BUSH'S TURKEY WAS ONLY FOR SHOW

San Jose Mercury News | Thursday, December 4, 2003 | Mike Allen

[The Grim Freeper]

President Bush's Baghdad turkey was for looking, not for eating.

In the most widely published image from his Thanksgiving Day trip to Baghdaqd, the beaming president is wearing an Army workout jacket and surrounded by soldiers as he cradles a huge plater laden with a golden-brown turkey.

The bird is so perfect it looks as if it came from a food magazine, with bunches of grapes and other trimmings completing a Normal Rockwell image that evokes bounty and security in one of the most dangerous parts of the world.

But as a small sign of the many ways the White House maximized the impact of the 2-1/2-hour stop at the Baghdad airport, administration officials said Wednesday that Bush picked up a decoration, not a serving plate.

Officials said they did not know the turkey would be there or that Bush would pick it up. A contractor had roasted and primped the turkey to adorn the buffet line, while the 600 soldiers were served from cafeteria-style steam trays, the officials said. They said the bird was not placed there in anticipation of Bush's stealthy visit, and military sources said a trophy turkey is a standard feature of holiday chow lines.

The scene, which lasted just a few seconds, was not visible to a reporter who was there but was recorded by a pool photographer and described by officials Wednesday in response to questions raised in Washington.

Bush's standing rose in a poll conducted immediately after the trip. Administration officials said the presidential stop provided a morale boost that soldiers in Iraq are still talking about, and helped reassure Iraqis about u.S. intentions.

Nevertheless, the foray has opened new credibility questions for a White House that has dealt with issues as small as who placed the "Mission Accomplished" banner aboard the aircraft carrier Bush used to proclaim the end of major combat operations in Iraq, and as major as assertions about Saddam Hussein's arsenal of unconventional weapons and his ability to threaten the United States.

White House officials do not deny that they craft elaborate events to showcase Bush, but they maintain that these events are designed to accurately dramatize his poicies and to convey qualities about him that are real.

"This was effective, becaue it captured something about the president that people know is true, that he really cares about the soldiers and gets emotional when he sees them," Mry Matalin a former administration official, said about the trip to Baghdad..."

[The Grim Freeper]

This is what that piece of fecal matter, the San Jose Murky News, had to say about Bush's trip. They can't stand themselves.

They and their co-horts on the local television news are despicable. Channel 4 (KNTV?), I think it was, actually had a segment on this morning about which San Francisco mayoral run-off candidate was "hotter"--Gavin Newsom or Matt Gonsalez (I call them "Red and Redder"). That's the depth of their reporting. Disgusting.

[happydogdesign]

[CobaltBlue]

You gotta love it, don't you? Bush just gives them fits - conniption fits, hissy fits, rolling on the ground pounding their fists fits, he drives 'em nuts.

Just like Reagan used to. ;^)

[Argus]

Bush only had one fake turkey. The Democratic Party has nine of them running for President.

[CobaltBlue]

It wasn't a fake turkey, it was "food prepped" as a decoration, and Bush grabbing it and showing it was impromptu.

[My2Cents]

Where were these cretins when Bill Clinton took that little stroll on the Normany beach, paused to "pray," noticed a convenient collection of rocks at his feet, and arranged them into a cross. The thought of that phoney display still makes me sick to my stomach.

[opbuzz]

It wasn't a fake turkey, it was roasted for display.

[dirtboy]

Nevertheless, the foray has opened new credibility questions for a White House

Only in the barren reaches of your own feeble mind, you liberal twit.

[ElectricStrawberry]

...and military sources said a trophy turkey is a standard feature of holiday chow lines.

We never had trophy turkeys in OUR holiday chow lines...unless you can count the CO and XO.

Not that I really care, but I'm not clear as to whether is was a fake turkey...or a real turkey that was not for eating...except for the nidnight clean-up crew.

[austingirl]

Most excellent pic and caption.

When did the liberal press ever dissect photo props used by Klinton? Give me a break!

[witnesstothefall]

Actually, the Left has been falling all over itself for 2 days chasing down this flightless bird. They are hoping it will somehow transport them to a better place, but alas, that turkey's already been cooked.

If the Rats are reduced to desperate searches for electoral viability in the carcass of a dead turkey, then all I have to say is "pass the stuffing".

[kilowhskey]

"Nevertheless, the foray has opened new credibility questions for a White House..."

What a bunch of liberal hypocrites! The slimeball occupying Our House in the prior administration spent eight years in slavish obediance to the principle of symbolism over substance. Except, that is, for the substance on a certain blue dress.

[futureceo31]

Seriouly, if this is what the media has to report on, I think they have lost it... I mean, who really cares that he grabbed a tray that had a fake turkey or a real turkey on it. They are just peeved that they didnt get invited to the party and are acting like little kids wanting candy and throwing hissy fits that they didnt get any....
Big NON Story!!!

[Frank_Discussion]

Actually, it wasn't "fake", it was a real turkey dressed up in a proper manner for the occasion. Holey Hanna, will these idiots every get a grip on things? What a bunch of dinks.

[Snuffington]

Nevertheless, the foray has opened new credibility questions for a White House...

Heh, heh. In your dreams lib. What it opened was a huge gap in the polls between him and any Democrat contender in next year's election, and it's just killing you guys.

[The Grim Freeper]

Good pic!

[NCC-1701]

Give me a break. If the turkey was placed there for President Bush, then it follows that those stones were place on Omaha Beach for x42 to shape into a cross. Not to mention the warship behind him in the distance. All for a clinochio photo-op. Nothing negative has ever been said about that by the liberal media.

[Grampa Dave]

Actually the liberal fecal impacted maggots at the San Jose Jerkury are partially correct. Shown below is the real tray that GW carried around the mess hall:

[The Grim Freeper]

THAT is terrific!

[Gumption]

And he probably made some kind of joke like, "hey there, I got the turkey, who wants a leg?" The whole thing probably took 5 seconds. Anyone making hay out of this is merely exposing their feelings of desperation brought about by the sudden realization of the inevitability of 4 more years of Republican rule.