Further developments

So to speak.

Back on October 30, I noted that Dr. Robert Nelson, a senior research scientist at NASA, had enhanced photos of the infamous "bulge" on Bush's back during the first debate, showing that he was indeed wired.

At the time, I said:

Chances this will actually make real news: Low. Chances that, if Shrub is re-elected, Dr. Nelson has ruined his career: High.

The second part is yet to be confirmed, but no waiting is necessary for the first. In a Friday press release, media watchdog FAIR reveals that the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times all decided to not run the story. In the New York Times' case, the decision was made to spike it even though three editors had already been assigned to it.

The information comes via Dave Lindorff, who first raised questions about the bulge. He also reports that after seeing Dr. Nelson's article in Salon, he asked him to do the same sort of analysis on photos of Bush from the other debates. The results, published at the website of Mother Jones magazine on October 30, clearly showed that Shrub was wired all three times.

Now, for all we know, this may be innocent - well, at least relatively so. Maybe he wasn't cheating; maybe this is something he wears all the time. Some have speculated it's something for back pain. Others suggest it's something to keep him in touch with aides so he doesn't pull another Pet Goat in the event of a crisis. Whatever. The fact remains he was wired and they're still lying about it with - and this is what I think is more important - the collusion of major media who are too lazy, too incompetent, too intimidated, too corporatist, all of the above, to do their jobs.

Footnote: CounterSpin, a news analysis program produced by FAIR, interviewed Lindorff. If you want to hear it, the link is here. The interview begins at about 17:30.