Drudge: FAKE TURKEY!

[Closer]

Administration officials tell Thursday's WASH POST that Bush picked up a decoration, not a serving plate for photo op... MORE... 'Officials said they did not know the turkey would be there or that Bush would pick it up. A contractor had roasted and primped the turkey to adorn the buffet line, while the 600 soldiers were served from cafeteria-style steam trays,' Mike Allen at POST to report. White House officials do not deny that they craft elaborate events to showcase Bush, but they maintain that these events are designed to accurately dramatize his policies and to convey qualities about him that are real. 'This was effective, because it captured something about the president that people know is true, that he really cares about the soldiers and gets emotional when he sees them,' Mary Matalin, a former administration official, said about the trip to Baghdad... Developing...

It's on his website now. Can't you just imagine what Drudge would be saying if this were a DEMOCRATIC candidate who did this???

Instead, for his pimp daddy, he puts as the headline "Bush's Baghdad Turkey Displayed, Not Eaten" not something more accurate like "TRICK TURKEY!"




Edit: I just had an ephipany! DU might have very well been the outlet that started this story in motion. Some DUer mentioned this possibility several days ago. We know that journalists DO read DU, and this could have VERY WELL been the catalyst for this story growing legs (turkey legs that is). Man oh man, we're good!

[Yavin4]

1. Bush's New Nickname!!

Fake Turkey!!!

[neuvocat]

3. The Turkey Trickster.

:evilgrin:

[radwriter0555]

75. GOBBLE-GATE!

is my name for this debacle.

[rucky]

2. Turkeyhawk

[Bread and Circus]

18. I like that.

[knight_of_the_star]

30. Well put!

I think I'll have to use that one from now on.

[asjr]

34. turkey

Turkey Buzzard is good too. He is very predatory.

[William Seger]

72. Turkeyhawk down!

:kick: Hee haw kick for the FReeper turkey lurkers.

[calimary]

74. Turkey Lurkers!!!!! Great one!

Any way you look at it, it was a fowl play.

[ComerPerro]

4. Its a great symbol of the administration

No substance whatsoever.

[Myra]

31. Exactly ComerPerro

Even the hollow symbolism is fake.

It's like a fake hall of mirrors endlessly reflecting nothing.

[Military Brat]

56. What you see ain't what you get

Turkeyhawk is the perfect nickname for the great pretender. There is truth to the legend that a turkey will stand in the rain, staring up in the sky with its mouth open, and drown. They are really that stupid.

But nothing, I mean nothing, beats the stupidity of the Rove/bush team.

[sweetheart]

5. it looks as fake as his smile

... all in keeping with faux USA.

[DRoseDARs]

6. oh god...my sides...can't stop...

Ya, he cares enough about the soldiers to give them all the impression that he cares enough about them to fein serving them a fake turkey.

Oh god, this doesn't stop, does it?

[Closer]

7. This is so wonderful guys!

This photo op is gonna bomb now just like "mission accomplished"


We can't let this one die folks.

This is juicy as HELL, unlike that turkey!



I say we come up with our own HEADLINES for this story tomorrow.


Someone who's good with photoshop should come up with something, too.



Man, this is wonderful!!!!!!!


Kudos to the DUer who mentioned this possibility of a fake turkey a few days back!

on edit: Mr. Rove, you're not NEARLY as smart as you think you are.

[Oilwellian]

11. Here you go...

Courtesy of Nostamj in GD

[Closer]

14. Good one!

So true.

So sad.


However, if this really WERE the case, I think his smile would have been even bigger.

:-(

[Wonk]

16. Here's a photoshop that I did of that scene the day he did the photo-op.

[Oilwellian]

26. Nice touch with...

the Nazi medal. Took a minute to see it but when I did, it gave me the chills.

[Wonk]

29. Oops, credit where credit is due. I borrowed that part from BringEmOn's

earlier photoshop of that scene.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=462226

[nostamj]

22. credit goes to the Wizard of Whimsey!

I just used it in the last CARTOONS! thread (link below)

i did do this one:

[tinrobot]

8. Perfect symbol of his tactics....

He shows the reporters the beautiful turkey at the photo-op.

Then everyone has to eat soggy gruel from the steam trays...

...sounds a lot like his other policies.

[KFC]

9. Was it plastic?

"A contractor had roasted and primped the turkey to adorn the buffet line, while the 600 soldiers were served from cafeteria-style steam trays,"

-Why would they roast a plastic turkey?

[Wonk]

12. Perhaps they "bantered severely" with it beforehand?

Perhaps it was "harshly criticized" or "read the riot act"?

(alternate definitions of "roast")

[kalian]

10. BUSH WAS NEVER IN BAGHDAD....

and that's my theory....

[LMG]

17. all fake all the time

nothing real all fake
fake turkey fake jump suits wake wmd real war other people dead

[Lorien]

23. But he DOES get emotional about the troops

securing that sweet, sweet crude for his cronies, and bombing the sh*t outta Iraq so Halliburtan and friends can come in to "reconstruct". I'm sure the thought of those billions flowing into poppy and unca Dick's coffers brings a tear of joy to his eyes. :grr:

[Scott Lee]

32. Something he never really was....

Yeesh.

[newyawker99]

59. Hi LMG!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Cronus Protagonist]

21. I think you're right

That would completely explain the need to plant the story about the BA pilot noticing them flying to Iraq. The subtext of that story is that the plane was actually flying there. Now, one wonders, why would they feel the need to make sure the meme was thoroughly planted unless, in fact, they didn't fly him to Iraq and the soldiers in the pics are actually Pentagon personnel or something.

Fuck, for all we know the whole thing was done on a green screen.

FUCK BUSH Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[madrchsod]

24. windycty

has a relative in the picture

[PsychoDad]

70. Any idea where where Cheney was?

I think it was the shrub, he's the expendable one. The real one in charge was hiding, as always, in his bunker.

Although, I wouldn't be suprised at this point if all appearances were staged with look alikes.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

13. A "contractor"?

Why would you hire a contractor to cook a turkey?? A chef yes, but a contractor? That's an odd use of a word.

And yes, I don't think he was in Baghdad either.

[drfemoe]

19. contractor

as in halliburton..

[MUAD_DIB]

63. Beat me to it.

Halliburton turkey roasting service: $500,000,000.00.

[kentuck]

55. Was the contractor with Halliburton ?

They supply fake turkeys as part of their contract?

[Stupdworld]

15. So?

BFD. its a photo op. "Hey, Bush, how bout one for the rubes back home?"
"OK! Here ill pick up this brown turkey lookin rubbery thing"

then he shovels a few forkfuls in his mouth and pounds sand. big whoop. but i will bet a dollar the picture is used ad nauseam by the evil bush administration.

[drfemoe]

20. prediction

drudge is going to change sides ..
you read it here first.

[shockingelk]

39. drudge is on his own side, although I thought it looked like a prop

Whatever gets him talked about ... the hits.

I started a thread on Sat night or Sun morning, think it was called "the picture" or "the photo", noting that the "platter" looked like a pizza tray and the grapes seemed arranged to cover the bottom ... and wondered aloud if it was a prop, or a ad-hoc poor imitation of a Rockwell painting ... a few posters said they had seen spreads like that on battlefields, so I figured I was just wrong.

[karlschneider]

48. Well I was in the service but never in combat...but it seems a bit silly,

"here ya go soldier, just whip out yer bayonet and whack off a slice of this hyar birdie..."

"And y'all be careful now, I gotta get to Crawford 'n clear some brush"

[mandyky]

25. No wonder shrub can't find bin Laden or Saddam

if he doesn't know a real turkey from a decoration peice. This idiot is SUCH a moron. But you know what they say about Texans and meat - if it doesn't have BBQ sauce on it they are lost... LOL

[Cocoa]

27. the fake turkey was the soldiers' idea

They asked him to bring a fake turkey with him, like the sailors asked for the "Mission accomplished" banner.

[Bozita]

28. You got that right!

Many will believe it, too.

[kentuck]

33. Of course, you are right Cocoa !

They asked him to bring that fake turkey...reminds me of a line from Alice's Restaurant..."Your Honor, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope at the bottom of that pile of garbage... :)

[Octafish]

44. They got a fake turkey and a bonus...

... a fake Commander-in-Chief.



10-gallon hat on a
5-gallon head.

[MO_Dem]

35. Such irony!

The real turkey is carrying a fake turkey on a platter!

[UTUSN]

36. So..."Fake Turkey"...Which? Shrub, DRUDGE? Which-Again? n/t

[Stephanie]

37. J'accuse - Scott Sforza!

http://www.notinourname.net/resources_links/bush_image_may03.htm

.... First among equals is Scott Sforza, a former ABC producer who was hired by the Bush campaign in Austin, Tex., and who now works for Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director. Mr. Sforza created the White House "message of the day" backdrops and helped design the $250,000 set at the United States Central Command forward headquarters in Doha, Qatar, during the Iraq war.

Mr. Sforza works closely with Bob DeServi, a former NBC cameraman whom the Bush White House hired after seeing his work in the 2000 campaign. Mr. DeServi, whose title is associate director of communications for production, is considered a master at lighting. "You want it, I'll heat it up and make a picture," he said early this week. Mr. DeServi helped produce one of Mr. Bush's largest events, a speech to a crowd in Revolution Square in Bucharest last November.

To stage the event, Mr. DeServi went so far as to rent Musco lights in Britain, which were then shipped across the English Channel and driven across Europe to Romania, where they lighted Mr. Bush and the giant stage across from the country's former Communist headquarters.

A third crucial player is Greg Jenkins, a former Fox News television producer in Washington who is now the director of presidential advance. Mr. Jenkins manages the small army of staff members and volunteers who move days ahead of Mr. Bush and his entourage to set up the staging of all White House events. ....

