Kerry: the flip-flopping gum-flapper.

PM - You didn't get any love on that one. I liked it.

Is Bush Wired?

This issue/speculation has been buzzing in the background for quite some time. There's plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the possibility that President Bush wears an earpiece at many (if not all) of his public appearances, through which an off-screen person feeds him his lines.

If the allegations are true, how do you feel about it?

I saw that bulge too. I wondered briefly what it was. Maybe he's packing a gat?

I don't think it was an earpiece or he would have had some better retorts.

The text of that link is pretty silly, btw.

Silly, maybe, but it there are plenty of links and evidence on the site.

The gist of the theory is that Bush is fed facts and information to use in his responses, not complete line by line speeches. I'll be watching carefully during tonight's debate.

Spreading speculation blows smoke but illuminates nothing. I don't believe that Bush has an earpiece receiver to assist him in his debates or speeches. The reason I don't believe it has nothing to do with his intelligence or lack of same, but rather that no president would take the chance that someone would eavesdrop on the prompting and record it.

It's one thing to be a partisan democrat or republican, but another to spread groundless rumors about a sitting President.

In reply to:

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no president would take the chance that someone would eavesdrop on the prompting and record it.

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Oh, really? Well, there's possible evidence on the White House web site. Watch this press conference (The link is to the White House website.) About 13:32 into the press conference, while Bush is listing off names of captured enemies, he mispronounces a name, and then seems to be corrected via earpiece. Watch how he pauses while looking down to the right, as if listening intently, and then blurts out the correct pronunciation.

Strange stuff here. I'm not entirely convinced, myself, but it sure would explain why he often has stange pauses while he speaks.

Nobody's got anything to say about the debate? Bush did much better. It was as if someone lit a fire under him. He was a little bit too defensive, though. Kerry's performance was similar to last time. I'd say this debate didn't have as clear a winner as last time, but I'd still put Kerry on top.

Neither of them really answered the the questions specifically though.

And is it just me, or did the audience look bored out of their minds??

I think this debate was won by the candidate with whom you most agree. I thought Bush did very well in defending himself and reminding voters of Kerry's long record vs his current tough talk.

It occurred to me after the debate, listening to the analysts and spin meisters talk out whether Bush was angry this time around, how absurd this is - not that voters would decide who to vote for based on the expression on the candidate's face as his opponent is speaking (more stupid than absurd) - but absurd in that we should expect Bush to NOT get mad when Kerry says the Iraq war is a mistake.
I know that if I were President and sent over a thousand of my soldiers off to die, and my opponent said I threw their lives away, I would get pissed. Who wouldn't? I would get even more pissed to hear him say that he would continue the war - a war that he thinks is a mistake and a waste of American lives and money. WTF?!
Kerry's position on the Iraq war is absurd. It is also insulting and offensive to the voters and the democratic process. He embodies precisely what is wrong with electoral politics in this country.

BigWill, you've apparently been listening to Bush's spin-meisters as you're repeating their lines verbatim.

If you're giving Bush credit for making a great speech the other day and saying what he should have said in the first debate, you should also give Kerry credit for speaking his position clearly. Kerry is saying the war itself was not a mistake. People didn't throw their lives away for nothing. Kerry is saying the way it has been managed since Baghdad fell is horrible. And it's not just Kerry who's saying it. It's abundantly obvious to people in his own administration, as well.

Kerry's position is only insulting to the voters who support Bush. Bush's position is insulting to the voters who support Kerry, and the majority of the planet as well.