“Why is it that the seal can be seen on the latest version and not the “original”?”
Because the ‘original’ posted by fightthesmears site had the resolution cut in order to post it on that site. That’s part of what caused all the confusion in the first place.
The source of the fightthesmears, KOS, and factcheck.org images is the same: It’s from the Obama campaign.
It’s further interesting that KOS cropped their image, and factcheck.org left it alone. Factcheck.org was helpful enough to provide the person on the Obama campaign who gave it to them.
“I have a simple answer, we are looking at a progressive forgery backed by “experts” whose sole job is to fix or debunk the flaws in the original until the latest version of the forgery is unassailable.”
There is one original version, so that theory doesnt work.
Are you familiar with the concept of layering where items can be imported into a JPEG and then all the layers combined to make a single layered image?
The KOS version is one such version as is fight the smears, both of which are missing the seal.
Factcheck unless they have a certified true laser printed original from the state of Hawaii has yet another version of what KOS first posted on their website.