Tim Blair

The thing that gets me isn't the endless repetition of this bit of ignorance -- it's the fact that the new emblem for smug "Your news is nothing but manufactured corporate fabrications!" preening is a fabricated myth from the global McChomsky community.

Can people really be so self-righteous and so ignorant simultaneously?

Personally, I love the plastic turkey meme - it gives me a quick and easy way to identify the idiots that I no longer need to pay attention to.

Really, in its own way, the plastic turkey has become the logo of the anti-American movement.

What I'm still trying to figure out is, even if it were fake ( and I know it wasn't), so what? As a morale booster, it was the presence of the President showing up on Thanksgiving, not what was on the platter, that mattered.

Can someone explain the "rationale" of why this is an important point?

Jerry, all that really matters to the plastic-turkey people is that THEY FEEL SUPERIOR. Nothing else matters to them.

Can someone explain the "rationale" of why this is an important point?

It's not. It's an attempt to transform Bush's Baghdad visit into something phony and vaguely illegitimate. The turkey is the type of thing that only those who already loathe Bush give a rat's ass about and is ignored by everyone else.

There were also plenty of photos showing Bush behind the counter, serving food to the troops on the chow line.

More to the point is that Bush flew in & cheered the troops up.

There Bush also reassured Iraqis of the USA’s commitment & resolve. The next day 1,000 Iraqis marched for freedom & against the terrorists. A week later, 10,000 (according to Al Jazeerah) to 20,000 (according to Walid Phares) Iraqis marched in Baghdad for freedom & against the terrorists. Phares said that many of the signs which they carried showed snippets of Bush’s speech. According to Reuters, there were freedom marches the same day in other Iraqi cities, & a UPI report mentioned Basra as one such.

I think they all know that the turkey was real, but are trying to establish the plastic turkey story in the tradition of "tell it often enough and they will belive".

I saw Dean flipping pancakes on TV the other day. I started yelling at the TV "phoney pancakes! Phoney plastic pancakes"! I alarmed my wife, but it felt good. In fact most things I think feel good alarm my wife. Anyhoo...

I've met her - one could not be more fake than she is.

Sorry - i though you meant Naomi Wolf

Jerry - Easy. Anything that has a potential to Make Bush Look Bad is the important ScandalFact of the moment.

Of course, like Randal said, this is preaching to the choir - nobody but the already rabid BushHatingGoodThinkers(tm) are going to be swayed by this sort of thing, but those who propagate it don't seem to understand that. They only wonder why the Sheeple(tm) don't see the Obvious Evil Of Bushitler(tm).

I get the creepy feeling that the plastic people believe that Bush brought this one "fake" turkey to Iraq on Air Force One. The soldiers were glad to see the turkey, which was supposed to feed all 600 who were gathered there. But, after a few photo ops, the turkey is revealed to be fake, which means the poor soldiers have to go back to eating dirt for Thanksgiving. (The plastic people care so very very much about the soldiers.)

I'm not sure if the plastic people believe this shit, or if they just think we're all dumb enough to believe it.

Me, I was dismayed to see Bush dishing up the sweet potatoes. I hate sweet potatoes. If I'd been there, would I have said, "Oh, no thank you sir, I don't eat sweet potatoes."? Or would I have taken the sweet potatoes and choked them down, because how often does the POTUS serve you sweet potatoes? Maybe I could've found a way to preserve them in acrylic...

See, this is the sort of crap my brain comes up with, rather than doing useful work. Stupid brain.

As someone else said here when this "scandal" broke, it looks from the photo like Bush was goofing around with the troops. He knows and they know that they're getting warming-tray turkey for Thanksgiving, so he picks up the decorated bird as if to say, "How about this one?" A photographer catches it, and suddenly all those photos of Bush behind the serving counter go out the window.

Sure, it's a lame joke, but that's just the kind of thing people do in those situations. If Howard Dean had done it, it'd be proof of his heartfelt rapport with American servicemen and women.

Bush the Hitler:
A Sarcastic Tribute from the Plastic Turkey People (TM) (with apologies to Bob Dylan)

Bushitler's building the big ships and the boats,
Tearing down Baathist monuments,
Others, jotting down notes,
Ev'rybody's in despair,
Ev'ry girl and boy
But when Bush the Hitler gets here,
Plastic people's gonna lose their joy.
Come all without, come all within,
You'll see nothing like Bush the Hitler again.

I like to lord it over the rest, I like my myth's sweet,
But making sense and seeking truth,
It ain't my cup of (turkey) meat.
Plastic people climbin' the trees,
Walkin' on a thin limb
But when Bush the Hitler gets here,
All the plastic peeps gonna jump on him.
Come all without, come all within,
You'll see nothing like Bush the Hitler again.

Chomsky's mewl and Zinn's caw, I can recite 'em all,
Just tell me where Bush hurts yuh, honey,
And Dean'll be the one to call.
Nobody can get no sleep,
Ashcroft's in ev'ryone's homes
But when Bush the Hitler gets here,
St. Corrie's gonna get the 'doze.
Come all without, come all within,
You'll see nothing like Bush the Hitler again.

John Lennon song ... Plastic Turkey ... or plastic band ... or something ... fall back to sleep ...

turkey mask replica...just dig it

There's an amazing absence of "Plastic Fantastic Lover" and, oh lord, what an oversight - "Plastic Jesus" jokes by the plastic people. I'm sure everyone at The Nation knows these songs by heart. Booooo, you grumpy plasticky chumps.

More media misrepresentation of Bush - this time from the ABC (who would have thought!).

What Bush said (NASA speech):

First, he said, America will "finish what it started," completing the International Space Station by 2010. Research on the station will be focused on studying the long-term effects of space travel on humans, preparing for the longer journeys of the future. After the Station is complete, the Space Shuttle would be retired, after nearly 30 years of duty.

What the ABC says:

Mr Bush's plan begins with withdrawing from the International Space Station, retiring the shuttle fleet, and developing a new exploration vehicle before a mission to the moon in the middle of the next decade.

"But, after a few photo ops, the turkey is revealed to be fake, which means the poor soldiers have to go back to eating dirt for Thanksgiving."

And remember, they were rousted out of bed at 6 AM. . . .

I think her publishers will be saying something like "Looks like the Klein brand value is failing"