I Know What the Bulge Was Under Bush's Coat.

First, to give credit where credit is due, Jolly Reaper, a member of the Stellar Parthenon BBS clued me in on this.

It's a portable defribillator.

Here is the image:

Here is the product information:

What Is the LifeVest^TM Wearable Defibrillator?

The LifeVest wearable cardioverter defibrillator is a new treatment option for sudden cardiac arrest that offers patients advanced protection and monitoring as well as improved quality of life.

The LifeVest is the first wearable defibrillator. Unlike an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), the LifeVest is worn outside the body rather than implanted in the chest. This device continuously monitors the patient's heart with dry, non-adhesive sensing electrodes to detect life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms. If a life-threatening rhythm is detected, the device alerts the patient prior to delivering a shock, and thus allows a conscious patient to disarm the shock. If the patient is unconscious, the device releases a gel over the therapy electrodes and delivers an electrical shock to restore normal rhythm.

•  I don't deserve a tip, I did none of the work.

  FWIW, Stellar Parthenon is a neat bbs.  About 50 posts/day, low noise ratio, etc.

  by msaroff on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:26:57 PM PDT

  •  Me Too

    I posted a comment on this a while ago, including this same picture.  I'd seen these vests at the hospital before and just googled it.  

    My bet is on the bulge being a defibrillator.  Bush may be wearing a Presidential Defibrillator that is somewhat modified for concealment, but that bulge must be in the same area for it to work.  

    We'll find out soon enough.  I suspect Bush's doctors advised him to get surgery immediately, but Rove overrode them.  

    by Subterranean on Wed Oct 27, 2004 at 01:05:36 AM PDT

•  Too big

  The bulge in Bush's back was much smaller than that, I think.

  Eric

  by eekleefeld on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:27:30 PM PDT

  •  Not really

    

    The verdict is still out but this is as plausible as most other explanations.

    by fly on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:50:27 PM PDT

    •  doh- this is the wrong photo!

      Where's the lectern? This is the second debate in which Bush was not obviously wired.

      by trifly on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:20:20 PM PDT

•  Hmmm

  I'm skeptical.

  by Smedley Hirkum on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:27:40 PM PDT

•  aoeu

  Uh, what if it went off during the debate?

  by TealVeal on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:27:52 PM PDT

•  So I guess

  Bush was so nervous he put on Cheney's defibrillator by accident?

  by spitonmars on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:28:30 PM PDT

•  I am an engineer, not a doctor, Dammit!

  But prolonged cocaine abuse can effect the internal conduction of the heart.

  You might find something like a junctional heart rythm or a first level blockage.

  I had this from a lyme carditis about 13 years ago, but I'm feeling MUCH BETTER NOW.

  My guess is that it is recent, and they don't want to have a procedure, because they figure that it would leak out and become campaign news.

  BTW, I love (mis)quoting Dr. McCoy.

  by msaroff on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:36:23 PM PDT

•  A pantheon of pictures

  
  Second Debate

  
  Bulletproof vest

  
  First Debate
  

  by lapin on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:37:51 PM PDT

  •  aoeu

    Kerry has something on his back...

    by TealVeal on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:39:08 PM PDT

    •  Yeah

      A monkey.

      by mattman on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:43:14 PM PDT

      •  aoeu

        no, for real (besides chimps aren't monkeys).  look up and to the left of bush's hand.

        by TealVeal on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:44:12 PM PDT

        •  Is it

          a spine?

          by meatsack on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:46:53 PM PDT

          •  aoeu

            only if his is horribly deformed

            by TealVeal on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:47:48 PM PDT

            •  slightly wrinkled shirt?

              Bush's weird lumps are too pronounced to be a wrinkled shirt, but I think John Kerry's lumps perfectly match that diagnosis.

              by Smedley Hirkum on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:51:46 PM PDT

            •  a shoulder blade?

              they should have confiscated that... shoulders are an unfair advantage in a debate!

              by pyrrho on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:54:15 PM PDT

        •  I Was (lamely) Trying For A Pun

          Sorry.  Not too bright tonight, I guess.

          by mattman on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:51:27 PM PDT

        •  Oh My God

          What the hell did Skull and Bones do to these poor guys?

          by Irfo on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:00:17 PM PDT

•  Uhh

  I'm not convinced.  Isn't the big thing on the belt way too big too hide as he was walking around?  I mean that thing hanging on the belt looks about like it's the size of a hardback book.

  by Calee4nia on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:40:36 PM PDT

  •  Only you're wearing it on the side

    Remember the flight suit? ;-)

    by Swopa on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:56:58 PM PDT

•  Way too big and bulky

  I still don't believe Bush was wearing anything and if he was it was a bullet proof vest.  

  by Asak on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 08:56:59 PM PDT

  •  Really now!

    Look at the bulletproof vest photo and look at the first debate photo. Ya really think its a bulletproof vest he was wearing? The president and senator were in the most controlled, secured, and protected off location in the country. Still think it was a bulletproof vest? The president's spokespeople have denied that the president was wearing a bulletproof vest. Still believe?

    Let's drop the bulletproof vest idea. It doesn't fit!

    by trifly on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:30:41 PM PDT

•  doesn't

  bush have an abnormally slow heartbeat... that would provide some background for the wearable defibrilator theory...

  by Demosthenes on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:01:50 PM PDT

  •  Defib's for fast heart rate

    Pacemaker for slow.

    by SusanG on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:34:54 PM PDT

•  The Final Conclusion

  THE BULGE IN THE JACKET.

  by Hoffmania on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:19:28 PM PDT

•  Best theory yet

  The defib pictured is exactly the right shape and size. And a medical device is much more plausible than a communications device (which could be much smaller and without thick cords seen in the tie-adjustment gesture in debate #2, and the high boxy bulge doesn't jive with a protective vest. They've denied it was a vest anyway, but they haven't said what it was. A medical problem would explain the lack of forthcomingness about what it was.

  But the public damn sure needs to know if the president's ticker is that screwed up. People need to know now, before they vote, whether it's for a potential President Dick Cheney (and god knows what VP). How can we give this story legs? People really need to know about this.

  by Em on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:40:56 PM PDT

•  I agree, best theory

  I posted a comment about this on an earlier open thread. I'd seen a different angle on the bulge picture on Letterman. I thought that it looked bigger than I remember it looking in other posted pictures. But it's exactly this size and shape. And just why hasn't Bush taken his physical?

  by c2shiningc on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 09:59:26 PM PDT

•  Please look at the photo here,

  it is a close size match to the lifevest you suspect: http://synapse.princeton.edu/~sam/pollcalc.html How does one post photos?

  by Hal Barcey on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 10:27:46 PM PDT

  •  Sorry, photo link did not display:

    http://synapse.princeton.edu/~sam/pollcalc.html

    by Hal Barcey on Thu Oct 14, 2004 at 10:57:11 PM PDT