Home > Bush’s mystery bulge: The rumor is flying around the globe

Bush’s mystery bulge: The rumor is flying around the globe

by Open-Publishing - Monday 11 October 2004
15 comments

Was the president wired during the first debate?

By Dave Lindorff

Was President Bush literally channeling Karl Rove in his first debate
with John Kerry? That’s the latest rumor flooding the Internet,
unleashed last week in the wake of an image caught by a television
camera during the Miami debate. The image shows a large solid object
between Bush’s shoulder blades as he leans over the lectern and faces
moderator Jim Lehrer.

The president is not known to wear a back brace, and it’s safe to say
he wasn’t packing. So was the bulge under his well-tailored jacket a
hidden receiver, picking up transmissions from someone offstage
feeding the president answers through a hidden earpiece? Did the
device explain why the normally ramrod-straight president seemed
hunched over during much of the debate?

Bloggers are burning up their keyboards with speculation. Check out
the president’s peculiar behavior during the debate, they say. On
several occasions, the president simply stopped speaking for an
uncomfortably long time and stared ahead with an odd expression on his
face. Was he listening to someone helping him with his response to a
question? Even weirder was the president’s strange outburst. In a
peeved rejoinder to Kerry, he said, "As the politics change, his
positions change. And that’s not how a commander in chief acts. I, I,
uh — Let me finish — The intelligence I looked at was the same
intelligence my opponent looked at." It must be said that Bush pointed
toward Lehrer as he declared "Let me finish." The green warning light
was lit, signaling he had 30
seconds to, well, finish.

Hot on the conspiracy trail, I tried to track down the source of the
photo. None of the Bush-is-wired bloggers, however, seemed to know
where the photo came from. Was it possible the bulge had been
Photoshopped onto Bush’s back by a lone conspiracy buff? It turns out
that all of the video of the debate was recorded and sent out by Fox
News, the pool broadcaster for the event. Fox sent feeds from multiple
cameras to the other networks, which did their own on-air
presentations and editing.

To watch the debate again, I ventured to the Web site of the most
sober network I could think of: C-SPAN. And sure enough, at minute 23
on the video of the debate, you can clearly see the bulge between the
president’s shoulder blades.

Bloggers stoke the conspiracy with the claim that the Bush
administration insisted on a condition that no cameras be placed
behind the candidates. An official for the Commission on Presidential
Debates, which set up the lecterns and microphones on the Miami stage,
said the condition was indeed real, the result of negotiations by both
campaigns. Yet that didn’t stop Fox from setting up cameras behind
Bush and Kerry. The official said that "microphones were mounted on
lecterns, and the commission put no electronic devices on the
president or Senator Kerry." When asked about the bulge on Bush’s
back, the official said, "I don’t know what that was."

So what was it? Jacob McKenna, a spyware expert and the owner of the
Spy Store, a high-tech surveillance shop in Spokane, Wash., looked at
the Bush image on his computer monitor. "There’s certainly something
on his back, and it appears to be electronic," he said. McKenna said
that, given its shape, the bulge could be the inductor portion of a
two-way push-to-talk system. McKenna noted that such a system makes
use of a tiny microchip-based earplug radio that is pushed way down
into the ear canal, where it is virtually invisible. He also said a
weak signal could be scrambled and be undetected by another
broadcaster.

Mystery-bulge bloggers argue that the president may have begun using
such technology earlier in his term. Because Bush is famously prone to
malapropisms and reportedly dyslexic, which could make successful use
of a teleprompter problematic, they say the president and his handlers
may have turned to a technique often used by television reporters on
remote stand-ups. A reporter tapes a story and, while on camera, plays
it back into an earpiece, repeating lines just after hearing them,
managing to sound spontaneous and error free.

Suggestions that Bush may have using this technique stem from a D-day
event in France, when a CNN broadcast appeared to pick up — and
broadcast to surprised viewers — the sound of another voice seemingly
reading Bush his lines, after which Bush repeated them. Danny
Schechter, who operates the news site MediaChannel.org, and who has
been doing some investigating into the wired-Bush rumors himself, said
the Bush campaign has been worried of late about others picking up
their radio frequencies — notably during the Republican Convention on
the day of Bush’s appearance. "They had a frequency specialist stop me
and ask about the frequency of my camera," Schechter said. "The
Democrats weren’t doing that at their convention."

Repeated calls to the White House and the Bush national campaign
office over a period of three days, inquiring about what the president
may have been wearing on his back during the debate, and whether he
had used an audio device at other events, went unreturned. So far the
Kerry campaign is staying clear of this story. When called for a
comment, a press officer at the Democratic National Committee claimed
on Tuesday that it was "the first time" they’d ever heard of the
issue. A spokeswoman at the press office of Kerry headquarters refused
to permit me to talk with anyone in the campaign’s research office.
Several other requests for comment to the Kerry campaign’s press
office went unanswered.

As for whether we really do have a Milli Vanilli president, theanswer
at this point has to be, God only knows.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/08/bulge/index_np.html

Forum posts

  • Who cares? The President represents his entire administration. If this is true, which it is not, I would not be suprised. Not a big deal at all. The President is the Head of State and his comments should always reflect the views of the collective Administration. This would be no different than a Teleprompter.

    • "no different than a teleprompter"???!!!

      So you’re saying that cheating is OK in these debates? While I don’t buy into the notion that the president was cheating, especially based on his bumbling performances, I find it amazing that you think this would be appropriate because "his comments should always reflect reflect the views of the collective administration.’’ Astonishing. What have we Americans become when we stand behind a (possible) deception that derails the decency of the Presidency?

      Are you saying that Karl Rove should wisper in Bush’s ear wherever, whenever he gives a speach, town hall, or debate? Who is our President anyway? You said it yourself, "the president is the head of state." Should he not be able to speak for himself and his policies without the aid of a teleprompter or hidden earpiece? Any leader of such a great country should be more than able to do so.

      No more years!

    • You are an idiot and so is bush. Bush needs a talk feed so that he doesnt come off as completely retarded. "Thats not good leaderdhip" , "That not how a Commander-in Chief leads" . You people are voting against your own interest and endangering the pepole of this country, possibly for ever. John Kerry is our only safe choice. Wake up and smell the retard people.

  • This is obviously nothing other than anti-American left wing propaganda. I’m sure this whole thing has been orchestrated by the Democratic Party. People will do anything to keep a person they hate from succeeding. Personally, I support Bush and look forward to another good 4 years! Go Bush and forget the French!

    • The unexplained back bulge is left wing propaganda? The multple explanations from the administration, that it is not this and may be that, is certainly disturbing. The fact that they have not addressed what the bulge really is leads to multiple explanations which ends up in Bush supporters minds as left wing propaganda. If the administration would tell the truth then we could have an honest and unbiased dialogue about expensive well tailored suits that dont fit well.

    • Anti-Bush=Anti American....I guess you think we Americans are all as stupid as you and Bush. Good you are voting for him...You+Bush....a couple of dumbasses.

    • FOX news created this problem for Bush by ignoring the rules. He would never have been busted on this if not for FOX showing him from behind. Ironic that the all Bush all the time network (FOX) is helping to bring Bush down. Now that’s what I call justice.

  • Has anyone considered that maybe he’s just a really crappy robot? Just asking.

  • Does anyone remember the Cheers episode about Cliff having a friend shock him with a remote device if he began to ramble on, pontificate, or lie?
    Karl had the controls on Bush and kept him in control. Why do you think the little weasle was blinking so much:)

  • Bush’s ’interesting’ speaking patterns are proof that someone is feeding him lines. NO ONE talks like this...
    http://atl-imc.org/audio/radio.indymedia/download/blackout.mp3

    • Can any of you, without a doubt say what was and what was not on his back? If so, please tell me what this weeks winning lottery numbers are.
      I personaly don’t like Bush that much, but I would say he is the lesser of two evils.
      I would rather vote for someone who listens to the advice of advisors, rather than someone who makes a decision on the fly, and then changes his mind latter in the game.
      And do you honestly think that someone who was clearly anti-war would make the decision to protect you and all the "dumasses" in this country? Vote for who you think will protect you and your family (unless you don’t care).

    • >>Bush’s ’interesting’ speaking patterns are proof that someone is feeding him lines. NO ONE >>talks like this...
      >>http://atl-imc.org/audio/radio.indymedia/download/blackout.mp3

      You, Sir, are full of it. That clip has been edited and computer altered. He does NOT talk like that. Go see him speak in public and see. You are VERY mixed up!

      GET THE WORD OUT, VOTE GEORGE W. BUSH, the best American President in MANY years!

    • The word is out...the word is get Dumbya the fuck out......

    • Are you even old enough to vote? Your lack of comunication skills says that you are either young or dumb. I am hoping that it is not the latter. If it is the latter, you are not intellegent enough to make an informed vote, and thereore in the interest of the rest of us, please refrain from voting.

  • Anti-Bush = Anti-American

    You are either against terrorism or for terrorism.
    If you are against terrorism you better vote for Mr. Bush, as John Kerry will do nothing to protect this country. He wants to make America pass the "GOBAL TEST" before we can protect our own homeland! THAT, Folks, is very un-American. But, what elese would you expect from the most liberal member of congress. Big governemnt and limited citizens rights.

    Keyy = Unsafe America

    Bush = Safer America

    Simple as that. Vote Bush and we will all be better off! GO BUSH