Beat on the brat

OK, the whole “hunchback of nutter spin” / Bush-wired is either getting legs from the strangest of places or is being helped along by a diabolical Democratic ratfucking campaign.
What interests me in some of the latest gossipy developments is the “everybody knows that” gambit that sometimes leaks out of the right when one of their depradations is about to be exposed.
They are past masters at swiveling from “butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth” choirboys to condescending cynics when it suits.
Some Republicans are saying that “everyone knows” Bush and others in his administration sometimes use an audio prompt to stay on message.
This latest tidbit involves a comment in the Daily Kos :: Comments Bush’s Interpreter – Bush DOES Use an Earpiece thread at Daily Kos) that refers to an alleged dispute between two Republicans on the [Portlant Internet Media Center] site.

Brad Menfil of Knoxville
I have contacts within the Republican Party. I was told by Scott Zale, a Repulican operative in eastern Tennessee that he knows it to be a fact that Bush was wired. He said that within the Bush campaign, there are certain mid-level staffers that have leaked this tidbit because it was just “too fantastic to ignore.”
Zale told me that the transmission device is popular with other high profile officials in the Bush administration. It helps everybody stay “on message.” Zale said that Bush was only fed ready responses to just certain types of questions. He didn’t know which questions those were but admitted that Bush just sounded(to him)to be more articulate at certain “oportune” times.
Zale confided that he was told that the president wore a loose fitting jacket during both debates. The device protuded because Bush has a tendency to hunch over and shrug his shoulders a lot.
This is a true story as it was told to me. If you want to know more, please contact Scott Zale at the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Knoxville, Tn. Thanks

Scott Zale
Please shut down this blog. I was informed this morning by the national editor of the Knoxville Times that my name was invoked by a man named “Brad Menfil” in regards to this out-of-control story.
It is true that I work for Bush-Cheney here in Tennessee. My office is in Gatlinburg, not Knoxville. Although I do happen to work at least two days a week in Knoxville. I am a staff accountant and one of my duties is to process local contributions. As part of that duty, I have to wire funds to the national committee in Washington D.C. So I do have national Republican contacts and have heard many things.
“Brad” is not his real name but I suspect he is or may be my counterpart in the Washington collections office. He has probably been to Tennessee about 15 times in the last 7 weeks, though he does not live here. I won’t give his real name (even though he felt it was necessary to give mine).
The Knoxville Times called me at 6am this morning asking me to confirm or deny the “Bush is Wired” story they read here at Portland IMC. My immediate response was, “What is the Portland IMC?” and I then I issued a “no comment”. Other than that, I did say that “Brad Menfil” is not a real person.
Please stop speculating about this. Our president is a great man and can only get hurt by this. I suspect this isn’t going to go away and I regret anything that I said to “Brad” that may contribute to downfall of a great man and president.
Please drop this for the good of our country. We have bigger problems and should not be distracted by matters that don’t ultimately determine the measure of an honest man. I want to say that the right answers are what matter most, not whether or not those answers were “fed” my someone else. President Bush is a good messenger regardless.
Thanks, Scott Zale, Senior Staff Accountant, Bush-Cheney Tennessee.

Brad Menfil
Scott Zale is right, “Brad Menfil” is not my real name and I didn’t hear this story from him, he heard it from me. Sorry Scott.
I do work for Bush-Cheney and I can olny say that the substance of my first posting is correct, even though I used a fake name. I hope everybody understands why I would do this.
I got a call from Scott this morning (actually, about 10 minutes ago). He said that he had been contacted by ABC and Fox after his own posting.
I don’t share his belief that ignoring this would be good for the country. I’m sorry I involved Scott and didn’t have enough courage to use my real name. I hope the truth gets out and Scott is absolved.
Thanks for reading this, “Brad Menfil.”

It just smells phony to me. A hoax, if a cleverly nested one. It shouldn’t be too hard to track down the named operative if he exists. The thread letter claims that the Knoxville Times newspaper cited in the argument is also a fake.
At this point Occam’s razor tells me that the bulge is in fact a vest, either a bulletproof vest (in which case the lie that he isn’t wearing one is part of his security procedures) or something for his terrible posture (in which case the lie that he isn’t wearing anything is intended to preserve his image as someone who doesn’t need help standing up straight).
This picture from the indymedia thread looks to me like a padded vest yoke: