Bush off to Bagram this Saturday

[Timefortruth]

The rumors are flying, Saturday is October Surprise day for the Bush campaign. It's another plastic turkey day. He'll be off for a little campaigning with the military in a new democracy.

The official line is that Bush is taking the day off, one week before a tight election. Instead the public will be treated to our fearless leader showing off his military prowess.

How much did the plastic turkey stunt help him in the polls? This should be good for some sort of bump, after all Afghanistan isn't a miserable failure.

[skylarmae]

1. ooh, I'll be so mad, going for the meds right now, Sat not that far off

[Lex]

2. This is just going to remind the public why they hate his fake ass

so much.

Publicity stunts don't go far in the last days before an election.

It will be an abysmally stupid move if he does this.

[Timefortruth]

10. You give the public way more credit than I do.

They fell for the plastic turkey, they'll fall for this also.

[jonnyblitz]

24. I agree. n/t

[July]

3. And it's on OUR dime. nt

[VolcanoJen]

16. That's the best way for us to spin it... how much did the trip cost?

If Bush pulls off this stunt, Joe Lockhart and Mike McCurry should quickly remind the American people of Bush's reckless spending of taxpayer dollars.

If I were them, I'd ask how much body armor could have been purchased for the troops, had Bush, his enormous entourage and security detail stayed home.

[Texas_Dem]

4. We should give him a gun and send him out on patrol to makeup for AWOL

from TANG.

[Kikosexy2]

5. Let's all...

write all networks, newspapers, and get on Repube blogs, messageboards and spoil the surprise. bombard them now and spoil this photo op charade!! Do it now--everyone!

[Cha]

17. Good idea..Spoil the

Surprise!

[Jersey Devil]

6. Is he bringing his codpiece?

I also expect a banner to the effect of "Democracy on the March"

Hey, look, I am happy if he wastes a weekend away from the battlegrounds and at the same time reminding voters that there is still a war going on.

[Kikosexy2]

21. You know ...

it will be hand-selected Bush supporting troops in the audience like always. It's too early for the codpiece. Maybe some trick or treat candy will do. Great--a scare tactic for Halloween--a visit from Chimpo!

[snowbear]

7. Oh brooOOooother!

Gotta agree with Lex.. Timing would make it look to phoney. Let em' do it. I think it's hilarious! B-)

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Gee, why isn't he going to Iraq

it can't be because Bush's Blunder is such a huge success?

[Cha]

18. To me that would just remind people that

he can't go to Iraq!

[MARALE]

9. Tin foil hat time

What if Bush* get shot at or hurt in an attack? Will we stop the elections? I don't have a good feeling about this.:tinfoilhat:

[Texas_Dem]

11. He is going to tell the troops God told him there would be no casualties.

[Randi_Listener]

12. Little Coverage

It will be an NFL and NCAA weekend. He will get little mileage if any from this stunt.

[unfrigginreal]

13. Wow, this sounds like a backfire waiting to happen

Let 'em go for it.

[PlanetBev]

31. I second that, Unfriggenreal

This will detonate in Chimp's face. A blunder of catastrophic proportions.

Bad move, Karl

[cubsfan forever]

14. I sent this information to Crystal Patterson of the DCCC

She had e-mailed thanking me for telling her about another matter (not that I was the only one by any means)If you have any more information, please e-mail her. She is terrific about getting the word to the bloggers, etc. for the Kerry campaign.

Let's not let this little COWARD get away with this!!

[email protected]


Professor 2

[leftofthedial]

15. shoulder-launched SAMs

IEDs, mortars, rockets . . .

desparation

[nine30]

19. DU all the news organizations to remove the element of "surprise" !!

[earthside]

20. Backfire Big Time

Such an obvious political stunt would backfire on Bush.

I think he is taking Saturday off because the Bush campaign internal polls show him tanking. Madam KKKaren, KKKarl Rove, and he need to decide if the campaign is salvagable and how far they are willing to go to "win" the election.

Or ... campaigning and being president is such "hard work" that the 'boy' needs a rest.

