Bush's Watch Stolen?

Watch this video very carefully; it’s President Bush working the crowds in Albania. At 0.50 minutes into the clip, Bush has a watch. At 1.04 minutes into the clip, he had a watch.

The U.S. is denying that his watch was stolen:

Photographs showed Bush, surrounded by five bodyguards, putting his hands behind his back so one of the bodyguards could remove his watch.

I simply don’t see that in the video. Bush’s arm is out in front of him during the entire nine seconds between those stills.

Another denial:

An Albanian bodyguard who accompanied Bush in the town told The Associated Press he had seen one of his U.S. colleagues close to Bush bend down and pick up the watch.

That’s certainly possible; it may have fallen off.

But possibly the pickpocket of the century. (Although would anyone actually be stupid enough to try? There must be a zillion easier-to-steal watches in that crowd, many of them nicer than Bush’s.)

EDITED TO ADD (6/12): This article says that he wears ar $50 Timex. It also has some more odd denials.

EDITED TO ADD (6/13): In this video, from another angle, it seems clear that Bush removes the watch himself.

Tags: , ,

Posted on June 12, 2007 at 10:52 AM • 103 Comments

Comments

RC • June 12, 2007 11:11 AM

If you look at the video carefully, you can see the guy grab Bush’s wrist and remove the watch and take it away, from :55 to :58

It was definitely stolen.

Joe Buck • June 12, 2007 11:21 AM

RC: I watched the video, and I see people grabbing Bush’s hands and arms repeatedly. I agree that the watch came off at about the time you say. I can’t say, though, that it was definitely stolen; it also might have been knocked off. The video alone isn’t enough to decide, because we don’t clearly see the watch wind up in someone’s hand.

But I do think it was stolen. The reason is that “the U.S.” put out a statement that is a clear lie. Bush did not put his hands behind his back so his bodyguards could remove the watch. We can see that this did not happen. It was either stolen or was accidentally knocked off of his wrist by someone in the crowd.

Evan Easton • June 12, 2007 11:22 AM

It looks like it could have been stolen…someone was definitely grabbing at it and trying to manipulate it.

But right after it’s being grabbed at, Bush pulls his arm back to himself and has body language like he pressed his wrist against his stomach and is removig his watch. People often do this when removing their watch as a way to pin it between their wrist and body so they don’t drop it right after undoing the clasp/buckle.

Joe Buck • June 12, 2007 11:24 AM

Whoops, hit “post” too soon. As I was saying, it was either stolen or was knocked off. But if the latter, and a bodyguard picked it up, there would be no reason to make up a lie. But for someone to be allowed to steal the president’s watch? That story couldn’t be allowed out.

Bruce Schneier • June 12, 2007 11:24 AM

“If you look at the video carefully, you can see the guy grab Bush’s wrist and remove the watch and take it away, from :55 to :58”

That thief has some balls.

dragonfrog • June 12, 2007 11:24 AM

There might have been nicer watches than Bush’s – but only one watch that used to be Bush’s.

Nicola • June 12, 2007 11:24 AM

many of them nicer than Bush’s

I don’t think so, not in albania (i saw the thousands of refugees that used to escape from albania to here in Italy).
I agree that this is the pickpocket of the century.
Anyone knows any detail about Georgie’s watch? Brand, model, cost, possible affective value, etc.?

Patrick Farrell • June 12, 2007 11:44 AM

Reminds me of the (hoax?) video where the guy spray painted Air Force one. This was like the Everest of pickpocketing. Perfect opportunity + plenty of risk.

I don’t condone thievery, but I can’t deny the courage and skill. I am impressed. And I agree with RC. I can see the wrist grab and suspicious slide down his forearm right before you notice the watch is gone.

Leprechaun • June 12, 2007 11:48 AM

Removed from wrist – yes
Stolen – not so sure.
At about the same time you will see W look down several times. It is possible that the people grabbing his arms pulled the watch loose and it fell to the ground. The agents with him would have ignored it to focus on him and a later agent would have attempted recovery.

However, a patently false statement on the issue is just plain stupid.

Clive Robinson • June 12, 2007 11:48 AM

Hmm….

Not sure, in later quick movment frames there appears to be a shadow of a watch on Bushes wrist.

