chris Carlson, an ABC cameraman who covers the White House. "They dress it up really nicely. It looks like a million bucks."

Even for standard-issue White House events, Mr. Bush's image makers watch every angle. Last week, when the president had a joint news conference with Prime Minister José Mariá Aznar of Spain, it was staged in the Grand Foyer of the White House, under grand marble columns, with the Blue Room and a huge cream-colored bouquet of flowers illuminated in the background. (Mr. Sforza and Mr. DeServi could be seen there conferring before the cameras began rolling.) The scene was lush and rich, filled with the beauty of the White House in real time.

"They understand they have to build a set, whether it's an aircraft carrier or the Rose Garden or the South Lawn," Mr. Deaver said. "They understand that putting depth into the picture makes the candidate or president look better."

Or as Mr. Deaver said he learned long ago with Mr. Reagan: "They understand that what's around the head is just as important as the head."

I'm trying to find photos of the banners created for the two universities mentioned.

[Wickerman]

69. They understand that what's around the head is just as important as the he

Or, actually, in the case of Bush*, even more important than the head.

[Cat Atomic]

61. HA! Same flag.

and



and...



and in the back there...



Looks like someone works from a set of stock imagery.

[Stephanie]

72. THAT'S IT!! You got it! Now do Bush and the Ship's captain use the same

sign designer? Must be a very busy guy.

Does anyone remember when the stories about the Orwellian backdrops first appeared? The sign designer was identified.

[Cat Atomic]

74. Check it out. :)

This...



Makes this...

[Stephanie]

75. OMG! You are the genius super-sleuth!

That's it! Let's compile all this and send it to media ASAP.

[Stephanie]

73. Note the font, and the drop shadows

Identical.

[DoYouEverWonder]

49. That's a pretty big fancy banner

This isn't something that the crew just pulled together or would have had the ways and means to get made on their own.

This ship had not been to port yet and they certainly didn't get one made in Iraq. Somehow I sincerely doubt if the high end process color wide format output device that you need to make that type of vinyl banner is standard equipment on a carrier.

So if W claims that his handlers had nothing to do with this banner, then who did? Where's the receipt? Who authorized the expenditure? Who delivered it to the ship? Curious minds would like to know Mr. pResident.

[elperromagico]

53. This story has been known for some time

This administration, which micromanages every detail at Presidential appearances (even gluing "Made In The USA" stickers over boxes marked "Made In China"), would never have allowed a bunch of Navy officers to just hang a damned banner where it could be filmed by the TV cameras and photographed by news reporters--- unless they had full knowledge of its presence.

I'm more inclined to believe that Bush's handlers "suggested" to the officers onboard the Lincoln that they ought to hang the banner. The officers obliged... after all, this was a "suggestion" from the Commander-in-Chief's people. This was the Bush administration's way of covering its ass: "Oh, we didn't put that sign up--- those grateful naval officers put it up of their own free will!"

[Stephanie]

58. Waxman wrote to the GAO to ask for a "full accounting" of the trip's cost

So maybe Waxman has the goods on this? And lest we forget the rest of the LIES from that day:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22502-2003May6?language=printer

Explanation for Bush's Carrier Landing Altered

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2003; Page A20


President Bush chose to make a jet landing on an aircraft carrier last week even after he was told he could easily reach the ship by helicopter, the White House said yesterday, changing the explanation it gave for Bush's "Top Gun" style event.

Bush's televised landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln, for which the president wore a flight suit and a helmet and took underwater survival training in the White House swimming pool, was the dramatic start to a visit to the carrier that included an air show and a televised speech to the nation. In his address, the president declared victory in Iraq in front of cheering sailors and a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."

White House officials had said, both before and after Bush's landing in a Navy S-3B Viking jet, that he took the plane solely to avoid inconveniencing the sailors, who were returning home after a deployment of nearly 10 months. The officials said that Bush decided not to wait until the ship was in helicopter range to avoid delaying the troops' homecoming.

But instead of the carrier being hundreds of miles offshore, as aides had said it would be, the Lincoln was only about 30 miles from the coast when Bush made his "tail-hook" landing, in which the jet was stopped by cables on deck. Navy officers slowed and turned the ship when land became visible.

