"Beard" = 'cover story' without gay/straight context

[Mark A. Mandel]

Heard on NPR's "Le Show", 2004-12-19, song titled "Christmas in Oblivion"
about Bernie Kerik*: "A nanny would make a good beard". Referring to Kerik's
apparent invention of an undocumented nanny as an explanation for his sudden
departure from prominence, preferable to the revelation that he had risen in
the first place merely as an incompetent and ethically impaired friend of
the boss.

*Dragon NaturallySpeaking initially misrecognized this name as "dirty
character". Artificial intelligence?

-- Mark A. Mandel
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]