However it definatly looks like he did drop (or thought he droped) something in earlier frames…

We need better quality footage to say for real.

Anonymous • June 12, 2007 11:49 AM

+1 on what leprechaun said. You can see W look down twice, reacting to the fallen watch.

renfren • June 12, 2007 11:50 AM

Actually, watch the left arm of the bodyguard without sunglasses at 1:02 . It nearly looks like he is pocketing something received from Bush, although I’m not sure.

I know that if my watch was suddenly loosened or vanished, I’d be rather quick to pass the watch AND whatever jewelry I had to the bodyguards.

Dave • June 12, 2007 12:05 PM

“many of them nicer than Bush’s.”

Bush is a billionaire. Chances are, he probably has a very nice watch.

billy bo bob brain • June 12, 2007 12:24 PM

this video will be scrutinized over the years much like the zapruder film…

Jay74 • June 12, 2007 12:26 PM

@Bruce Schneier: “That thief has some balls.”

Probably exchanged his brains for them.

Brian M • June 12, 2007 12:27 PM

@Timm Murray

But possibly the pickpocket of the century.

Only 83 years left to beat it.

Don’t look now! I think someone just robbed you of a decade!

Evan Easton • June 12, 2007 12:40 PM

Clive’s probably right. Convert the video to have keyframes that you can step forward and back on and go through it really slowly. Right before Bush quickly pulls his left arm out of the two hands that are grabbing around his wrist, the watch is still there. By the time his hand is free and you would be able to see if the watch was still there, the view is blocked by his right raised arm.

Yes, he looked down, but no one bent over to pick anything up off the ground. At least in view of the camera. So it probably wasn’t dropped and probably didn’t fall off.

I still contend that the body language indicates Bush took it off himeself.

And now will add that he then handed it back with his right hand to the agent on his right who took it in his left hand and started to lift his elbow up as if to reach into his pocket.

sehlat • June 12, 2007 12:41 PM

“Nothing is true until it has been officially denied.” The theft has been officially denied.

Bruce Schneier • June 12, 2007 12:56 PM

“I still contend that the body language indicates Bush took it off himeself.”

Which would make sense, if he didn’t think it was safe amongst all the grabbing.

Sean Barrett • June 12, 2007 12:56 PM

The event clearly does not occur between 0.50 seconds and 1.04 seconds in the clip. Neither did you mean 0.50 minutes and 1.05 minutes. Presumably you meant “at the 0:50 mark and the 1:04 mark”.

neil • June 12, 2007 1:00 PM

“If you look at the video carefully, you can see the guy grab Bush’s wrist and remove the watch and take it away, from :55 to :58”

It looks like he might actually have dropped it on the ground.

John Henry • June 12, 2007 1:06 PM

Ask any sailor who has ever been to Naples. The folks up in the alleys, where all the interesting bars were and where the US sailors hung out, could get your watch off and be gone in about a second.

I don’t know if the watch was stolen or not. It looks like it in the video but it is hard to say for sure.

If it was, it didn’t require a master pickpocket. Any 10 year old kid could have done it in that situation.

As for lying about it, Well, what are you going to do, Insult Albania by publicly stating that they stole your watch?

John

Cerebus • June 12, 2007 1:13 PM

I can’t say I’ve ever had a watch “fall off.” Plus, I’d think it would be an early lesson of any politician that you take your watch & rings off before glad-handing.

Jay74 • June 12, 2007 1:30 PM

@John: “As for lying about it, Well, what are you going to do, Insult Albania by publicly stating that they stole your watch?”

Fair point. If I were a head of state, I probably wouldn’t want to publicize it that they stole my watch, give any dignity or publicity to the person who stole it, or worst of all announce to the world there was a hole in my security.

Carlo Graziani • June 12, 2007 1:46 PM

This is nothing. Wait until the prez’s party gets back to Tirana International Airport.

“Dude, Where’s My Plane?”

Andy • June 12, 2007 1:51 PM

That would make a good recurring game. See how many times his watch can get stolen in a crowd before he stops wearing it altogether.

Spider • June 12, 2007 2:06 PM

Who really cares about this?
Why is this here?
Is the possible denial of a stolen of a watch really the most important issue in his presidency?

If it is, I’m going to get all sorts of things “stolen” from me and then deny the thefts when I become president. That way nobody will care about the 99 red balloons, they’ll be too busy looking at my arms to look up.