[spotbird]

32. His whole campaign is an obvious political stunt.

It might give him the bump without MIHOP.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

22. Did anybody actually see him go to Iraq last time?

I never saw a photo/video of his arrival in Baghdad, nor of his departure. I only saw the photo-op where he carries a plastic turkey among a hand-picked group of G.I.s. And somehow the media missed the fact that the soldiers were forced to show up at 7:30 A.M. so it would seem the G.I.s were joining those at home as they ate their own Thanksgiving dinners.

The fact that only Fox News was allowed to cover the Thanksgiving "event" also made me suspicious. "M*A*S*H" was shot on a soundstage and looked a lot more real than this sanitized version of the war.

While I've got my tin foil hat on: Did anyone actually see * climb into or out of the Navy jet during the carrier landing stunt? Or did they even show an inflight video of the Great CiC taking controls of the jet? I know they can do it -- the Blue Angels take local media types flying a day or two before the show and video them passing out or losing their lunch as they have their first experience of high G forces.

All I know is that for the carrier photo op the position of the news cameras was severely restricted in where they could set up, and after landing the airplane was parked so * made his entrance from behind it. In Las Vegas, people would pay good money to see David Copperfield stage such an illusion.

[snippy]

23. Will he get to play dress up again? At the Carrier Costume Party

he got to wear three different costumes. He really liked that.

[Harlan James]

25. Shrub Is Just A Nutty Little Guy

The first time The Plastic Turkey Express went to the warzone it was as an ulra-classified scecret. This time Der Shrub is going with full fanfare?

Maybe the flight should be renamed The Pastic Turkey Shoot. Every terrorist and disgruntled Moslem in South Asia will be scanning the skies for a crack at that bird.

[DemocracyInaction]

26. He's probably taking time off to catch up on his drinking (not kidding)

Remember, this zero has gone like every weekend of his presidency to either Camp David or the hog farm. I think that's where after a long week of doing a wee bit of work, they have him go so he can relax and drink without someone leaking it. If he drank on the campaign trail and got caught it could be a disaster. He was off the trail last weekend and now this. I say they give him the day to recharge his batteries with booze or he comes unglued and explodes.

[hippiechick]

27. And they call Kerry's hunting in Ohio a 'publicity stunt' ??

OMFG those ... "people" are so disgusting. :puke:

I hope the entire Dem contingent is on this like a tick on a dog, calling it for the grandstanding that it is ...

:hippie:

[Clark4Prez]

28. Not my luck, he will be in Florida

Actually, Bushie is coming to my town on Saturday. He is hitting at least two Florida locations. It was on the radio tonight.

[FloridaGuy23]

29. I guess Bush is going to have to

cancel his appearance in Lakeland then.

Or perhaps all of this is idle speculation. I guess it would prove that Bush really is stupid if he would risk p-ing off us Floridians to go to Afghanistan.

I'm leaning to idle speculation.

[discopants]

30. a handshake with Karzai is a good thing

it's the obsessive spin that's going to backfire.

[Heath.Hunnicutt]

33. Korea/ W. Pacific

There is a gathering BushOp in this area. The USS Shoup DDG-93 Aegis-class/Ashleigh-Burke-class, the USS Chung-Hoon; three Los-Angeles-class 688 Attack subs... All of these are new to N.S. Perl Harbor and N.S. Guam within the last few months.

Now sailing to join them are the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72 Lincoln group for exercises (a practice or drill) called 'Emergency Response Surge'.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/195533_lincoln16.html
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/10/15/loc_shoup001.cfm
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=23869&archive=true
http://www.guampdn.com/news/stories/20040922/localnews/1276054.html
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=15574

The Lincoln departed on the 16th for the ERS. An air group from N.C. departed 13th for Mirimar to join them en route to the 'Western Pacific'. Lincoln departed Mirimar (San Diego) the 19th.

All of them are in W. Pacific as of about today.

I didn't look to see where the other 6-8 AC battle-groups are, but I heard that the idea in this Surge is to deploy many of them at once.

Maps of the Western Pacific, Guam would be about an inch to the east of this map: