What Ever it Takes To Win
From the administration that brought you ‘No Child left behind’ which underfunded education, the ‘Clear Skies’ initiative that let polluters off the hook, the ‘Healthy Forests’ legistlation that allowed campaign contibuting logging companies access to old growth forest, and of course the Iraq war, who’s justification shifts faster and more often than grains of sand through the proverbial hourglass… It should be no surprise that their ‘closer’ ad for this year’s election has been…
You guessed it. Faked.
In the TV ad ‘whatever it takes’ the size of a crowd Bush is speaking to, and assumingly, bringing to tears with his eloquent speech, has been photoshopped to increase it’s size and impressive show of military force. The dailykos website has the images and links to the video so you can check it out for yourself.
From it’s policy to it’s advertising, this administration has a chronic problem with being upfront and honest.
October 28, 2004 6:16 pm 
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By Yeah Boy, October 28, 2004 @ 9:04 pm
You are reaching again … they wanted to take Bush out of the picture, so they replace him with the stamp tool used in Photoshop - I pretty sure you’ve done similar techniques. You really think W and Cheney sat down with a Mac and started doctoring up the photo? This is such a non issue.
Besides, did you ever think that maybe the military has more than the usual number of triplets/twins?! Sheesh. ;)
By Les, October 29, 2004 @ 11:35 am
Reaching? The careful manipulation of what the public sees and hears is PRECISELY what this administration has mastered. No, this doctored ad is not an earth-shattering scandal. It is, however, the latest pathetic example of this administration’s attempts to blur reality to better suit their agenda. Check this out:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/22/bush.boxes
How long can we stomach Karl Rove and his hoodlums denying any kind of involvement in these situations and blaming “overzealous volunteers” instead?
Oh, right. Three more days.
By Yeah Boy, October 29, 2004 @ 2:05 pm
No, this doctored ad is not an earth-shattering scandal
My point is that this “scandal” is really a non issue.
Also, the cnn.com link … non issue. Who cares if they cover up labels that say “made in China”. I know products are made in China and purchased here. Had he not covered them up you would be laughing at him for standing in front of a bunch of boxes that read “Made in China”.
By Yeah Boy, October 29, 2004 @ 2:06 pm
The careful manipulation of what the public sees and hears is PRECISELY what this administration has mastered
You also have to explain to me how this picture was in any way manipulative? The took Bush out of the picture … were they supposed to leave that area blank to put the text over?
By Les, October 29, 2004 @ 2:58 pm
Yeah Boy, read my comment again. I was actually agreeing with you that the ad is not some huge scandal. The point I was trying to make is that the Bush team on numerous occasions has meticulously tailored the images that appear on our television screens to create a facade that simply isn’t there!
The irony of the “Made in China” boxes cannot escape you. In a speech designed to bolster confidence in the American economy, they had to doctor the very props that were used in their photo op! If I recall the story correctly, the boxes in front are not the only things that have been altered. The boxes directly behind Bush are actually a backdrop with “Made in the U.S.A.” on them.
Is this some sort of controversy that threatens the very stability of the republic? Of course not. I’m sure Dan will agree with me that we just get a kick out of seeing random examples of “reality-sculpting”, if you will, from the same team that presented a British college student’s outdated thesis, with incendiary language added, to the U.N. Security Council two years ago as our justification for war.
By mwarden, October 29, 2004 @ 8:21 pm
It sure isn’t as innocent as Yeah Boy originally suggests. That said, I don’t see this as much different than typical cinematic techniques (like zooming in on person after person with a certain reaction, that implies the entire crowd of a large number is having that same reaction). Or… how about paying actors.
Come on. It’s a commercial.
Now, if the Bush administration were to distribute a fake news piece on… say… a new health care policy, that would be unexcusable.
;-)
By Dan, October 30, 2004 @ 10:54 am
Right, no one really said that it was a scandel and I didn’t imply that.. I’m just continuing to point out their problem with being straight about things.
If it wasn’t such a big deal, then why try to make the crowd look bigger? Maybe if they weren’t totally anal about screening who they did let into their rallys and didn’t force people to take oaths or pledges, they would have the size of crowds they’re trying to portray in that ad :)
By Yeah Boy, November 1, 2004 @ 9:43 am
then why try to make the crowd look bigger
He wasn’t trying to make the crowd look bigger. He replaced the soldiers behind him (that you couldn’t see when he was standing there) with soldiers to the right and left of him. Oooohhhh.