I think it is no accident that the source for the high-resolution pictures shows Bush from this particular angle.
I think this is a massive set-up, and I can't figure out of Drudge is stupid, or just craven.
Whatever the president is doing with his hands, he did not pull anything out of his jacket. Whatever he was manipulating was on the desk already. Kerry is NOT just fiddling with papers already there, he is manipulating whatever it was that he has taken out of his pocket. Huge difference
What in the world are you talking about. Bush never takes anything out of his pockets.
Bush was picking up a pen from the podium.
You can even tell from behind that his arms did not move in the way they would have to for one of them to reach inside his coat.
Watching the video again, the slo-mo one, it's interesting to see that Bush was looking in Lurch's direction, and didn't look down to his own podium until after Lurch pulled his hand out of his jacket.
W caught him doing that. He must have known from that moment that there'd be trouble.