Why Did Bush Allow No Photos After His Speech? What Was He Hiding?

[Blackhatjack]

News organizations are reporting that they were denied access to take pictures of Bush behind the podium after his speech, which has been traditional since LBJ was in office.

Staged "Official Photos" were handed out by WH staff to photographers, which many refused to run in their publications.

There have been credible observations that the speech was 'taped in advance.'

Now why would Bush prohibit pictures being taken after his speech?
I have a few guesses: 1- He was afraid there would be questions about his references to attacking Iran & Syria, which he did not want to answer. 2- The speech was taped in advance so that mistakes could be editted out, and several attempts could be editted together, to cover up his physical, mental and/or emotional problems that prevented him delivering the speech 'live' to the American people. 3- To hide an obvious problem of being under the influence of some kind of drug or alcohol.

Those are my best guesses. Any other ideas out there?

[Stephanie]

1. that is odd

very odd. got a link?

[Blackhatjack]

15. Here is the link from Editor and Publisher 'WH bars still photography...

http://rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003531834

This raises all kinds of questions

[Avalux]

2. I'll take door #2.

I believe the speech was taped; no way they'd allow him to do that live.

[woodsprite]

5. Was he actually around? My guess this a.m. was that

he was hiding in some undisclosed location because of the raid going on at the Iranian Consulate in Iraq.

[Cameron27]

9. It sounded strange,

thought it was my tv at first, probably taped...flubbed, retaped, flubbed, retaped......

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. Yea, I don't get that either? Makes no sense to me at all. n/t

[yy4me]

4. Door number 2.

He could not have camera people there at 9PM, he was already come and gone. I bet the speech was made hours earlier so it could be cut and spliced...or whatever it is they do to alter the broadcast.

[Virginia Dare]

6. combination of all 3...

his extreme paranoia as part of an ongoing mental breakdown, and drug and alcohol abuse because of it. How are they going to get him in shape to give the State of the Union Address? That's what I'm wondering.

I have read somewhere that the Constitution only requires that the President report to Congress once a year, it doesn't necessarily have to be a live speech. Should be interesting.

:popcorn:

[etherealtruth]

29. "his extreme paranoia as part of an ongoing mental breakdown"

The most likely explanation I've heard

[Mr Rabble]

7. Hiding the earpiece?

[Marie26]

8. He was asleep.

I'm starting to really believe it was pre-taped.

[wakeme2008]

10. As a side issue, I would BET Fox did the taping and it was earlier.

that my guess.

[Marie26]

13. Could this explain

why he wasn't in the Oval Office? I think every Presidential address has been from the Oval Office - except this one. There's windows on either side of the desk - and the sunlight would prove it wasn't live.

[renate]

14. that's a great point!

Good work, Detective Marie26!

There never was an explanation for having it somewhere other than the Oval Office, was there?

My only objection to the idea of the speech being taped live is the few seconds of silence at the beginning of the speech. Wouldn't that have been fixed before it was aired? Otherwise, this is one of those things that make you go Hmmmmm....

[Marie26]

21. Well, maybe they left a few seconds

of silence to give it a "live" feeling, where the speaker has to wait a moment before receiving the cue. But it's really starting to seem like they pre-taped the address. I think the odd lighting, the taping, and the edits all helped contribute to the overall "creepiness" of the speech. People can sense that something's off. And also, where was this address given?

This is a still from his last "Presidential Address" on Iraq, in the Oval Office.



And this week's Address -



If it was pre-taped, he couldn't speak from the Oval Office, because there's a window right behind him. So where is he? No one seems to know where the speech was given, and the article doesn't mention it. There's no sunlight or windows there, and the lighting is stark. Is he in a mausoleum, a museum, or Cheney's bunker? For all we know, they just stuck him in front of a green screen. I can't believe we've reached the point where we have no idea when, where, or how a Presidential Address was given.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

22. That old fashioned lamp on the mantle

looked out of place to me.

[Marie26]

26. IMHO, the speech was taped

the day before. That way "Senior Administration Officials" could review it & before speaking to reporters. And that way they could edit, re-tape, and splice the thing until Bush actually made sense.

This photo was taken by the official White House photographer on Jan. 9, the day before the Iraq presidential address.



Official White House photo shows US President George W. Bush meeting with key Republican congressional and national security leaders 9 January in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Bush on Wednesday was to unveil a new plan for Iraq that calls for about 20,000 more US troops and aims to give Iraqis control of their country by November, aides said (AFP/White House/Eric Draper)

It's a little far away, but Bush appears to be wearing the same blue tie & suit that he's wearing in the Iraq speech. Either he wore the same thing two days in a row (a wild night?), or the speech was actually taped on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

[wtmusic]

11. He looked like shit.

Even for Dubya, he looked rattled, nervous, tired.

He should.

[Dhalgren]

12. Even if it was pre-taped (which makes sense when you consider

the person involved), why couldn't he be available after the fact, as if he had given the speech live? He could have just been in a room, somewhere, playing X-box while the tape was running, and when the speech was over, step up and be photoed. It is strange and getting stranger. This is going to be the worst year in American History, rivaling 1862 and 1863...

