[Paleopsych] NYT: The Mystery of the Bulge in the Jacket

[Premise Checker]

The Mystery of the Bulge in the Jacket
NYT October 9, 2004
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

[This article does not refer to the site http://isbushwired.com--thanks to 
George for pointing me to this site--which gives several lines of argument 
that Bush has been listening to instructions by his handlers through a 
radio receiver. If true, it would be shocking but hardly unprecedented for 
a politician to hold onto power by devious means. More shocking would be 
the press cover-up of the issue. We know, of course, that the public was 
not informed of Woodrow Wilson's incapacity during the last year and a 
half of his Presidency, or of FDR's incapacity during the last few months 
or of his polio, or of JFK's sexual behavior.

[That a press coverup would continue in what we think are more open times 
is, indeed, shocking. More shocking still, I thought yesterday, is that it 
makes no difference, that everyone now pretty much expects coverups and 
conspiracies. Paranoia is indeed the default mode of thinking in the 
post-modern age, as Peter Knight explains in _Conspiracy Culture_, by far 
the best book on the subject.

[So I decided to turn on the second debate last night, having skipped the 
first one, to try to decide for myself. What I saw was not the bumbler and 
incompetent figure head that I read about in so many places, but a fast 
and articulate man. I am ashamed to have relied on these sources so much, 
though it's partly excused by the fact that I watch little teevee because 
of my hearing loss.

[Bush will be reelected, on the strength of his mollifying doubts among 
swing voters that he is not mentally up to par. It was in showing his 
strengths as a leader and fast thinker last night that matters, not 
whether he "won" or "lost" this particular debate. Having decided that the 
hidden receiver theory was bogus, since Bush responded too rapidly and too 
articulately during the second debate, I stopped watching the usual bad 
reasoning, equal by both Bush and Kerry, after an hour.

[If you now go to http://isbushwired.com, you'll find that the conspiracy 
theory still thrives. But shame on the New York Times for not informing 
its readers of this site.

[I have a poor record as a prophet, so don't put too much credence in my 
assertion that Bush will win. There's still room for an October surprise, 
in any case.]

----------
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - What was that bulge in the back of
President Bush's suit jacket at the presidential debate in
Miami last week?

According to rumors racing across the Internet this week,
the rectangular bulge visible between Mr. Bush's shoulder
blades was a radio receiver, getting answers from an
offstage counselor into a hidden presidential earpiece. The
prime suspect was Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's powerful political
adviser.

When the online magazine Salon published an article about
the rumors on Friday, the speculation reached such a pitch
that White House and campaign officials were inundated with
calls.

First they said that pictures showing the bulge might have
been doctored. But then, when the bulge turned out to be
clearly visible in the television footage of the evening,
they offered a different explanation.

"There was nothing under his suit jacket," said Nicolle
Devenish, a campaign spokeswoman.

"It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit
jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric."

Ms. Devenish could not say why the "rumpling" was
rectangular.

Nor was the bulge from a bulletproof vest, according to
campaign and White House officials; they said Mr. Bush was
not wearing one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/09/politics/campaign/09bulge.html