Stephen B • June 12, 2007 2:13 PM

Let’s hope that was just a “regular watch” and not some sort of clever “gadgetized” token – you know, a homing beacon, or a USB-watch with the launch codes for the Ohio Fleet’s Nukes….. 🙂

inetlocksmith • June 12, 2007 2:19 PM

If I did find it I’d change the time to hinder any chance of reliable reconstruction through audit trails.

Ken Hagler • June 12, 2007 2:36 PM

No doubt there were easier-to-steal watches in that crowd. But then, there are also plenty of places where it’s easier to land a light airplane than Red Square…

cms • June 12, 2007 2:37 PM

Great its about time someone got him an stole his watch,now he knows how the rest of the americans feel,we have these imagrents coming to our country an they wanna take over,HOW DOES IT FEEL MR BUSH YOUVE BEEN INVADED…KINDA ANGRY ARENT YOU ;)))))))

cms • June 12, 2007 2:37 PM

Great its about time someone got him an stole his watch,now he knows how the rest of the americans feel,we have these imagrents coming to our country an they wanna take over,HOW DOES IT FEEL MR BUSH YOUVE BEEN INVADED…KINDA ANGRY ARENT YOU ;)))))))

vonsrdmn • June 12, 2007 2:56 PM

To all the people saying he’s looking down to find his dropped watch: If you watch the video carefully, you will notice that he is on a staircase (or at least a step), since at about 1:00 in he makes a step down, just as his hands are out of view. I presume he’s looking around to make sure not to fall down the stairs as he moves to his right…

Jim • June 12, 2007 3:39 PM

Maybe it wasn’t a Timex. Maybe it was a super-secret presedential watch with access to nuclear arsenals; encrypted communications; and most importantly, the capability to provide real-time baseball scores.

Hence all the secrecy.

I’m starting to feel another panic attack…

dragonfrog • June 12, 2007 3:39 PM

As John pointed out – there’s nothing odd about the denials. The last thing the White House wants to do is make noise about Albanians being a bunch of thieves, when the president just went there on a goodwill tour of some sort.

Albania remains one of the few European countries supportive of the Iraq war. They also appear to be a convenient dumping ground for innocents who have spent years in Gitmo.

Lenka • June 12, 2007 3:49 PM

My lying eyes could be deceiving me, but looking at the video between :51 and :58 it seems very clear to me that Bush’s left forearm is being “milked” by a hairy male (right) hand – it certainly appears someone pulled the watch off as Bush shook another person’s hand with his left (hand). Brazen!

Bruce Schneier • June 12, 2007 4:17 PM

“Who really cares about this? Why is this here? Is the possible denial of a stolen of a watch really the most important issue in his presidency?”

This is here because this is a security blog, and it’s an interesting security discussion.

No one really “cares” in any meaningful sense of the word, but it’s intersting speculation.

And no, this isn’t the most important issue in his presidency, but on the other hand none of my 1000+ posts have been about the most important issue in Bush’s presidency…so why should this one be any different?

David W. • June 12, 2007 4:19 PM

Bad news for the pickpocket trying to fence the POTUS wrist watch:

US President George W. Bush is a very modest person: he wears a 50-dollar Timex Indiglo watch. The American president is sure that he will never lose his watch: the presidential watch has a personal engraving on the back: George W. Bush President January 20, 2001.

Eugene Ray • June 12, 2007 4:51 PM

Soon after 0:56 you can see a hand grabbing the watch. It’s not there at 0:57. Looks like Bush notices it and looks down, maybe thinking it fell off. But considering how many people were holding his hand there is no way it would fell 🙂 And should add that this happens EXACTLY at the moment when he looks away?
I think this is a classical case. Considering potential kleptomania and favorable conditions (crowd, noise, lack of attention) it’s not hard to imagine that some poor soul (or maybe not that poor) would use that moment. And besides, if being caught he would just drop it and would say he never took it? This is also very typical.

Howard • June 12, 2007 4:56 PM

Agree the clear theft at around 00:56 elapsed time.
However it is equally clear that the Presidential Watch must have many important and clandestine functions – I always thought that it was an aide’s job to merely tell the time?

Jess • June 12, 2007 5:04 PM

Agreed, definitely, that the White House are a bunch of liars, but in this case, for Albania’s sake, lying is the only diplomatic thing to do, if the watch was stolen. But check out the Reuters video (http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=56515), which is the clearest I’ve seen so far. It’s still not entirely evident what happened, but it does seem that when the watch disappeared, Bush’s hand was by his side, not reaching up to the crowd. And it almost looks like there’s a handoff between two Secret Service guys.

pera • June 12, 2007 5:33 PM

If you are watching at the video carefully you can notice one man of Serbian nationality in the crowd and I’m sure that President Bush’s watch has been stolen by this man. ;(

UNTER • June 12, 2007 5:54 PM

Bruce: “There must be a zillion easier-to-steal watches in that crowd, many of them nicer than Bush’s.”

Yes, but none of them give you the same bragging rights among your friends and family!

trudy • June 12, 2007 5:58 PM

If it’s a Timex, it may have a clasp on the band, which could very easily open in all that grasping, causing the watch to loosen or fall off.

Maia C • June 12, 2007 6:08 PM

Of course the watch was stolen right off his arm. The Secret Service is always careful to vet the “impromptu” crowds, so Bush was surrounded by people who think just like he does. Q.E.D.

honeypot.trapspam • June 12, 2007 6:31 PM

Overall I was shocked that the Secret Service let him plow into the crowds at all. They could not have prevented some one just reaching over and slicing his arm.

Jim • June 12, 2007 6:32 PM

@John Henry

I once tried, many years ago, to hitch hike out of Naples. The only person who stopped didn’t do so to give me a lift, bu to try to sell me a watch.

Freiheit • June 12, 2007 8:39 PM

Theres a war on, the leader of the free world has a 32% approval rating, and we’re worried about a $50 (37.5 EUR) Timex??

I think the significance of this article is that it points out how easily distracted we are from the big issues. I’m involved in local politics (running for City Council) and I admit, its hard to be “on” all the time and its hard to be aware of all the issues facing you, your city, state/province, country, and the world, but damn kids!! Between this and Paris Hilton how much worthwhile news hasn’t been reported? Even taking the 30 seconds to peruse a list headlines that it takes to cover this complete story would provide more useful information about whats really happening.

NV • June 12, 2007 8:53 PM

ABC News did a story on the 6:30 newscast with a view from much closer up and from the other side. Looks like he did take off the watch before getting back in the throng of people.

Too bad. I would love to have seen him give back to the people for once.

Native Albanian • June 12, 2007 8:55 PM

Talking security? Then point out where else is the US president allowed to mingle with the crowd as in Albania. The news media like to talk about it and divert attention from the actual welcome. The Reuters video (linked) shows that the watch disappears only after he has his arm lowered for his bodyguards.

Richard Schwartz • June 12, 2007 10:24 PM

On the clip that just aired on the local NBC affiliate in Boston, taken from a very different angle, it was apparent to me that his right hand reached to his left wrist just before the watch “disappears”, and then the right hand reaches down toward his pants pocket. Not conclusive by any means, but more plausible than it being stripped from his wrist without him missing a beat.

Ian Osmond • June 12, 2007 10:37 PM

This has made me decide that, if I ever run for office and do a glad-handling meet-n-greet sort of thing like Bush was doing, I’ll a) wear my wedding ring on a chain around my neck under my shirt, and b) have about a hundred cheap watches made up which have, engraved on the back, “You’ve got my watch! Do I have your vote? Vote Ian!”

Seems to me like you’d just generally assume that you’re going to lose your watch if you’re going to be shaking hands with a crowd. That’s just the way it goes. What I loved was the four or five LATER attempts on his wrist AFTER the watch was gone. If you’re going for a watch, you’re doing it mainly on feel, anyway — you look at things, size up where things are, but during the actual attempt, you’re not going to have to be looking at the target. Which means that, if you have a half-dozen pickpockets all going for the same target, the last five are going to be going for a target that’s already gone. . .

nbk2000 • June 12, 2007 11:30 PM

I’m wondering how long it’ll take the SS to find the thief on the video, run his face through the NSA’s biometric database, and for Delta Force to fast-rope down on the morons roof…

Andrew • June 13, 2007 1:22 AM

Stephen says: >> Let’s hope that was just a “regular watch” and not some sort of clever “gadgetized” token – you know, a homing beacon, or a USB-watch with the launch codes for the Ohio Fleet’s Nukes….. 🙂

Hush! Of COURSE the President wears jewelry that can be used to track him in the event of a kidnap scenario. It’d be kind of stupid if he did not.

