The Case of the Disappearing Pause

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode XVII

In the New York Times, Nov. 25.

It may be called the Case of the Disappearing Pause.

When President Bush laid out the potential threat that unconventional weapons posed in Saddam Hussein's hands last year in his State of the Union address last year, he became tongue-tied at an inopportune moment.

The line read, "It would take one vial, one canister, one crate, slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known." But Mr. Bush stumbled between the words "one" and "vial." And when at the word vial, he pronounced the "v" as if it were a "w."

Yet in a new Republican commercial that borrows excerpts from that speech, Mr. Bush delivers that line as smoothly as any other in the address, without a pause between "one" and "vial," and the v in "vial" sounds strong and sure.

Republican officials acknowledged yesterday that the change was a product of technology. The line, they said, was digitally enhanced in editing "to ensure the best clarity."

The difference between the speech and excerpt was noticed by strategists for former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont. They saw it as they put together their own advertisement attacking the spot, which presents the Democratic candidates as undermining the fight against terrorism. Word trickled back to Democratic officials, who retrieved the tape and confirmed that there was, indeed, a difference.

The Democrats asked whether the Republican National Committee had gone to the White House with sound equipment to have Mr. Bush recite the line anew for what was the first Republican commercial of the campaign season here. That might have meant that the party was not being truthful when it said it had not coordinated with Mr. Bush when it made the advertisement, a possible violation of law.

The Republicans said there were no such doings. "The audio that you hear is from the State of the Union address, the video that you see is from the State of the Union address," a spokeswoman for the national committee, Christine Iverson, said.

Party officials said the line in question was "cut and pasted." Still, Democrats were ecstatic over the perceived chink in an advertisement that they have criticized for days as unfair.

"Audio cutting and pasting is `Bush speak' for them having doctored their own ad," Jim Mulhall of the Democratic National Committee said.

Ms. Iverson said the Democrats were not exactly aboveboard when they made an advertisement this year that featured an excerpt from the State of the Union address in which Mr. Bush said, "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," a statement that was reported to have been based on questionable intelligence.

She noted that the Democratic advertisement had left out the beginning of the sentence, "The British government has learned that. . . . "

A Republican strategist said it was not uncommon for specialists to rework candidate's speeches to sound better in spots, just as newspapers do not tend to include "umms" and "uhs" in quotations.

Douglas E. Schoen, a Democratic pollster who worked for President Bill Clinton, said that making an alteration in the State of the Union address was different.

"The distinction I would make," Mr. Schoen said, "is what the president says at the State of the Union is an essential part of the historical record."

Martin Kaplan, associate dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, was less concerned.

"Changing the sense of something is a serious issue, this isn't that," Mr. Kaplan said. "But it does change the sound of leadership. It's relevant for a president whose narrative is that he's inarticulate."

The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.

This is what the Democrats consider to be important enough to whinge about (that is, the Dems in politics) and to write about (that is, the Dems in the media).

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 11/28/03 09:07:17 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & Political.

President in Baghdad for Thanksgiving Day

The text of the president's speech is at the White House website:

.... I bring a message on behalf of America: we thank you for your service, we're proud of you, and America stands solidly behind you. (Applause.) Together, you and I have taken an oath to defend our country. You're honoring that oath. The United States military is doing a fantastic job. (Applause.) You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq, so that we don't have to face them in our own country. You're defeating Saddam's henchmen, so that the people of Iraq can live in peace and freedom.

By helping the Iraqi people become free, you're helping change a troubled and violent part of the world. By helping to build a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East, you are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful. (Applause.)

You're engaged in a difficult mission. Those who attack our coalition forces and kill innocent Iraqis are testing our will. They hope we will run. We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost in casualties, defeat a brutal dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins. (Applause.)

We will prevail. We will win because our cause is just. We will win because we will stay on the offensive. And we will win because you're part of the finest military ever assembled. (Applause.) And we will prevail because the Iraqis want their freedom. (Applause.) ....

WaPo tells the story, today:

In a trip infused with cloak-and-dagger secrecy, President Bush paid a surprise visit to Iraq on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with U.S. troops and promised not to retreat in the face of truck bombs and assassinations.

Bush quietly slipped away from his Texas ranch Wednesday and flew to Washington, where he changed planes and picked up a few staff members for the long flight to the Iraqi capital. The presidential visit had been planned for almost six weeks but was tightly held, even by a small media pool traveling with him, until after Bush left Baghdad.

With a tear in his eye, Bush stunned 600 soldiers at a Thanksgiving celebration in the makeshift military base at Baghdad International Airport. He burst onstage with little warning and told them they are "defeating the terrorists here in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our own country....

WaPo also tells the story behind the story, Nov. 28:

As Air Force One headed under a false call sign for its unannounced landing in Iraq on Thursday, the Boeing 747 passed within sight of a British Airways pilot who radioed, "Did I just see Air Force One?"

"Gulfstream 5," replied Bush's pilot, Col. Mark Tillman. As one of Bush's aides recounted, the British Airways pilot seemed to sense that he was in on a secret and replied archly, "Oh."

The trip, aimed at boosting soldiers' morale and steadying Bush's political standing, had been in the works for weeks, but only a handful of his closest aides knew about it beforehand. The chosen few had talked about it only on secure telephone lines....

I don't know about you, Faithful Reader, but this story just tickles me pink. :-)

(Thanks, Peter.)

[Follow-up: A Bird's Eye View of the President's Thanksgiving Day.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 11/28/03 05:58:55 PM
Categorized as George W. Bush & Speeches and Suchlike.

November Poetry

Two of my poems turned fifteen this month: Sunrise and Autumn Sunset.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 11/28/03 09:20:37 AM
Categorized as Literary.