We know that the White House and the president are lying about whatever it is he was wearing under his jacket during the debates. Anyone who has raised kids knows that the easiest way to spot a lie is when they give you more than one contradictory explanation for some misdeed that they're trying to cover up. And here we have three alibis: there was no bulge (it was doctored photos); it was just a pucker in the suit, and finally, from the president himself, it was a badly-tailored shirt.

But what is the wire that at one point in debate number two could be seen peeking out from under the president’s tie?

Such a wire would be consistent with the control device that the PTT inductor-type hearing devices, such as the one pictured above, have.

More importantly, the presidential debate commission told me that they were assured by both campaigns that the candidates "were not wearing any electronic devices or wires."

This, on its face, was a lie by the Bush campaign, given the clear image of a wire on the president in this debate two photo. It's a lie right up there with "I didn't have sex with that woman." At this rate, next we'll be having "it depends on your definition of what wire is."

If the campaign press gaggle and the White House press corps have a shred of integrity at this point, they should be demanding a serious and credible answer now from the president and his retinue as to what he was hiding.

Does the public care about Bulgegate? I would argue yes on two grounds. First of all, this site, when it carries information about Bulgegate developments, has been averaging over 50,000-60,000 hits per day, compared with traffic of a tenth that amount on other newsdays.

Second, the adoption of this story by the humor beat--Jay Leno, David Letterman, John Stewert and finally Gary Trudeau in Doonesbury--shows that it is an issue that has reached mainstream America.

Why should they care? This president staked his claim to the White House on the argument that he (in contrast to the prior president, Bill Clinton), was a man of honor and integrity. If he cheated in the debates, then he has blown up that claim. Then too, many people view these presidential debates, flawed as they are structurally, as a kind of mano a mano test of the candidates' intellect and grasp of issues.

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