Remember that for tactical purposes, the President is in his own person considered to be a special nuclear munition. The kind that one can use a heavy-weapons team to spray a crowd to keep secured.

An implanted device is unlikely but possible. Some other exceedingly expensive transmitter on his body, and more likely two or three, is nearly certain.

If it’s the watch, it only LOOKS like a $50 watch and the goal is to recover it to keep the otherwise very interested Russians, etc. from laying hands on it and then applying a microscope. A cheap watch is less likely to be stripped off a captured President, after all.

I doubt it has a destruct charge, but it might have an anti-tamper charge.

I find it interesting that it’s dated the first day of his Presidency.

Anonymous • June 13, 2007 1:46 AM

Patrick Farrell at June 12, 2007 11:44 AM said: “Reminds me of the (hoax?) video where the guy spray painted Air Force one.”

It was a fake Marc Ecko video to promote. It never happened. Digital trickery. He’s admitted to it.

Anonymous • June 13, 2007 6:45 AM

the leader of the free world has a 32% approval rating

Leader of the free world? Who might that be?

Mike Williamson • June 13, 2007 8:03 AM

For “patently false comments,” what about the time in the 1990s when four military planes crashed within a week?

We had a DoD wide down day, and lectures on proper maintenance and safety, warnings that our accident rate was excessively high, due to an aging fleet and higher optempo, and told that maintenance must be done by the book or there would be disciplinary action. Pilots were cautioned not to hot dog it.

When asked on C-SPAN if the increase in wrecks was due to a short maintenance budget, the correct answer, of course, would have been, “no.”

Blubba Clinton’s White House decided to reply, “THERE IS NO INCREASE IN ACCIDENT RATES!!!!!”

Now, between my commander and imPOTUS, mister Cannabis Interruptus, who was I supposed to believe? You get one guess.

Nah, I suppose a cheap watch is much more interesting. Besides, BUSH LOOKS LIKE A CHIMP!, right?

David A • June 13, 2007 8:05 AM

He gave it away! Has no one watched the video on YouTube to the end?

At about 2:40 it looks like he is holding a watch in his right hand, walking over to the public and giving it away, and then returning with a pencil in his hand. The security guards are trained to watch for guns and knives and other threats. I don’t believe for a minute any of them would have stopped doing that to bend down and pick up a cheap watch. I believe either the president took the watch of himself around 0:55 or it was stolen and he was given a new one to give away to defuse the story.

MKP • June 13, 2007 11:12 AM

It just fell down and could have been taken up by the guard.
Interesting interpretations!

Daniel • June 13, 2007 1:04 PM

As much fun as we’re having with the Asshat POTUS, I have to put an end to this. Look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTqEO6MHCU
He pulled his own watch at about :58, presumably because of everyone groping his left arm at :55-:56.
Carry on with the Bush bashing, just be willing to admit he didn’t lie about this one.

simongabriel • June 13, 2007 2:58 PM

Well, the only lie is the “he put his arms behind his back” bit. But yeah, looks like he took it off.

And to those that say “why do you care about this???” it’s interesting security. We don’t care about wether the watch was actually stolen, although it’s fun to speculate. What we are interested in, and why Bruce put it up here, is the aspect of the president being in a group of random public people. It opens up all sorts of talking points regarding how secure and safe the president actually is in this situation.

An example, it’s from TV but still interesting, is from the show 24. I want to say the end of season 2, but it might’ve been season 1 (spoiler for anyone who actually hasn’t seen it, but come on) the president is doing this sort of hand grabbing etc, and someone shakes his hand but has a dangerous chemical on ‘fake skin’ on her hand.

Anytime the president (or anyone, for that matter) is in the public like this, this sort of thing can happen. The fact that it looked like someone swiped his watch was just funny.

Al • June 13, 2007 8:02 PM

I don’t know if someone has already mentioned this or not, but wouldn’t Bush’s watch have a traceable beacon on it? So even if his watch was stolen, it could’ve been easily found and recovered by the Secret Service, or the Albanian authorities for that matter.

