I’ve hesitated to wade into the discussion about Bush’s surprise two-hour trip to Baghdad on Thanksgiving because I don’t think I have much to add to the subject. I have to give the White House at least some credit — they’re excellent at political theater.
Of course, theatrical productions sometimes need good props. Bush’s trip was apparently no exception.
By now we’ve all seen the picture of the president holding a picture-perfect Thanksgiving platter in Baghdad with a golden-brown turkey that, one assumed, was part of the meal for the appreciative troops.
But as the Washington Post’s Mike Allen discovered, “Bush’s Baghdad turkey was for looking, not for eating.”
“[A]dministration officials said yesterday that Bush picked up a decoration, not a serving plate,” the Post article explained.
It was a real turkey, but like so much of the White House’s political operations, it was just there for show.
To be sure, this story isn’t stop-the-presses material. The Post was so impressed by Mike Allen’s scoop that they deemed it worthy of page A33. No one’s likely to demand an independent investigation of this charade and it hardly rises to the level of having White House officials illegally leaking the name of a covert CIA operative.
That said, Turkeygate is part of a disturbing trend for this administration. Karl Rove and his underlings are so interested in political theater and how images will appear in the media that they’ve grown carelessly indifferent to actual substance. Every event is another opportunity for manipulation.
* Earlier this year, Bush delivered a speech in St. Louis to tout his third tax cut plan. To help dramatize the backdrop, staffers created a wall of cardboard boxes, presumably as a sign of American trade and manufacturing. Indeed, the White House had positioned a huge banner behind the podium that read, “Made in the USA.” The problem was hundreds of these boxes had been labeled “Made in China.” No problem, the White House said, we’ll just tape over the actual source so the boxes will look better on TV. (via Kicking Ass)
* And how can we forget “Bannergate,” in which the White House created the now-infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner, brought it to the ship, coordinated its placement to maximize camera angles, and then denied having anything to do with it, blaming it on the Navy troops.
The Post article about the Turkey included the predictable spin from Bush supporters trying to explain (defend) why the White House goes to such great lengths to “dramatize” presidential photo-ops.
“This was effective, because 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,” Mary Matalin, a former administration official, said about the trip to Baghdad.
Does this make any sense at all? By showing Bush with a turkey that no one could eat, the White House was presenting a message “that people know is true”? Given the circumstances, isn’t the opposite the case?