Anatomy of a Forgery

The American Spectator ^ | 9-10-4 | Washington Prowler

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Anatomy of a Forgery

By The Prowler

Published 9/10/2004 12:09:06 AM

More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian. The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer." According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign. "More than a couple people heard about the papers," says the DNC staffer. "I've heard that they ended up with the Kerry campaign, for them to decide to how to proceed, and presumably they were handed over to 60 Minutes, which used them the other night. But I know this much. When there was discussion here, there were doubts raised about their authenticity." The concerns arose from the sourcing. "It wasn't clear that our source for the documents would have had access to them. Our person couldn't confirm from what file, from what original source they came from." The documents that CBS News used were not documents from any of Bush's personnel files from his time in the National Guard. Rather, CBS News stated that they were documents uncovered in the personnel files of Killian. That would explain why the White House or the Pentagon had never before released or even seen them. According to a Kerry campaign source, there was little gossip about the supposedly hot documents inside the office of the campaign on McPherson Square. "Those documents were not something anyone was talking about or trying to generate buzz on," says the staffer. "It wasn't like there were small groups of people talking about this as a bombshell. I think people here weren't sure what to make of it, because provenance of these documents was uncertain." A CBS producer, who initially tipped off The Prowler about the 60 Minutes story, says that despite seeking professional assurances that the documents were legitimate, there was uncertainty even among the group of producers and researchers working on the story. "The problem was we had one set of documents from Bush's file that had Killian calling Bush 'an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot.' And someone who Killian said 'performed in an outstanding manner.' Then you have these new documents and the tone and content are so different." The CBS producer said that some alarms bells went off last week when the signatures and initials of Killian on the documents in hand did not match up with other documents available on the public record, but producers chose to move ahead with the story. "This was too hot not to push. If there were doubts, those people didn't show it," says the producer, who works on a rival CBS News program. Now, the producer says, there is growing concern inside the building on 57th Street that they may have been suckered by the Kerry campaign. "There is a school of thought here that the Kerry people dumped this in our laps, figuring we'd do the heavy lifting on the story. That maybe they had doubts about these documents but hoped we'd get more information," says the producer. "If that's the case, then we're bigger fools than we already appear to be judging by all the chatter about how these documents could be forgeries." ABC News' political unit held a conference call at 7:00 p.m. Thursday evening to discuss the memo and its potential ramifications should the documents turn out to be a forgery. That meeting took place around the time that the deceased Killian's son made public statements questioning the documents' authenticity. According to one ABC News employee, some reporters believe that the Kerry campaign as well as the DNC were parties in duping CBS, but a smaller segment believe that both the DNC and the Kerry campaign were duped by Karl Rove, who would have engineered the flap to embarrass the opposition.

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[Bonaparte]

"This is almost too good to be true."

It's pretty funny that CBS and, apparently, the kerry campaign could step right into a mile-high mountain of extra stinky doo doo like this. Rather must have thought he could put this one over without a hitch. Now that is arrogance. He could give even kerry lessons.

[El Gato]

whoever he is that I see in commercials claiming to have supported Bush in 2000, but Kerry this time around. He is a former Air Force Chief of Staff

General McPeak.

[Texasforever]

I have been saying for days that the liberals are so damned consumed with rage that they are making rookie mistakes. That now includes the media. They hate Bush so fervently their judgment is nonexistent.

[Bonaparte]

"They SUSPECTED the doc's were shakey, but rushed the story out anyway. STUPID."

It's worse than that. It's dishonest. Dan Rather knowingly told a big fat lie on national TV just to smear George Bush. Unless we are to believe that the man has an IQ of about 40, that's what he did. This was not a "mistake" on his part. He tried to pull a fast one and he got caught.

[El Gato]

Did they use the "Acme Air National Guard Document Forger"?

Nah, just Microsoft Word.

[L.N. Smithee]

According to one ABC News employee, some reporters believe that the Kerry campaign as well as the DNC were parties in duping CBS, but a smaller segment believe that both the DNC and the Kerry campaign were duped by Karl Rove, who would have engineered the flap to embarrass the opposition.

Oh, gawd. It's like when Islamofascists claim that their greatest atrocities are the result of Jewish plots designed to make them look bad!

[gardencatz]

Good point! Besides, even if Rove was responsible for the docs, no one told forced them to be unethical and try to use them...they deserve what they get.

