Sunday, November 07, 2004

Not just a wrinkle... (Does this count as a lie?)

According to The Hill, the bulge on Bush's back was confirmed to be a strap for his bullet-proof vest and not a prompting device. This makes sense, because of all places, putting it in his shoulder blades makes no sense, especially if the earpiece was wireless.

However, when asked about it, Bush said he didn't know what it was. Even his tailor admitted it was part of the suit. Salon talked to a NASA satellite photo analyst and confirmed with simple image adjustment that the bulge was indeed "something" that looked like it had wires, but hadn't proof about exactly what it was.

Bush's spokespeople say it was a security measure to not reveal that he had a bullet proof vest on, but Michael from Discourse.net says that the real reason "is that they knew it looks cowardly and that would have been bad for the image. (If the security rationale were true, they wouldn’t admit the truth the day after the eleciton unless Bush never plans to stir from the White House. )"

I guess this is just one of those insignificant lies politicians say. Would the public really have been suprised that Bush was wearing a bullet-proof vest? What else have they been withholding from the public?

SOURCE: Discourse.net: The Bulge Was Not Tinfoil - It Was a Trope


UPDATE 2:20 AM EST 1/7/04: So, now people are saying it's a wearable defibrillator. I can see why people wouldn't want this information to leak out, as it presents does present another security weakness. Some would contest whether the Secret Service has that much to worry about, as G. Schochet, my Poli-Sci 101 professor kiddingly pointed out. He emphatically warned the class that no one should assasinate George W. Bush. The reason? That VP Dick Cheney was much much worse and that the idea of him succeeding W was George Bush's greatest bullet proof vest. [via Technology Review]

Originally stamped 02:39 PM Nov 07, 2004, but bumped temporarily.

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