Look at this faux 'Meet The Press' stage set they built for Bush >>>

[Stephanie]

Who's paying for this? And why is the President of the United States spending his time going around the country acting like a talk show host?


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President Bush participates in a roundtable discussion at the Lakeland Community College, Friday, April 15, 2005, in Kirtland, Ohio. At the table with President Bush, are from left to right, are Rick Stenger, Betty Young, Scott Johnson and Al Hubbard and Raymond Sines, with their backs to the camera.(AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050415/480/ohlj10504151757

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[rman]

1. and they call it "round table". LOL

-

[wtmusic]

3. one more cuppa coffee and ya wouldn't have beat me to it

:P

[beyurslf]

7. That was the first thing I thought. Republicans don't even know what

"round" is.

[TyeDye75]

13. Kinda fitting really when you consider

that his entire social security plan is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

[wtmusic]

2. Looks like a Bush roundtable discussion

how apropos

[rodeodance]

5. they still called it a town hall meeting (msnbc I think this am). It is

pretty elaborate.

[Stephanie]

8. they need to call it a "staged presentation"

because that's exactly what it is - it's rehearsed and it's staged

[Stirk]

10. Yep. "Staged Presentation" would be alot more accurate.

[CottonBear]

4. We are paying for it. He is a facist. eom

[begin_within]

6. Eeww. Only Condi knows where that finger has been.

[teamster633]

14. EWWWWWW! There goes my appetite for the weekend.

[patdem]

9. "round table" means there is no 'head of the table' person

This is no 'round table'...what are we doing with our language? :shrug:

[Al-CIAda]

27. Good observation

Yes, a 'round table' has no head, and all opinion, ESPECIALLY opinions that DISAGREE are given EQUAL WEIGHT. This is so far removed from any 'round table both literally and metaphorically, it is rediculous.

We are paying to be lied to and the corporaganda press is compliant and enabling the criminals and sociopaths.

[tjdee]

11. That subliminal messaging is creepy as hell.

And it's just behind him--so if you close up on "Dude, stage left", you don't get the warm fuzzy message. Only if you do a close up on Bush.

He is our great steward.

:scared:

[tanyev]

12. Keepers of Bush Image Lift Stagecraft to New Heights

Careful--Elizabeth Bumiller article. Barf-inducing.

Officials of past Democratic and Republican administrations marvel at how the White House does not seem to miss an opportunity to showcase Mr. Bush in dramatic and perfectly lighted settings. It is all by design: the White House has stocked its communications operation with people from network television who have expertise in lighting, camera angles and the importance of backdrops.
----
The White House efforts have been ambitious - and costly. For the prime-time television address that Mr. Bush delivered to the nation on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the White House rented three barges of giant Musco lights, the kind used to illuminate sports stadiums and rock concerts, sent them across New York Harbor, tethered them in the water around the base of the Statue of Liberty and then blasted them upward to illuminate all 305 feet of America's symbol of freedom. It was the ultimate patriotic backdrop for Mr. Bush, who spoke from Ellis Island.
----
That somebody, White House officials and television executives say, is in fact three or four people. 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.
-----
The president's image makers, Mr. Bartlett said, work within a budget for White House travel and events allotted by Congress, which for fiscal 2003 was $3.7 million. He said he did not know the specific cost of staging Mr. Bush's Sept. 11 anniversary speech, or what the White House was charged for the lights. A spokeswoman at the headquarters of Musco Lighting in Oskaloosa, Iowa, said the company did not disclose the prices it charged clients.
http://www.fourwinds10.com/news/08-media/B-mainstream/2003/08B-06-03-03-whitehouse-tv-media-is-hollywood-drama.html

[EVDebs]

15. Looks more like "Meet, Depress" if you ask me !!!!!!! n/t

[fighttotheend]

16. The ? is... why. He does nothing for this country unless he benefits

With his participation in oil companies(because he owns one), cutting millionaires tax breaks(cause he is one), Iraq (because his father, ect... benefited him) He wants a new world order--HIS, No poor, NO animals, NO elderly, NO smart people(his cutting educational programs and all.

I remember in his speech when he was asking What do you tell someone who lost their job

His response "get an education" He needs an F-ing education and not a free ride like the one he was given. The man cant even speak a full sentence without messing it up.

[teamster633]

20. Yep, every time he opens his mouth you have to ask:

cui bono?, for whose benefit? If everyone would just consider that one question with respect to everything he says and does, perhaps, the veil would finally drop from their eyes.

[SouthernDem2004]

17. Um, I think Meet the Press paid for it....

[thebigidea]

22. is that supposed to be a joke, or are you somehow serious?

[elehhhhna]

18. "Change for your retirement" ! As in nickels & dimes!!!! Nice background!

[Octafish]

19. Potemkin Pretzeldunce.

Like the sham villages set up for visiting dignitaries in Pooty-tootland.



BTW: Same flag background as used on the first Mission Not Accomplished Day -- the one Karl Rove said was fixed up aboard the aircraft carrier.

[Stephanie]

24. Here is our thread from Mission Accomplished >

Scott Sforza, Presidential Set Designer >

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=606903

[Still_Loves_John]

21. It looks like an infomercial set

"Today, my friends, we're gonna tell you how YOU can take charge of YOUR retirement!"

[Algorem]

23. Bad craziness.

Poll - Agree with the reform plan?-http://www.cleveland.com/poll/pollQuickclicktwo.html

• Forum: Talk about it
http://www.cleveland.com/forums/politics/

Ohio a model for reform, Bush says
Stops here to push his Social Security plan

Saturday, April 16, 2005

http://www.cleveland.com/politics/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/ispol/1113663303236510.xml

Mark Naymik and Susan Jaffe
President Bush returned Friday in full campaign mode to the battleground state that won him the election and waged his latest fight: an overhaul of Social Security.

Just as he did during campaign visits to Ohio last fall, Bush spoke at a roundtable-style meeting in front of an invitation- only audience that allowed him to appear relaxed. The event also was tightly scripted.

The participants at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, including a state and university administrator in charge of public retirement plans, were hand- picked by the White House. They sat at a table on a stage beneath signs reading, "Taking Charge of Your Retirement."

And the president, cracking jokes about his average grades in college and his graying hair, frequently prompted the participants to clarify their remarks or make specific points that helped underscore his vision for Social Security...

[Tactical Progressive]

25. America's choice: handpicked audiences and 'panels'

or right-wing mass media 'journalists'.

Are pretend journalists really any better than staged crap like this?

I think I prefer these handpicked crowds. Most of America has come to realize that what passes for journalism and punditry in America is now rich talking heads and segment producers with little more credibility than Republican ringers. They have to ask a few real questions, sure, but none so tough or followed-up as to be anything more real than support for Republican talking points or implicit dismissal of popular Democratic ideals.

Most people stopped trusting American 'journalists' long before I stopped trusting them, but there remain those who are still fooled by journalistic 'credential' into believing the gaggle of Gannons and Blitzers and Schieffers and Fauxes they know from the screen. Better the blatantly staged Bush 'town hall' type propaganda than phony journalistic credibility, I think. If you want to believe this kind of panel, well, there's not much you can't be suckered for in any context.

[w4rma]

26. That's definitely no "round"table. (nt)

[BrewerJohn]

28. Who's "Taking Charge of Your Retirement"?

Oh, that would be BushCo. I see.