So the big news the other day was that an open microphone caught George Bush unaware (see USA ToDay story) and some strong views with even stronger words got aired about his views on Syria and other things. Naturally the excuse is that he didn’t know there was a live microphone and that is the second open mike incident now.
First we had the Secretary of State in Russia and now Bush as well. So if you are a consipiracy theorist you might think this was done deliberately by the host, Russia in a safe way to embarrass the United States. On the other hand you have to wonder if it wasn’t a deliberate act by the two American politicians themselves.
I mean you would think that no one is that totally naive and careless now would you? I can sort of buy the Rice goof, but surely after that you would assume the people around the big cheese himself would be a darn site more careful. Unless it was planned of course.
Bush “used an expletive to express his view. That’s the way plain folks talk and probably will play pretty well in the heartland and beyond,” said Roderick Hart, a University of Texas communications and government professor. ( USA Today Story )
Keep in mind this is an election year for Congress and with all this toned down rhetoric happening, this is an ideal way for the Republican’s to show that they are still tough, and unswerving in their discussions with foreignors. After all Politics is a game of perceptions, and this open microphone helps Bush where it perhaps matters the most. With his core voters.
Now if you really want to take this at face value, then you have to ask yourself. Are these people that stupid and incompetent? I mean they are running a war in Iraq and Afghanistan but can’t check to make sure all Microphones are off? Makes you wonder too just how safe are the National Secrets given they can’t tell if a plain sight microphone is on or off.