TIMS SAYS: Do you recall the internet hysteria over the alleged hump under Bush’s jacket during the first presidential debate? Bush acted funny at times during the debate, too.

Left leaners were all over this story.

Here below is a link to a fairly comprehensive post-mortem on the whole humpgate affair, including an account of how the New York Times ALMOST ran with it just prior to the election.

If the NY Times had accused Bush of cheating and taking secret ques, he’d have lost the election. A lot of people would have changed their minds about what kind of guy he is.

Humpgate is actually a bigger story than we think, rather than a humorous footnote to the election.

END

The Emperor’s New Hump

The Emperor’s New Hump
The New York Times killed a story that could have changed the election—because it could have changed the election

Extra! January/February 2005

By Dave Lindorff

In the weeks leading up to the November 2 election, the New York Times was abuzz with excitement. Besides the election itself, the paper’s reporters were hard at work on two hot investigative projects, each of which could have a major impact on the outcome of the tight presidential race.

One week before Election Day, the Times (10/25/04) ran a hard-hitting and controversial exposé of the Al-Qaqaa ammunition dump—identified by U.N. inspectors before the war as containing 400 tons of special high-density explosives useful for aircraft bombings and as triggers for nuclear devices, but left unguarded and available to insurgents by U.S. forces after the invasion.

On Thursday, just three days after that first exposé, the paper was set to run a second, perhaps more explosive piece, exposing how George W. Bush had worn an electronic cueing device in his ear and probably cheated during the presidential debates.