<snip>

Citing Fleischer's revised explanation, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) wrote to the General Accounting Office to ask for a "full accounting" of the cost of the trip.

After Fleischer's remarks, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, saying he was "deeply troubled" by Bush's actions, which he called "flamboyant showmanship." The octogenarian lawmaker criticized the White House for using the carrier "as an advertising backdrop" and the military "as stage props" for Bush's speech. <more>

[wicket]

55. I think this image is MUCH more appropriate

Thanks to Bartcop.com :)

[proud patriot]

56. Do all aircraft carriers fly that banner coming home

I want the details who specifically ordered
that banner ? And did that person recieve any
calls from the White House ?

[proud patriot]

59. Nevermind post 44 answered my question

:-)

[LuminousX]

60. The Wayback Machine

When trying to recall what was originally said, don't forget the wayback machine...

Compare and contrast
http://web.archive.org/web/20030506022455/www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/iraq/20030501-15.html

with

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/iraq/20030501-15.html

[underpants]

62. No he never actually said it but that was the message they put out

in the same way they never said Saddam was responsible for 9/11 but they implied the hell out of it and the 'Murkan people bit. If he tries to get out on what most will see as a techinicality he is shooting his"Everyman" BS right in the foot.

[Cocoa]

64. same with Niger uranium

I don't care about his disclaimer about the attribution to British intelligence, his message was clear.

Same with attitudes toward Islam. I don't care about the claims he makes about his respect for Islam, his refusal to deal with Boykin sends the real message.

[underpants]

71. He said those 16 words so that is concrete

Saying that it was merely British Intelligence is so ridiculous it would be funny if not for the dead and "injured". No one made him say what he said and the CIA told him at least twice not to say those very words.

[Stephanie]

66. I just ran a comparison in Word

The only change is to the TITLE:

President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended

The WH inserted the word Major into the title of the page, above the speech.

[Stephanie]

63. Let's make him retract this stupid lie - evidence below:

I am so sick of the endless, blatant lies. How stupid does he think we are??

Bush's denial today that the WH placed the banner on the carrier:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031028-2.html

Q Mr. President, if I may take you back to May 1st when you stood on the USS Lincoln under a huge banner that said, "Mission Accomplished." At that time you declared major combat operations were over, but since that time there have been over 1,000 wounded, many of them amputees who are recovering at Walter Reed, 217 killed in action since that date. Will you acknowledge now that you were premature in making those remarks?

THE PRESIDENT: Nora, I think you ought to look at my speech. I said, Iraq is a dangerous place and we've still got hard work to do, there's still more to be done. And we had just come off a very successful military operation. I was there to thank the troops.

The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way. But my statement was a clear statement, basically recognizing that this phase of the war for Iraq was over and there was a lot of dangerous work. And it's proved to be right, it is dangerous in Iraq. It's dangerous in Iraq because there are people who can't stand the thought of a free and peaceful Iraq. It is dangerous in Iraq because there are some who believe that we're soft, that the will of the United States can be shaken by suiciders -- and suiciders who are willing to drive up to a Red Cross center, a center of international help and aid and comfort, and just kill.

The Banner, hung (and designed? and produced?) by the USS Lincoln crew, according to Bush. Looks suspiciously similar to backdrops we see at every Bush speech:

Bush's speech on the carrier:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/01/bush.transcript/index.html

Bush makes historic speech aboard warship
Thursday, May 1, 2003 Posted: 9:48 PM EDT (0148 GMT)

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CNN) -- The following is an unedited transcript of President Bush's historic speech from the flight deck of the USS Lincoln, during which he declared an end to major combat in Iraq:

Thank you. Thank you all very much.

Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

Video of the speech linked here:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/01/sprj.irq.bush.speech/index.html

Bush handlers stage manage every aspect of his appearances, including this one:

Keepers of Bush image lift stagecraft to new heights
By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
Friday, May 16, 2003 Posted: 7:08 AM EDT (1108 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/16/nyt.bumiller/

The president's image makers, Mr. Bartlett said, work within a budget for White House travel and events allotted by Congress, which for fiscal 2003 was $3.7 million. He said he did not know the specific cost of staging Mr. Bush's Sept. 11 anniversary speech, or what the White House was charged for the lights. A spokeswoman at the headquarters of Musco Lighting in Oskaloosa, Iowa, said the company did not disclose the prices it charged clients.

<snip>

The most elaborate — and criticized — White House event so far was Mr. Bush's speech aboard the Abraham Lincoln announcing the end of major combat in Iraq. White House officials say that a variety of people, including the president, came up with the idea, and that Mr. Sforza embedded himself on the carrier to make preparations days before Mr. Bush's landing in a flight suit and his early evening speech.

Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot. The speech was specifically timed for what image makers call "magic hour light," which cast a golden glow on Mr. Bush.

"If you looked at the TV picture, you saw there was flattering light on his left cheek and slight shadowing on his right," Mr. King said. "It looked great."

The trip was attacked by Democrats as an expensive political stunt, but White House officials said that Democrats needed a better issue for taking on the president. A New York Times/CBS News nationwide poll conducted May 9-12 found that the White House may have been right: 59 percent of those polled said it was appropriate, and not an effort to make political gain, for Mr. Bush to dress in a flight suit and announce the end of combat operations on the aircraft carrier.

Bush handlers admit that the event was SO stage-managed that the ship had to slow down so San Diego would not be visible to the cameras

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22502-2003May6?language=printer

b]Explanation for Bush's Carrier Landing Altered
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2003; Page A20

President Bush chose to make a jet landing on an aircraft carrier last week even after he was told he could easily reach the ship by helicopter, the White House said yesterday, changing the explanation it gave for Bush's "Top Gun" style event.

Bush's televised landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln, for which the president wore a flight suit and a helmet and took underwater survival training in the White House swimming pool, was the dramatic start to a visit to the carrier that included an air show and a televised speech to the nation. In his address, the president declared victory in Iraq in front of cheering sailors and a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."

White House officials had said, both before and after Bush's landing in a Navy S-3B Viking jet, that he took the plane solely to avoid inconveniencing the sailors, who were returning home after a deployment of nearly 10 months. The officials said that Bush decided not to wait until the ship was in helicopter range to avoid delaying the troops' homecoming.

But instead of the carrier being hundreds of miles offshore, as aides had said it would be, the Lincoln was only about 30 miles from the coast when Bush made his "tail-hook" landing, in which the jet was stopped by cables on deck. Navy officers slowed and turned the ship when land became visible.

<snip>

Citing Fleischer's revised explanation, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) wrote to the General Accounting Office to ask for a "full accounting" of the cost of the trip.

After Fleischer's remarks, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, saying he was "deeply troubled" by Bush's actions, which he called "flamboyant showmanship." The octogenarian lawmaker criticized the White House for using the carrier "as an advertising backdrop" and the military "as stage props" for Bush's speech.

[grasswire]

68. we could blitz Elizabeth Bumiller...

...at the NYT, since she wrote the story about stage management that day.

Or I wonder about just telephoning the public information office of the U.S Navy to ask if ships have print shops on board.

[Stephanie]

70. Also, we can write Waxman and see if GAO gave him a copy of the bill

for that trip. Was the banner included? If not, the Navy should have the bill for the banner.

I think they will wriggle out of this by explaining that Rove & Sforza did not personally shimmy up the side of the ship to attach their banner. Instead they got some sailors to do it.

[Wickerman]

67. Someone said of Banner - that is where Rove Jumped the Shark

Right after the aircraft carrier incident someone on DU posted the statement that we would look back on the incident as the moment when Karl Rove pushed the Bush envelope too far, in effect, jumped the shark. I loved it then, and I believe, whoever the ingenious DUer was, they were correct.

This could be the downfall of him. He dropped the line today to deflect the heat the whole Mission Accomplished piece has brought him. If it can be proven effectively that he is lying that the crew of the Lincoln put it up, then we would have us a defining moment, folks.