GWB and plastic turkey

[bug_girl]

hmm, these photo ops just *do* seem to be a tad choreographed....

Seattle times (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2001806972_bushturkey04.html)

"But as a small sign of the many ways the White House maximized the impact of the 2½-hour stop at the Baghdad airport, administration officials said yesterday that Bush picked up a decoration, not a serving platter. "

Also, the airliner pilot conversation still seems to be undocumented....

[Furious]

While certainly a pose for the cameras, the turkey is real, and was not a premeditated event:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33090-2003Dec3?language=printer

Basically, like a lot of other cafeterias, the staff make a "pristine" version of the meal to display at the beginning of the line as a sort of advertisement, and then slop everything out of metal trays onto your plate.

Less flattering chow line images. (http://tvh.rjwest.com/archives/003133.html)

Bush certainly took advantage of the situation by picking it up with a camera present, but it wasn't some elaborately staged event with a plastic turkey that required weeks of planning.

[DavidJames]

"Basically, like a lot of other cafeterias, the staff make a "pristine" version of the meal to display at the beginning of the line as a sort of advertisement, and then slop everything out of metal trays onto your plate."

There are some military vets here, I'd like to hear from you. In combat zones, do the "cafeterias" have pretend food at the front of the line to entice you? Is the above statement accurate?

[Samus]

DavidJames In combat zones, do the "cafeterias" have pretend food at the front of the line to entice you? Is the above statement accurate? I know they do this at most dining facilities (or chow halls, depending on your service). The food they place out to "entice" you really doesn't look very good, though. In a combat zone, I would imagine they do not do this for every meal. However, a holiday meal, with the PUSA paying a visit, they probably made an exception.

The photo was obviously well-timed. I'm sure Bush didn't actually carry all the food out himself. Besides, who really thought that one turkey was going to feed 600 people, anyway? The man still flew out to have dinner with his troops, and that is a good thing.

[DavidJames]

Thanks CC for the response. Not having been in that situation it seems kind of odd that they would normally do that, but I'll defer to those in the know.

Despite that fact that I believe the motivation was at least partially political and there were "staged" events, I agree it was a very good thing to do for the troops.

[Nyarlathotep]

I don't like Bush and can think of many legitimate things to criticize him for. However, criticizing him for holding a prop turkey during a photo-op strikes me as kind of childish.

[Luke T.]

I've never seen an actual roasted turkey wasted as a decoration to entice anyone in my 20 years in the Navy. There were decorations, but not real food.

Sometimes you got processed turkey bits for Thanksgiving, sometimes you got actual carvings from a real turkey. But none of it was wasted.

The Army might be different. On ships you have limited storage space, so you can't afford to waste food. After you've been at sea for a month with no port visit, you are down to eating some of the grossest food imaginable, and no fresh fruit or vegetables.

[Skeptical Greg]

Originally posted by Luke T.
I've never seen an actual roasted turkey wasted as a decoration to entice anyone in my 20 years in the Navy. There were decorations, but not real food.

Sometimes you got processed turkey bits for Thanksgiving, sometimes you got actual carvings from a real turkey. But none of it was wasted.

The Army might be different. On ships you have limited storage space, so you can't afford to waste food. After you've been at sea for a month with no port visit, you are down to eating some of the grossest food imaginable, and no fresh fruit or vegetables.


The army indeed may be different, but I venture that hungry young men are the same everywhere...
I think we can rest assured, if they ran out of turkey besides the ' show piece ', before everyone was fed, that turkey's goose was cooked properly..:D

[bug_girl]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep
I don't like Bush and can think of many legitimate things to criticize him for. However, criticizing him for holding a prop turkey during a photo-op strikes me as kind of childish.

Actually, i would never have noticed it if it hadn't been for the whole staged navy event, and the fact that the administration's version of the whole british airplane contact is not backed up with any evidence.

So, i agree. trivial.
I'm just really getting tired of preprocessed news, and liked the symmetry of it being paired with processed meat.:)

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by bug_girl


Actually, i would never have noticed it if it hadn't been for the whole staged navy event, and the fact that the administration's version of the whole british airplane contact is not backed up with any evidence.

So, i agree. trivial.
I'm just really getting tired of preprocessed news, and liked the symmetry of it being paired with processed meat.:)

Yeah. I'll agree that when dealing with political news it is a good idea to have ones BS detector up and running. It's a good idea with any news actually.

However I think it is important to keep things in perspective. There are much bigger concerns in the world than the authenticity of the turkey that George Bush was holding for the cameras in Iraq. Politicians of all stripes stage photo-ops all the time. So, love W. or hate him, the whole turkey incident doesn't mean much at all and the critics mentioned in that article really ought to be worrying about more important things.

[bug_girl]

i'll agree with that.
Much bigger issues that, amazingly, no one (i.e, my students and coworkers) don't seem to be aware of , much less discussing.

None of the people i've talked to (except for the 2 other NPR listeners:)) had even heard of the whole ambassador/CIA thing. And there are 20+ people in my office. This election will be a total zoo.

also, I was hoping for a crack about the *two* turkeys in the picture.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by bug_girl
i'll agree with that.
This election will be a total zoo.



From the way it is shaping up, I suspect that this election will once again be like choosing between a blister or a boil. I don't see any good choices.