Posted on 09/09/2004 11:55:04 AM PDT by GrandmaPatriot
Edited on 09/09/2004 11:59:36 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
'60 Minutes' Documents on Bush Might Be Fake /// 32-year-old documents produced Wednesday by CBSNEWS 60 MINS on Bush's guard service may have been forged using a current word processing program // typed using a proportional font, not common at that time, and they used a superscript font feature found in today's Microsoft Word program, Internet reports claim... Developing...
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60 Minutes' Documents on Bush Might Be Fake
By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
September 09, 2004
(CNSNews.com) - The 32-year-old documents produced Wednesday by the CBS News program "60 Minutes," shedding a negative light on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, may have been forged using a current word processing program, according to typography experts.
Three independent typography experts told CNSNews.com they were suspicious of the documents from 1972 and 1973 because they were typed using a proportional font, not common at that time, and they used a superscript font feature found in today's Microsoft Word program.
The "60 Minutes" segment included an interview with former Texas lieutenant governor Ben Barnes, who criticized Bush's service. The news program also produced a series of memos that claim Bush refused to follow an order to undertake a medical examination.
The documents came from the "personal office file" of Bush's former squadron commander Jerry B. Killian, according to Kelli Edwards, a spokeswoman for "60 Minutes," who was quoted in Thursday's Washington Post. Edwards declined to tell the Post how the news program obtained the documents.
But the experts interviewed by CNSNews.com honed in on several aspects of a May 4, 1972, memo, which was part of the "60 Minutes" segment and was posted on the CBS News website Thursday.
"It was highly out of the ordinary for an organization, even the Air Force, to have proportional-spaced fonts for someone to work with," said Allan Haley, director of words and letters at Agfa Monotype in Wilmington, Mass. "I'm suspect in that I did work for the U.S. Army as late as the late 1980s and early 1990s and the Army was still using [fixed-pitch typeface] Courier."
The typography experts couldn't pinpoint the exact font used in the documents. They also couldn't definitively conclude that the documents were either forged using a current computer program or were the work of a high-end typewriter or word processor in the early 1970s.
But the use of the superscript "th" in one document - "111th F.L.S" - gave each expert pause. They said that is an automatic feature found in current versions of Microsoft Word, and it's not something that was even possible more than 30 years ago.
"That would not be possible on a typewriter or even a word processor at that time," said John Collins, vice president and chief technology officer at Bitstream Inc., the parent of MyFonts.com.
"It is a very surprising thing to see a letter with that date [May 4, 1972] on it," and featuring such typography, Collins added. "There's no question that that is surprising. Does that force you to conclude that it's a fake? No. But it certainly raises the eyebrows."
Fred Showker, who teaches typography and introduction to digital graphics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., questioned the documents' letterhead.
"Let's assume for a minute that it's authentic," Showker said. "But would they not have used some form of letterhead? Or has this letterhead been intentionally cut off? Notice how close to the top of the page it is."
He also pointed to the signature of Killian, the purported author of the May 4, 1972, memo ordering Bush, who was at the time a first lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, to obtain a physical exam.
"Do you think he would have stopped that 'K' nice and cleanly, right there before it ran into the typewriter 'Jerry," Showker asked. "You can't stop a ballpoint pen with a nice square ending like that ... The end of that 'K' should be round ... it looks like you took a pair of snips and cut it off so you could see the 'Jerry.'"
The experts also raised questions about the military's typewriter technology three decades ago. Collins said word processors that could produce proportional-sized fonts cost upwards of $20,000 at the time.
"I'm not real sure that you would have that kind of sophistication in the office of a flight inspector in the United States government," Showker said.
"The only thing it could be, possibly, is an IBM golf ball typewriter, which came out around the early to middle 1970s," Haley said. "Those did have proportional fonts on them. But they weren't widely used."
But Haley added that the use of the superscript "th" cast doubt on the use of any typewriter.
"There weren't any typewriters that did that. That looks like it might be a function of something like Microsoft Word, which does that automatically."
I want this to be true, but the LGF examples show do NOT look identical to my eyes.
VERY close, but not identical.
I do not think even CBS would sink this low. There is no way this could be contained if it was fake. They are not that dumb.
I finally had enough of his lying horses$%& and called him on it and told him to produce his records and prove it, at which time he stomped out of the house!!
We also know that he stold my late fathers WWII bronze star and has shown it around as his own. Of course he won't show it to me and my two brothers....
****It won't matter to my dumb-@$$ in-laws.***
Or to my worthless brother-in-law (If you know him he probably owes you money).
Whichever it is, they are going down, down, down in the eyes of the public. Just look at the rise in Fox ratings.
Bookmarking for later. This is big.
Now it all makes sense..... BRILLIANT!
I have typed one of the memos in word 2000. I used Times New Roman, size 10. Here it is:
19 May 1972
Memo to File
SUBJECT: Discussion with Bush, 1 st Lt Bush
1. Phone call from Bush. Discussed options of how Bush can get out of coming to drill from now through November. I told him he could do ET for three months or transfer. Says he wants to transfer to Alabama to any unit he can get in to. Says that he is working on another campaign for his dad.
2. Physical. We talked about him getting his flight physical situation fixed before his date. Says he will do that in Alabama if he stays in a flight status. He has this campaign to do and other things that will follow and may not have the time. I advise him of our investment in him and his commitment. He’s been working with staff to come with options and identified a unit that may accept him. I told him I had to have written acceptance before he would be transferred, but think he’s also talking to someone upstairs.
It sure looks likes the memo that they are saying was done in May 1972. What do you think?
The superscripted "th" was a special character, a replacement for some other non-standard character. The IBM typewheel had more characters available than a standard typewriter.
I am impressed, however, with the side-by-side comparison. I've done typesetting since high school shop class fourty years ago. I would not have expected the alignment to be so perfect between two different sets of type (typewriter and word processor). Computer fonts are not identical to typerwriter of lead fonts. Each time a font is created there are tiny differences. If you were going to create an electronic font you would probably start with a high quality scan of lead type, not the output of a typewriter with a plastic ball.
"VERY close, but not identical."
the "th" is a bit differently set.
If only an IBM could have created this document, it seems to me someone should contact their archivist their and suggest to them something exciting to do, investigation.
I am not sure you understood my comment.
Does the “journalism industry” believe it is acceptable to “sex-up”
a recreation to make it look like a 15th generation Xerox?
CB^o
I was just thinking that if a the democrats had a plant on the inside they could have easily have placed copies of these inside of Bush's folder to make sure they think they are real.
On the other hand why would Bush have in his hand copies of personal memos of somebody else?
bookmark
There's plenty of other possibilities.
The way CBS got the documents is suspect, undoubtedly.
Where's the whole file? There could be other memos absolving Bush, or worse ones.
Standard size for military documents is 8" x 10 1/2", not the standard 8 1/2" x 11" business size. That should also be checked.
I think the documents are cut and paste jobs, some original and some forged. It's fairly easy to blur an image in an image editor, then cover your tracks with a bad photocopy on old paper.
Need 1972 paper? I have some in my garage.
Dan Rather is the Arafat and Castro of journalism. Not a moment too soon, folks....
Not me; TankerKC.
I'm not sure we want or care as much about claiming credit. We just want results. Better for us to hand it off to some mainstream outfit and let them have the glory. It gives the dems less ammo. The important thing is the word is getting out.
Next step. This looks like a conspiracy. Someone did this. Are they linked to the Kerry campaign? That's the question.
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