What really surprises me is how close they allowed the Albanian public to get to him. People were hugging him, playing with his hair, etc. Here in America, we aren’t even allowed to ask him questions regarding his politics or his mental capacity (given the fact that he can’t even speak two sentences in a row without falling all over himself). He’s such a functional retard…. LOL!!

Urox • June 13, 2007 8:47 PM

So I have to ask, where did the second video come from and why do we not see Bush “shrugging” in the first video like the second video?

I’m unable to see the second video that Bruce linked to (nor any of the others in the comments since they’ve been taken down), but I saw a US tv station with a video where he is largely visible shrugging in a “taking off” motion, but I don’t see this in the original video.

Murat Ertas • June 13, 2007 10:33 PM

The watch is definitely stolen. But I can see that the american medias are going to deny it no matter that the proof is in the video and very very clear to anyone who has eyes and a functioning brain. They want to deny it to avoid embarass the president of the United States and to avoid embarass the host nation where it happened. Of course it is a good reason to lie but its really a weak lie as we can all see it stolen without doubts lol!

Greetings from Turkiye,

Murat

Anonymous • June 13, 2007 11:49 PM

WTF? Are all of you blind? at :54 both Shrub & the rectangular-headed Goon behind him look down. At :58 Goon squats quickly, and arises again. Looks quite clear that the watch fell to the ground and was retrieved by CIA. End of story. Sheesh, you conspiracy nuts just add noise to an already noisy world.

Ordinary Serbian • June 14, 2007 2:10 AM

Now you can see what kind of people the Albanians are! As they stole the watch from Bush (who is their greatest friend), they also want to steal Kosovo from Serbia!

Justin Lister • June 14, 2007 11:04 AM

Hmmm parallels to feeling when first being asked to investigate some “anomalous” activity… Typically those asking (when not coming from a security background) may already “believe” it’s true… I’d expect those here to use better judgement…

Lets ask ourselves a few questions

  1. What is the likelyhood that someone would wanted to steal “his” watch? Let’s think the president is visiting today… I know i’ll go steal his watch! Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to steal a lot more watches from others in that crowd. Did anyone else lose a watch?

Aside : I’ll disregard the negative comments about the type of people albanians are…

Interesting someone “supposedly” seals a watch and Albanians are bad people?

  1. Everyone in the crowd is rushing to what? Umm meet/shake hands with the president.. you can see the clambering, hands all over the place.. Think there might be a possibility of watch being accidentally knocked off?
  2. $50 timex? hmm i remember my $50 casio they didn’t have very strong wriststraps lost more than 1 brushing against things… but his was timex so maybe was stronger?
  3. Is any coincident in fact that president looks down at time of watch is taken to disappear? Also at the same time it appears that a number of hands brush against his forearm from people not directly in front of him..
  4. His security taking/pocketing? really think they worrying about his watch.. I think they’re monitoring the crowd.. in such close contact I’d say they watching anything that gets near to his body

Lastly, let’s consider why would someone post the video to youtube?… to publize? sure Bush losing his watch may be interesting..

But what about the second message (around 11s) on the video? The msg wasn’t part of the original news cast?

My take it’s a politically motivated message… to gain support for “Independence for Kosova”..

Anyone else?

Xhetan Bushi • June 14, 2007 7:36 PM

Bush’s watch wasn’t stolen ok!!!
read on the letter and the link that have been sent to BBC , shame on them ….
there some Albanians bad but that doesn’t make us all bad , so please get alive…

Feedback:
Hi my name is Xhetan Bushi , i want to speak on behalf of the Albanian Comunity , as we watched BBC broadcasting news saying that the Albanians stole George Bush’s watch, we found that really offensive and unfair , please do check the link of the video we going to send with enough prove , Albania has gone through a lot so have Albanian people … There is more then 320000 Albanians living in UK , belive me being an Albanian it’s never been easy and these comments make things so much worse Hope you really understand our side of veiw thanks regards x bushi email : xbushi@hotmail.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdhxi

Ben • June 15, 2007 7:03 AM

It is so simple :
People that believe the watch has been stolen -> Low IQ
People that believe that the watch has been taken by bodyguards or fallen off -> High IQ

Advice to the first group : do not believe always that people do what you in the same situation should do it 🙂

Laurie Mann • June 16, 2007 1:44 PM

Richard Shwartz wrote:
On the clip that just aired on the local NBC affiliate in Boston, taken from a very different angle, it was apparent to me that his right hand reached to his left wrist just before the watch “disappears”, and then the right hand reaches down toward his pants pocket. Not conclusive by any means, but more plausible than it being stripped from his wrist without him missing a beat.