[Octafish]

40. Thanks, Stephanie! I wondered who those so-and-sos are...

... Mark Hertsgaard, author of "On Bended Knee," a book about the suppliant press during the Reagan era. In the TV age, the important role played by these media prose cannot be overstressed. By putting up the right backdrop, "Education Presnit," say, and having the crowd letting go the helium balloons on cue, anybody can look like a winner — even a Little Turd* from Crawford.

* As fondly described by Ron Reagan Jr. (Please, pardon my Dutch.)

Third World Traveler has a nice excerpt from Hertsgaard's book:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/On_Bended_Knee.html

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

38. How was the turkey fake?

"A contractor had roasted and primped the turkey to adorn the buffet line, while the 600 soldiers were served from cafeteria-style steam trays,' Mike Allen at POST to report."

[kentuck]

41. So they say...

:) By the way, did you hear what that BA pilot said when told that the plane he actually saw was not AF1...He said, "Oh..."

[karlschneider]

42. Shame they couldn't scare up a faux roasted Chickenhawk.

:evilgrin:

[scottcsmith]

43. What if it were Clinton?

Suppose it was Bill Clinton with the prop turkey. Wouldn't the right-wing nutcases be bitching about how Clinton was all about photo-ops, how transparent he is, doesn't care about the troops, what's the most dangerous place to be, between Bill Clinton and a camera, and on and on and on.

[wuushew]

45. watch them watch us

To: All

Just visited the DU site. They're convinced that it was a plastic turkey. I guess the facts aren't allowed to get in the way. And yes they're calling it "Turkey Gate"


49 posted on 12/03/2003 6:59 PM PST by Terp (Retired US Navy now living in Philippines were the Mountains meet the Sea in the Land of Smiles)
< Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies >

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1033451/posts

[grasswire]

46. one of our earlier threads exposing turkeygate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=809623

[grasswire]

47. paper mache...

...was my guess.

From the moment I saw the pic, I figured it was fake. He didn't handle it like it weighed close to thirty pounds.

[frank frankly]

50. he is just a crackhead, literally

the attention span of a cokehead with the discretion of a drunk.

"hey, i'm gonna grab this thing! look at me!!!"

he is a Piece of Shit.

[MUAD_DIB]

64. Roasted then freeze dried.

Like *'s brains.

[kentuck]

51. Hmmm. they have more posts than us on the subject???

..as they pretend that it really isn't a story...Then why are they talking about it??

[eleny]

49. A fake turkey is the perfect symbol for this administration n/t

[opihimoimoi]

53. Shoulda been ROAST CROW

These Pubs ain't gonna admit shit tho

No WMD

No Osama

No Saddam

No Peace

No Stability

No Credibility

All Fake, All Bluff, All phoney

No Brains either

[Bozita]

52. How about "Honeysuckle Hoax" or the "Bullshit Butterball"

my humble offerings

[Closer]

54. KICK

[LTR]

57. I was kinda skeptical

One turkey for all those servicemen?

Who does Dubya think he is? Jesus Christ?

Wait a minute... Maybe he does think this!

[BloodyWilliam]

58. What sick bastard would put a fake turkey on a table as a decoration?

Especially when the food is going to soldiers who probably aren't getting food that's all the great to begin with...

The administration is becoming laughable... no, sickening in its inability to fess up when it's caught.

[0007]

60. Trick Turkey = Fake Poll Numbers

[MUAD_DIB]

65. One trick turkey?

n/t

[Loonman]

61. Ha ha! If it was Clinton, the stupid freepers and neo-cons...

...would be all over this.

[DemVet]

62. OK, here's the deal, listen up.....

The turkey was probably a real bird, never meant to be eaten. Having been through countless military mess lines on holidays, they try to jazz things up a bit, such as putting a picture perfect roast turkey on display on Thanksgiving. The dozens of others were probably being carved in back of the serving line.

Let's keep our eyes on the real prize here and quit being distracted by this trivial crap, OK? :-)

[kcordell]

66. Explain It To Me

How does one go about roasting a "fake" turkey?

[Bridget Burke]

67. "Institutional Turkey Product" on the Steam Table

I'm sure it tasted pretty much like turkey. Cheaper & easier for the cooks to prepare.

Looking at the "real" turkey would remind you what you were supposed to be eating. Our boys (& girls) got to look at TWO "real" turkeys.

[Postman]

68. Drudge will post headlines of faked turkey but NO WMD's in Iraq? No way.

this is really a non-issue. I know it shows a larger truth that he is a fake to begin with but how about some sanity here? The lies about WMD's are much bigger than this crap.

[randr]

69. Texas Turkeys

Here in Colorado we have used "Turkey" as the apt description of the herds of wealthy, rude, ignorant, white, and obnoxious Texas Trash that invade our state's tourist meccas. This is a phrase not given to the very many Texans who conduct themselves as civil tourists, but chosen to point out the most obvious neo-riche strutters.

[realFedUp]

71. Hehehe...I did

Thought it might be a prop and wondered how
many other standby turkeys were on Air Force One.

[gasperc]

73. Which is the real turkey in the picture?

ha ha ha