HoRAY! S.African Mail&Guardian story-Bush fake photo op hugging sisters

[HamdenRice]

We've made news!

http://www.mg.co.za/

This is a little weird. Briefly the page one story on the electronic edition of this leading South African was the Bassier sisters, with the clever headline: "Have You Hugged a South African Today?"

Then it disappeared. But if you go to the MG page, click under the lead story, "the week in pictures". Then click on picture 2, and you will see bush hugging the Bassier sisters, with this caption:

"Have you hugged a South African today?: US President George Bush tries to comfort Bronwynne Bassier (23) and her sister Kim Bassier (21), left, during a tour of the area that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, last Friday. In a CNN video clip of Bush’s visit, the traumatised sisters are heard telling the president in unmistakable South African accents how the hurricane shattered their lives. There has been speculation in the blogging community over whether the sisters are indeed from South Africa. The Mail & Guardian Online is in the process of confirming their true nationality. (Susan Walsh, AP)"

Sorry to start a new thread, but I was just toooooo excited!

<edited for link and clarified sub line>

[Sunkiss BlueStar]

1. Failed photo op

shame on bush

[HamdenRice]

2. Now it's back on page 1 !!!!

[crispini]

3. link, please?

[HamdenRice]

4. Sorry -- it's fixed now in OP

[frictionlessO]

5. Sounds like they are a bit suspicious of things themselves.

Great job on working with media though Hamden! Even if it turns out the new shoes photo op was legit, ya still did real good work here.

[barbaraann]

6. Kick!

n/t

[Karenina]

7. Exposing his *fraudulency!!!

Klasse!

[Spazito]

8. I can't seem to find it on the front page, did they change it again

or am I just missing it?

[HamdenRice]

10. I think they rotate front page pic/story ...

It has switched about 4 times in the last hour between German troops loading supplies and bush hugging the sisters. Berni has thoughtfully provided a link in his post below directly to the picture and caption which also appears under "this week in pictures"

thanks berni!

[Spazito]

13. Thank you for you work on this!

and thanks, berni, for thelink!

[berni_mccoy]

9. Direct Link to the Photo-Caption:

http://www.mg.co.za/weekwas.aspx?picId=3

[Karenina]

11. It never stops!!!

Here's another of *nothing-up-his-sleeve:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4674340

[Generic Other]

12. Good work Hamden

The truth gets out in spite of the lies of the Bush admin.

Now, the SA paper should ask why a family from a town miles away happened to be in Biloxi to "salvage" clothes.

[HamdenRice]

14. Updated link ...

The MG's pic and caption have been moved here:

http://www.mg.co.za/weekwas.aspx?picId=4

[renate]

15. give yourself a BIG pat on the back, Hamden!!!

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[oasis]

16. Solid.

:thumbsup:

[Ms. Clio]

17. Remember mini-Barbara's trip to South Africa a couple of months ago?

When she was "volunteering" in a hospital but nobody there appeared to have seen very much of her?

On edit, to make my meaning clearer--The sisters probably know the Bush spawn.

[HamdenRice]

18. That is the next step ...

A credible mainstream newspaper from overseas is about to publish a story explaining that the "black women" that bush was "comforting" in Louisiana were South African, not American.

This is the first step. I'm not sure where the story goes from here. Does it mean that bush could not find any African Americans to talk to who would not verbally tear him a new one? Were the women plants of some kind? When I finally saw the video, I was convinced that they indeed experienced the tragic storm. Also the data that others uncovered shows one of them has been in the US for 5 years, so it's hard to imagine they are some kind of plant.

I lean toward just showing that bush's entire day was fake and that he is so unable to relate to African Americans that they only allowed these two traumatized immigrants to get through security to talk to him.

BTW, I like the way M&G says their accents are "unmistakably South African"!

[Ms. Clio]

19. That's what I think--they are girls who know the daughters, or someone

in their social circle--that's why they were considered "safe" for the photo-op.

[HamdenRice]

20. And he actually has made it a kind of centerpiece of his trip ...

when he made a White House speech, here:

http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/505e-00EN.shtml

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Yesterday I saw the aftermath of one of the largest natural disasters ever to strike America. A vast coastline of towns and communities are flattened; one of our great cities is submerged. The human costs are incalculable.

In Biloxi I met Bronwynne Bassier and her sister, Kim. Bronwynne told me that the only earthly possessions she has left were the clothes on her back. I also met relief and rescue workers who are performing heroically in difficult circumstances. They've been working around the clock, risking their own lives to save the lives of others. Yet, despite their best efforts, the magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities. The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable.

President George W. Bush comforts Bronwynn Bassier, 23, of Biloxi, Mississippi, center, and her sister Kim Bassier, 21, left, during a walking tour of Biloxi, a city severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Friday, September 2. "You know, there's a lot of sadness, of course," says Bush of the devastated area, "but there's also a spirit here in Mississippi that is uplifting." (© AP/WWP)

[ellenfl]

21. if only we had pics of babs jr with these women! eom