This topic came up on “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR today. They brought Brian Williams on to discuss it. Brian Williams (the NBC anchor) said he saw this particular camera angle, and felt Bush pocketed his watch.

But even that’s kind of embarrassing, because it showed Bush was that worried about losing a $50 watch!

norway • June 17, 2007 6:52 AM

Nice, but not as good as the pickpocket in Norway who took a wallet from the Cheif of Police for Oslo. Here he got cards, id and money.

markm • June 17, 2007 11:40 AM

It’s the latest evil Bush plan to profit from the Presidency:

1) Slip his watch off his wrist and pocket it.

2) Issue press release denying that his watch was stolen, but with a story at odds with what can be seen on tape so people believe they lied about “stolen” as well as about handing it off to the Secret Service Agent.

3) Engrave “George w. Bush”, etc., on 1,000 $10 Timex watches.

4) Auction them off on e-bay (one at a time, of course), at several hundred to several thousand each.

Result – nearly a million bucks to add to W’s beer fund.

[/sarcasm]
It can’t be true – no one on W’s team has the imagination…

Anonymous • June 18, 2007 7:46 AM

So what we can learn from this story is:
* people will believe any old unlikely nonsense if it tends to reinforce their existing prejudices;
* in some quarters, anti-US cynicism has developed to such a high degree that even when a story is obviously unlikely, is totally trivial, is categorically and flatly denied by the US administration, and in fact is false, people will believe it BECAUSE the administration denied it; and
* interpretation of video imagery is very tricky and often requires expert analysis, or at least to be seen in full context. Seeing a few seconds of video from one angle is usually not the same as having seen something, even if it makes you feel as though you have.

Enlightenment • June 18, 2007 9:55 PM

Too many idiots and liars in this world!!!

#1 – Post a video making people think a watch is stolen.

#2 – Many people believe a watch is stolen.

#3 – Post an alternate-angle video showing the truth.

#4 – A few people saying his watch is stolen.

If you still believe the watch is stolen, then please tell everyone your real name so we all can laugh at your dumb ass!!!

Bill in Racine • September 5, 2007 9:00 AM

I’m an American and I’m proud to be an American. I live in one of the greatest countries on the planet.

One of the greatest things we have here is Freedom! Freedom to whine like little girls over every little thing. I wonder how many other countries would put up with their citizens bad mouthing their government and leaders?

Does anyone think that the head of Iran would tolerate that? How about Sudan, Syria, China, N. Korea, etc?

Who cares if his watch was stolen? How does that reflect on the President? Millions of people are mugged on a daily basis – not just in this country but all over the world. He had a swarm of people around him, not even his security detail could have watched everyone.

And if it was stolen, which was the more diplomatic solution? To stand up and cry out and make a big stink over some citizen of a country he was visiting was low enough to steal his watch? Or was it more diplomatic that IF it did happen, to just brush it off as one of those things?

I think IF it was stolen, he was the bigger man in making nothing out of it. It’s just a watch, something that can be easily replaced.

I think it shows remarkable dignity in President Bush that IF it was stolen – he did nothing and said nothing about it. Even to the point of denying it being stolen. Why seek to put a black mark on the citizens of Albania?

Ronnien • February 2, 2024 1:21 AM

I’m thrilled to share my genuine excitement about https://crazytime-livegame.com/ as it has genuinely revolutionized my gaming routine. For those seeking an outstanding gaming service with an extensive selection of games, this platform truly stands apart. Not only does it offer a diverse array of games, but it also provides an unparalleled gaming experience. On a personal level, it has become my go-to source of entertainment, effortlessly helping me while away the time.

Leave a comment

Login

Allowed HTML <a href="URL"> • <em> <cite> <i> • <strong> <b> • <sub> <sup> • <ul> <ol> <li> • <blockquote> <pre> Markdown Extra syntax via https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/extra/

Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.