Will Bush's health become an issue?

If you hoped that "Promptergate" would turn the electorate against Bush to any significant degree, you lived in a fool's paradise. The Rovian forces simply kept their smirks frozen in place, dusted off all those hoary jokes about tin foil hats, and stood their ground until the controversy blew over.

Which, to a large degree, it has.

True, Salon did a terrific piece offering up some genuine evidence in favor of the thesis. But I doubt that any major press organs will follow up; attention is turning elsewhere. The Bush forces successfully toughed this one out.

Can any story turn this election around?

Yes.

One issue that carries distinct possibilities concerns Bush's health. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this video posted to the Daily Kos. Bush addresses the troops in Iraq, sounding like a drunk, a pill-popper or a stroke victim.

Some snide commentators have alleged that this video displays the same old inarticulate boob we've all come to know and love. I side with the majority who assert that this video displays a man who is not just off his game -- he shouldn't even be in the game. This is a different Bush. The Bush who debated Ann Richards a mere decade ago is not the same man we see today, sloshing and reeling and blinking and losing focus, like a man on codeine trying to read Kant while riding a rollercoaster.

I'm trying not to allow partisanship to color my assessment of this video. I can honestly say, for example, that Cheney has never looked unhealthy in any public appearance -- even though his medical history is known.

But Bush...? Sorry, but something looks wrong with this man.

Many have asked: "If you think Bush uses an earpiece, why did he do so badly in the debates?" This video gives us an answer. W no doubt had access to a teleprompter on that occasion, yet he could barely speak coherently.

Obviously, the Bush forces practiced for the debates; I posit that these practice runs included both "earpiece on" and "earpiece off" sessions. If he did even worse with the earpiece off -- if, in short, he showed the same face shown in the above-linked video -- then he had no choice but to go out onstage wired.

The above-referenced Salon story alleges that learning to use an earpiece prompter is not difficult; the art can be mastered in an hour -- usually. I have heard differing opinions on this score. Perhaps this skill can be compared to driving. Some young would-be motorists "get it" in a few short lessons, while others take longer -- a lot longer. And if you live in Los Angeles, you'll discover that some folks never learn.

How would a sick man fare if he tried to use such an earpiece?