where did the "adoring crowd" come from

[ewagner]

at Dubya's speech today?

Anybody in the area have any "inside scoop" on the crowd?

I have a feeling that there was one hell of a lot of stage managing going on. Can anybody confirm?

[KyndCulture]

1. rounded em up at the local wal mart parking lot probably. nt

[Arkansas Democrat]

3. I thought

someone was putting together a protest in Idaho today. Has anyone heard or seen any footage of this??

[nashville_brook]

5. it was reported on morning edition that the "protests followed"

him to idaho. it was reported like he's on the run. :)

[elehhhhna]

2. A: Your tax dollars, baby! It was a Nat'l Guard event.

Mandatory attendence, no doubt.

[karlrschneider]

4. It was at an Air Force base, as I recall...

.

[Vinca]

6. I'm starting to think they've got a stable of paid "extras"

who travel from site to site.

[maynard]

7. Idaho Crowd

He did mention the fact that he had never been to Idaho. I am from Idaho and people follow political leaders as they would clergy/religious leaders. I was raised by die-hard Republican parents. Religion plays a major part in who they vote for. That makes me the black sheep of my family, despite the fact that I am also religious.

[maynard]

10. never campaigned in Idaho

He took it for granted that he had the votes. Just a little trip to thank the folks for voting for him.

Is Mt. Home Air Force Base on the closure list?

[ecoflame]

28. No - MHAFB is not

on the closure list. We have a senior senator although Republican.

[StayOutTheBushes]

8. You don't have to be underground like a wild potato to understand

that they are living in their own private Idaho.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[noahmijo]

12. They're going to be doing alot more than this

thanks to your president for his actions in turning Iraq into AN ISLAMIC THEOCRACY

Unfortunately you'll probably be tombstoned before you read this...

[leftchick]

11. CNN reporting 10,000 tickets given away

yet no shots of the adoring crowd? Hmmm...

[ewagner]

13. My neighbor mentioned that

he watched the speech....heard the "wild cheers" but never saw the crowd...:shrug:

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. Were they computer generated or photo shopped?

Were they choreographed? Given away (tickets) with signed loyalty oaths!

[annabanana]

14. I've been looking at pictures... somethings weird

and watching clips of that speech all day. It's very stagy. Did they put the big screens in to give the impression of a crowd so huge that they couldn't see the stage from the back?

Was it all soldiers behind him like this:

Or was it all gauzy and patrioty imagery like this:


To me it looked like a small auditorium, all dark so you couldn't see how small it really was.

[leeroysphitz]

16. Look at it this way

It may not have been a large crowd but at least he didn't have to photoshop them in this time...

[maynard]

17. No people were sitting in the background

Something was wrong. No one was sitting in the background. He went to rural Idaho. People in Idaho do not take time off, in the middle of the day to go see political figures. That is not how it is done in Idaho. These are farmers and ranchers. I was born and raised in Idaho. Giving away tickets does fill up a venue. This is Idaho. The voting is done. No need to show up for the aftermath. There are more important things to worry about.

[mmonk]

15. Stage 43?

[NightOwwl]

18. Pretty soon they'll be forced to bus in...

Cheney, Rice, Hughes, Rove and the rest of the cabal. They are about the only ones left who believe a word he says.



Bill Moyer, 73, wears a “B.S. Protector” flap while President Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars at their 106th convention Monday in Salt Lake City. Moyer served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

[ecoflame]

19. Stop with the 'stupid Idaho' comments

They're idiotic and all you do is alienate those of us who live here and have been activists for-fucking-ever.

It was at the Idaho Center in Nampa which is concert forum.

There were a set number of tickets (9000, I believe) and majority went to those from the Idaho Nat'l Guard. There was a set number for 'dignitaries' and legislative reps (Congress & House - nat'l), as well as prominent state Republicans & contributors like J.R. Simplot. (Boycott his products - Ore-Ida brand).

It was a staged forum. Gimme a break - when does THAT man speak to anyone but those in a staged forum.

Idaho gave Bush recently a 70% or 72% approval rating. It's heavily Republican and not so much because of Bush; but because of keeping gov't at bay (privacy issues), in which they apparently don't see any dichotomy involving the Bush administration.

You know Karl Rove is a master at creating shit & organizing glossy events like these. There's a reason Bush went on a so-called 'five day tour' to promote the war. There's a reason Bush came to Idaho and a reason he stopped in Utah. It's all about RECEPTION.

Last night there were 800 or so on the Capitol steps downtown in support of Cindy Sheehan's protest. At noon yesterday when they began the reading of the names of the dead, there were about 150 or so.

[brook]

21. You say "Reception"...

and I say "Deception"...

Let's call the whole thing off.

:hi:

I'm going to make my first trip ever to Idaho in about 10 days.

[ecoflame]

25. Yep....utter deception

Deal

:toast:

[Blue Belle]

29. J.R. Simplot...

Please. It's of no suprise Bush & Co. consider this man a dignitary. I read an article in the newspaper that described him as being outraged that there were so many parking spaces designated in grocery store parking lots for those, and I quote, "God damned cripples". I'm sure such a vile member a humanity would fit right in with the Bush crowd... I'm surprised Bush hasn't appointed him to a post overseeing OSHA yet. :eyes:

[ecoflame]

32. "J.R. Simplot..."

Simplot is an asshole - major, super-duper asshole.

He was born poor and made it big-time. Another Idahoan who made it 'big-time' was Joe Albertson (the grocery market chain). I was taking a management course at BSU and Albertson & Simplot were guests at a conference. Albertson was a quiet man who became extraordinarily wealthy as well. He started with one market on 16th & State and Albertson's became what it is now. (He & his wife have both passed away, mid-90's)

The class was stunned. Simplot was this loud cretin - bullhorn voice, crude contrasted with Albertson's quietness. My impression, as well as others, that Albertson did not like nor respect Simplot. I'm sure Albertson had his foibles but after that panel, I stopped buying ANYTHING with Simplot's name on it.

[annabanana]

30. thanks for the "on the ground"..

I have always been VERY impressed with people who stay blue in the red places. It takes a special kind of stubbornness, of which I am in awe.

Welcome to DU:toast:

[AnnInLa]

20. On NBC Nightly News, I saw part of the crowd when

they showed the lady with 4 sons & hubby, all of whom are/were soldiers. She stood up and waved at the crowd, and there was a crowd immediately around her, not sure about the rest of the auditorium.

[Geek_Girl]

22. They can try all the pallor tricks they want

It doesn't matter it's not going to effect his falling poll numbers. The talk around the water coolers is high gas prices. People are getting royally screwed at the gas pump.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

23. Bush ALWAYS, ONLY appears before a selected, screened audience, at

staged events. As far as I know it's ALWAYS been this way with him since he's been president.

As his "popularity" plummets, he will only crawl even more into the bunker.

[bobbieinok]

31. wasn't Nixon at the end only appearing at military bases?????

[Warren DeMontague]

24. Photoshop? n/t

[OhioChick]

26. Note the carefully timed applause?

He's got that nervous twitch going again, I noticed.

[AuntPatsy]

33. High tech laugh tracks, in this case, audience applause...