[Blackhatjack]

16. Now, Add to that the 'pre-speech conference' Bush had w/selected press before speech

We discussed it in this link
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3097478&mesg_id=3097478

So Brian Williams and Russert meet with Bush before the speech, Williams takes a notebook full of quotes from Bush, but cannot comment on them. Both Williams and Russert look like and hint at having been told a secret they cannot reveal.

But press photographers are not allowed in after the speech to take Bush's picture?

The only logical conclusion is that BUSH WAS NOT THERE.....

[Marie26]

23. It gets weirder

There's actually a White House press release of that "background" briefing to the press - however, the official is only referred to as "SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL". So we can't know who's speaking. WTF?

Background Briefing by Senior Administration Officials
Room 450
Eisenhower Executive Office Building

12:25 P.M. EST

MR. SNOW: Hello, everybody. The ground rules are this is a background briefing by a senior administration official. We have promised some documents to you; those are still in production. We will notify you as soon as they are ready, but they will be ready for you well in advance of the President's speech tonight. They'll lay out a lot of the basics of the policy. Obviously, feel free to contact us with any questions you have afterward.

But in order to frame it up, I introduce SAO.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm going to try and give you a little feel for what the President is going to say tonight, but I'm going to try to do it in a way that walks you through the logic of the strategy review we've been through, and a little bit, the logic of the President's thinking and how I think you'll hear it tonight. ...

Q: At the start of the war, some of the generals were saying more troops were needed, and the President, at that time, did not listen to that advice. Now the generals are very wary about sending more troops, and, yet, the President is making a decision to send more troops. Why is it that he believes this is a wise course of action after the history of how things have gone in terms of troop levels?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the rationale for it I've really given you. I think, though, I see the history a little different. One of the issues is the Iraqis -- every time we get in discussions with Iraqis about more troops, they generally said, if we need more troops, they need to be Iraqi troops, so please train more Iraqi troops. This is -- Iraqis really want to take more responsibility."

Is this the same "background" briefing that Williams & Russert are referring to? If so, after "SAO" was done, Bush himself strode in to speak to the reporters. But since this was also "background", the reporters were warned not to quote anything he said. It's so surreal.


http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070110-1.html

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

24. There must have been TWO Senior Admin Officials

excerpt from your link~
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: He's got someone waiting for him in the Roosevelt Room. I'll pick up the baton.

Go ahead, Peter.

Q Your colleague just said that the Iraqis want to control security by the end of the year. What are the prospects for that happening?

end~

David (Gregory?) was there asking questions also, Robin and other names of reporters mentioned. Who are these people that hide in the shadows?

[global1]

17. He Didn't Want Anyone To See That He Had His Pajama Bottoms On....nt.

[Blackhatjack]

18. Watch and see if Bush answers any questions today and tomorrow...

He has withdrawn into a cocoon when it comes to the press. Will only talk to the press if they agree not to quote him, like the pre-speech conference he had with Brian Williams and Russert --which they commented on.

He will make appearances before troops that are barred from talking to the press. Make statements which may be released. But he will take no questions.

This would all be consistent with a person who is hiding a secret --like him having issued an executive order to begin military operations against Syria and Iran.

[Supersedeas]

25. secrecy or cowardice or both

[CrazyOrangeCat]

19. he's so f****** up, they had to edit it.

god knows how he'll be able to do SOTU . . .

[rebel with a cause]

20. I think it is more simple than him not being there

He didn't want to take a chance on them getting a shot of the lump on his back that comes from being wired for sound. This has had this done twice (?) before and they did not want it done again. You know he can't talk five minutes and make sense without having someone whispering in his ear. This was an important speech, so someone had to be there for him.

[G_Leo_Criley]

27. i'll take 2 BHJ

Taped in advance. Used set with stage lighting so that shadows wouldn't vary. If taped over a period of time, you might have shadows falling differently as time went on. Gotta have continuity of backdrop to keep it believable. I'm betting those weren't real books too.

Btw, I also tend to agree that it could've been done in front of a green screen. It was so odd the way that he actually didn't appear to be integrated into any of that comfy looking backdrop in any sense. He stood removed from it.

Look at his face. Has anyone else been seriously depressed and jiggy after hearing that speech and seeing that look on his face?

There's something wrong. It may be fear, it may be substance abuse or prescribed medication. I don't know. But, something is very, very wrong.

I don't have a tape of it. When I watched, I remember saying early on, "Hey, what's up?!?" when the tape glitch-like thing occurred. That glitch is in every time I've heard that part of the speech replayed. Seems that no one has a clean copy.

How likely is it that they'd let that get out? Was someone trying to raise a red flag?

Wish I'd recorded it. Eye blinks. Reflections in his pupils. Anybody wanna look?

Hafta go find some tin foil, man...

glc

edited for punctuation

[Rex]

28. Wow, even our shadow government is getting lazy!

:evilgrin: