# Bush's Back Bulge: Tinfoil hat, or shenanigans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 8, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184 "2004-10-08T12:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/41 "2004-10-08T18:05:00Z")
After watching the video some more (not just looking at the still), it seems to me that what seems to be a bulge in the still frame is really just the taut line of his suit across his shoulderblades. It appears to tighten and relax as he moves–it doesn’t appear to be stretched over a bulging object. See the C-Span video (linked at the bottom of the page [http://www.c-span.org/](http://www.c-span.org/) ). You can see his back around minutes 6, 23, and 59 (maybe other times, too, but I’m not about to watch the whole 1.5 hours again). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/42 "2004-10-08T18:15:12Z")
Honestly speaking, to me it looks like the outline of a vest, possibly a protective vest of some kind. [Electoral-vote.com](http://Electoral-vote.com) slightly mischaracterizes the Salon story, which never actually claims that Bush is wearing a wire, only that others have speculated that he was and that the photo shows something unexplained. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/43 "2004-10-08T18:15:34Z")
From looking at the photo, I agree with **toadspittle**. If there is something there, are there any pictures of Kerry’s back? My first thought was that it was a back-up microphone. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/44 "2004-10-08T18:22:52Z")
From what I understand – – The debate people say that they did not wire either of the candidates with anything. The only equipment was in the lecterns – There do exist miniature earpieces that can be placed inside the ear so that they are invisible Given that, however, I am still skeptical of the proposition that Bush was wearing a receiving device. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/45 "2004-10-08T18:26:36Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > …-- There do exist miniature earpieces that can be placed inside the ear so that they are invisible > > Given that, however, I am still skeptical of the proposition that Bush was wearing a receiving device. But what about Kerry? I noticed that his chin looked a little bigger than usual. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/46 "2004-10-08T18:29:18Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > But what about Kerry? I noticed that his chin looked a little bigger than usual. All right, he’s on to us. Send out the black helicopters. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/47 "2004-10-08T18:33:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [Beat ya to it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=279090), Daniel. 😃 Yeah, I saw that a few days ago; these new pictures, along with the new information, seemed pertinent enough that I decided to start a new thread. Once again: **I do not believe this was a means for Bush to cheat**. I’m not conspiracy-theorizing here. The likeliest explanation, IMO, is that it’s some sort of intel device that is kept secret from the likes of us, something unrelated to the debate. It really doesn’t look to me like his spine, though. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/48 "2004-10-08T18:34:18Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > All right, he’s on to us. Send out the black helicopters. And Kerry’s teeth - can you really explain why they appeared so much whiter than they normally are? I suspect they were fakes. The teeth we saw were caps. But why place caps over perfectly good teeth. I leave that for you to draw your own conclusions – ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/49 "2004-10-08T18:35:47Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > But what about Kerry? I noticed that his chin looked a little bigger than usual. It’s a remake of the _Man Chinnier Candidate_. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/50 "2004-10-08T18:36:57Z")
Here is the pic enlarged and cropped. [http://members.aol.com/yaintu69/earpiece.jpg](http://members.aol.com/yaintu69/earpiece.jpg) It sure looks like an earpiece to me. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/51 "2004-10-08T18:37:53Z")
> [@pkd88](#): > > - A medical device. Perhaps a monitor of his hearbeat etc. I kind of think this one maybe the most likely. He sure didn’t look well at the end of the debate. That was actually my first thought. There are recording devices that people have to wear for, I think, 24 hours when they have a suspected heart irregularity. It’s like a long term EKG. And it would, I’m assuming, have to have a battery pack on it. And, again this is what I think I remember, I think that there are some similar devices that people wear for longer that actually transmit the data? OR am I imagining this entire thing? I might have to go lie down. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/52 "2004-10-08T18:46:13Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Here is the pic enlarged and cropped. > > [http://members.aol.com/yaintu69/earpiece.jpg](http://members.aol.com/yaintu69/earpiece.jpg) > > It sure looks like an earpiece to me. Uh…no it doesn’t. It looks like a grainy photo of the back of someone’s ear, and accompanying shadow. If there had been a noticeable earpiece, CNN or C-Span (or any of the other cameras with a rear-view) would have zoomed in on it. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/53 "2004-10-08T18:57:12Z")
I see nothing resembling an earpiece, though I do see the weird thing about his back. You’d think, though, with all the high-tech stuff you can do today, they’d put a better-hidden receiver on him. I must admit I find “the bulge” a tad mysterious, but I can’t see how one could relaibly claim it’s a transmitting apparatus of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/54 "2004-10-08T18:59:01Z")
I can’t believe this thread has gone to two pages. Are we so bored for topics to discuss that we have to play “guess the lump?” (sounds like a game for proctologists 😉 ). If you really want paranoia games to play, try this one, from a coworker of mine (paraphrased): _“It doesn’t matter what happens, Bush is going to lose the election big-time. He’s pissed off too many people in the intelligence community, blaming them to cover up the mess in Iraq. They’re going to want to get Bush for that, and they have the expertise and the technology to make the election go whatever way they want it to.”_ Not that I believe this for a microsecond (it sounds like a warmed-over Tom Clancy potboiler), but it’s gotta be more substantive than Bush’s Bulge™… ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/55 "2004-10-08T18:59:19Z")
It looks like a protective vest to me. It may come together in the back and hence the bulge. Note the ‘even’ curve leading from the bulge and what appears to be a similar curve on the other side - which isn’t real clear considering the angle of the photo. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/56 "2004-10-08T19:01:47Z")
Now it is starting to look more like a brace to me. Back pain might be an explanation for Bush’s facial expressions. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/57 "2004-10-08T19:03:15Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > It looks like a protective vest to me. It may come together in the back and hence the bulge. Note the ‘even’ curve leading from the bulge and what appears to be a similar curve on the other side - which isn’t real clear considering the angle of the photo. :smack: Somehow it never occurred to me that a protective vest could fasten in the **back**. That would make sense. Thanks! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/58 "2004-10-08T19:03:18Z")
From [here](http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/affalert273.shtml) : > [@](#): > > So I decided to investigate, and went directly to the top – to Mark McKinnon, Media Director for the George W. Bush re-election campaign. McKinnon is by most accounts one of the top media strategists and image-makers in the business, having helped to elect a slew of Democrats before switching sides and successfully running media operations for Bush’s first presidential campaign in 2000. Although now a died-in-the-wool convert, McKinnon is different from many Bush operatives in that he is open, responsive, and often displays a keen sense of humor, as evidenced by his emailed response to my query: > > “I love this. Am tempted to say, ‘I cannot confirm or deny,’ and let the story get some legs. Or, how about, ‘Since we put the metal plate in his head, we have had some measure of success with audio transmissions to the President.’ Or, ‘Yeah, but it clearly broke down during the debate.’” > > McKinnon continues: “Unfortunately, the truth is not nearly as interesting. The answer is, ‘The President has never been assisted by any audio signal.’” > > So the official denial is now on the record. 'Course, McKinnon doesn’t proffer an explanation for what the bulge actually was. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/59 "2004-10-08T19:05:06Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Now it is starting to look more like a brace to me. Back pain might be an explanation for Bush’s facial expressions. Actually, I think it’s sort of like looking at clouds. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184/60 "2004-10-08T19:16:03Z")
“Methinks it is like a weasel.” “It is backed like a weasel.” “Or like a whale?” “Very like a whale.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-back-bulge-tinfoil-hat-or-shenanigans/268184.md?page=4)