A Milli Vanilli President

By Dave Lindorff

President George W. Bush has claimed that that God speaks to him. More
worldly voices, it now appears, may also be speaking to him at key
moments.

Viewers and journalists watching Bush in his first debate with
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry have commented on his odd
behavior in Miami. To some he seemed peevish and antsy - almost wired.

Now there is evidence that he may have been - in an electronic way -
by having cues and lines fed to him through a hidden high-tech
earpiece.

Several things about the first debate have led to this speculation.

Many people who watched the debate remarked on Bush's
sometimes-bizarre comments and behavior during the evening. At one
point he angrily blurted "Now, let me finish!" midway through a long,
timed answer and well before he would have received a warning light to
wrap up his comments. Compounding the strangeness was that he didn't
seem to be addressing his remark to either moderator Jim Lehrer or
Kerry and no one had spoken or even hinted at interrupting him.

A voice coming through a hidden hearing device also would explain
several long silences occurring at odd points in the president's
answers and his odd expressions and eye movements.

Alert viewers also raised questions about the square object situated
between President Bush's shoulder blades, clearly visible pressing
through his jacket during rear-view camera shots as he was leaning
over the lectern. According to the debate rules, the Democrats and the
Republicans agreed that neither candidate would be shot from behind.

According to a source familiar with the debate negotiations who
refused to speak on the record, it was Republicans, lead by debate
negotiator Jim Baker, the former secretary of state, who insisted on
this odd condition.

Experts familiar with spyware suggest this bulge in the jacket could
have been an "inductor" for receiving signals sent from someone
offstage feeding the president answers through a hidden, wireless
earpiece. The advantage of using such a device, rather than simply a
micro-radio receiver in the president's ear canal, is that an inductor
can broadcast any scrambled or unscrambled message to an ear receiver
at extremely low power - so low that the signal would be undetectable
beyond a few feet.

Speculation that the president may have been getting help with his
answers is supported by evidence that he has been using an earpiece
for some time. According to a number of viewers, news reports on CNN,
Fox and MSNBC of Bush's D-Day commemoration speech in France, for
instance, picked up a voice feeding the president his lines just
before he spoke them and broadcast them. A clip of a CNN broadcast of
the president's D-day address in France clearly includes the sound of
another voice leading the president through his lines.

This technique is familiar to television correspondents, some of who
tape their remote reports and play them back through earpieces to
broadcast their remarks smoothly on camera.

Repeated calls to the White House and the Bush campaign for comment on
whether Bush uses an earpiece and for an explanation of the obvious
bulge under his tailored jacket have been ignored.

The Kerry camp also refuses to comment.

Americans ought not be surprised should it turn out their president is
having lines fed to him. Ronald Reagan was provided cue cards for
every occasion by his staff and sometimes his wife, even one reminding
him to say "Good Afternoon" when meeting heads of state. And most
presidents give speeches written and honed by professional
speechwriters. But receiving answers during a presidential debate
clearly violates established rules.

In 1990, Milli Vanilli was forced to return their award for Best Vocal
Group after it was revealed that the pop duo hadn't sung the songs on
their album and that they routinely lip-synched performances.

It remains to be seen how Americans will react should they discover
they have a Milli Vanilli president.

Meanwhile, if the Kerry campaign is smart, they'll either ask that the
candidates agree to be frisked before tonight's St. Louis debate, or
Kerry himself, instead of shaking hands with the president, should
give him a manly pat on the back.

Another possibility: in this less
formal, town-hall setting, Kerry could begin by doffing his jacket,
leaving Bush the choice of exposing his wire or looking like a stuffed
shirt all evening.

www.inthesetimes.com - October 8, 2004

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