Originally published on Salon.com on October 13, 2004
A Bush spokesman tells Salon there is
nothing to the story. But as the final presidential debate looms,
speculation grows about the mysterious bulge.
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By Dave Lindorff
Oct. 13, 2004 | Speculation continues to run wild about
President Bush's mystery bulge. Since Friday, when Salon first raised
questions about the rectangular bulge that was visible under Bush's
suit coat during the presidential debates, many observers in the press
and on the Internet have wondered aloud whether the verbally and
factually challenged president might be receiving coaching via a hidden
electronic device.
Now a technical expert who designs and makes such devices for the U.S.
military and private industry tells Salon that he believes the bulge is
indeed a transceiver designed to receive electronic signals and
transmit them to a hidden earpiece lodged in Bush's ear canal.
"There's no question about it. It's a pretty obvious one -- larger than
most because it probably has descrambling capability," said Alex
Darbut, technical and business development vice president for
Resistance Technology in Arden Hills, Minn. Darbut examined photographs
of the president's back taken from the Fox News video feed at the first
presidential debate in Coral Gables, Fla., as well as 2002 photos of
the president driving and working in a T-shirt on his Crawford ranch,
which were posted on the White House Web site.
Darbut speculates that the device the president wears is provided by
the Secret Service, noting, "They're not going to have him driving
around the countryside on his ranch without being in instant contact
with him."
No one in the White House or Bush campaign, however, has offered such
an explanation. In fact, the Bush camp has shed little light on the
mysterious protuberance, turning aside questions with dismissive humor
or rising tones of exasperation. The president is "a regular guy,"
White House chief of staff Andy Card told Salon before the second
debate last week. "Maybe his suit had a little lump in it or
something." Campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish took the same line
with the New York Times on Saturday: "It was most likely a rumpling of
that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric." But
Devenish, the Times dryly noted, "could not say why the 'rumpling' was
rectangular." Campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel brushed aside a
questioner in a Washington Post chat session by saying, "I think you've
been spending a little too much time on conspiracy Web sites."
On Tuesday, in response to repeated questions from Salon, the Bush camp
finally issued a flat denial. Campaign spokesman Reed Dickens denied
that Bush has ever used an electronic device to aid his public
speaking, insisting the president was wearing "nothing during the
debates." When asked about the pictures taken at the Bush ranch,
Dickens said the president has never used any devices except for
cutting tools and earplugs to protect his ears from the high-decibel
chainsaw. Nor has the Secret Service outfitted Bush with a hidden
communications device, according to Dickens: "He doesn't need something
like that because the Secret Service is always with him. They ride in
the truck in the back. Wherever he goes, they're with him."
Despite the official denials, the bulge brouhaha is still ballooning.
On Tuesday, the New York Daily News produced a master tailor named
Frank Shattuck who, after viewing photos from both debates, confirmed,
"There's definitely something there, in between the shoulder blades. I
can't say what it is, but it's not hidden very well. They should have
come to me. I can hide a pistol under the breast."
In Orlando, Florida, TV station WFTV polled its viewers, asking, "Do
you believe the accusations that President George W. Bush was wired
during the presidential debate?" Of 35,000 respondents, only 42 percent
answered no, while 36 percent replied yes, and 22 percent said possibly.
Meanwhile, blogs, chat rooms, bulletin boards -- and Salon's letters
pages -- continue to buzz with discussion about Bush's possible
electronic enhancement. Reports are flying around the Web about earlier
televised events where audio glitches allegedly permitted TV viewers to
hear someone directing what Bush to say, including his public remarks
at the Sea Island G-8 summit meeting in June, his D-day anniversary
speech in France, and a New York speech following 9/11.
One thing is certain: During the final presidential debate in Tempe, Ariz., on Wednesday night, all eyes will be on Bush's back.