I believe this was complete stupidity and not understanding the power of these "new" resources. A few years ago Danny Boy would air a story and it would be believed as if he went to Mt. Sinai himself to get it. Neither he or the DNC counted on the kind of backlash this is generating. Because of arrogance and blind belief in their own power, they assumed NO one would dare question them. Those that did could be quickly & easily silenced by the usual liberal cacophony that ALWAYS ensues when they get caught in a lie). They failed to understand the tenacity of the people here and other places around the Internet who are sick of the lies and understand this election is too important to let them get away with their usual "the ends justify the means tricks".

Power to the People!

Cindie

[AndyTheBear]

I've noticed that too ... "he's everywhere!!" (think Halo).

The reason Rove can be everywhere is that the white house has secret cloning technology. You think I'm kidding? Check out that clone they made of Kerry who keeps contradicting the real Kerry!

Besides the Bush administration obviously has a time machine, which is how they were able to start the recession in the Clinton years.

[Calvin Locke]

This is the key statment.

Oh, to h&ll with CBS. Look how long they sat on the Chandra Levy/Gary Condit connection.

They wouldn't even mention a connection, let alone the fact that Condit was doing everything and anything possible to
make it look like he had a hand in the disappearance.

How reputable is a news organization that becomes the subject of ridicule for other news orgs by not doing the hottest story
(young Jewish intern from Kali, older male Democrat who shaves hair that only competitive swimmers do... )

If only this would finally put Gunga Dan out to pasture, I might consider watching that network again.

At least until they do yet another puff piece on Bill Clinton, or they replace Dan with someone as equally despicable.

[LibLieSlayer]

The reason that "THE" story is now the swirling intrigue surrounding the the source for the now proven "Forgeries", is that the TANG story was "old news" and boring. No one cared about it because there was no sex, drugs, or alcohol etc involved. Tom Clancy couldn't have written a better chapter!


This puppy has major "hang time"!!!

LLS

[El Gato]

Memos" for the Record or for the file, and of legal significance,

NOT of legal significance

Time to hit the rack.

[Mike Fieschko]

It's pretty funny that CBS and, apparently, the kerry campaign could step right into a mile-high mountain of extra stinky doo doo like this.

'There's gotta be a pony in here somewhere.'

[claudiustg]

---You are right. The possibility here is that Kerry has taken the MSM down and his campaign all in one day.

They CAN'T be that dumb, can they?---

Reporting for duty!

[Bonaparte]

They're already circling the wagons at CBS, talking about how this is a "possible error" and how they will "correct it" if it is and how poor Dan Rather is just "shell shocked" that these docs could possibly be "in error." Oh, please. Poor little innocent Dan Rather and his CBS producers who just couldn't figure out what ordinary people like us saw in a matter of minutes. What was that CBS said about "thoroughly investigated"? That is what they said, right? I wasn't hallucinating that, was I? And CBS did say they had "experts" authenticate these docs, didn't they? I wasn't "hearing things" there, either, right? And they have changed their story several times, since people started catching on to their game, haven't they? Oh, yes, now it's not "experts," oh, no, it's "witnesses." Uh huh. Sure sounds just like every pack of liars I've ever met.

[Grim]

Kerry's dead. Deader than yesterday.

Deader than fried chicken.

[Bonaparte]

LOLOL!!

[abner]

LOL! Where's my inhaler??

Sorry I asked. I guess after the Clinton years, I expect more brains.

[Nick Danger]

The possibility here is that Kerry has taken the MSM down and his campaign all in one day.

Yes, that possibility does exist. Some people here think Hillary is behind this, but discrediting the media is not in her interest. She wants those same "media steroids" that Kerry has been getting.

I think the media is going to come out of this election with 55 to 60 per cent of the people dismissing them as Democratic Party shills, whose "news stories" cannot be trusted. This episode is only going to make that worse.

People will largely forget about this over the next four years, but when they start in again with the pro-Hillary hoo-hah for the 2008 election, it's all going to come roaring back. I think the media's days of being able to boost the Democrat by 15% are over. "The news" has become exposed as just an infomercial for the Amazing Democratic 6-in-1 Vegetable Chopper. And the reporters are just a bunch of Ginsu Knife salesmen.

Here's Dan Rather, with the Ginsu Knives right in his hands. What can he tell us now? That he was duped? Bullroar. He tried to dupe us. He did that because he's a partisan shill for the Democratic Party, just like the rest of the Ginsu Knife salesmen who call themselves reporters.

Where is that Tom Hays from the AP hiding? There's another knife salesman who got caught in the act. The whole media is full of them — partisan Democrats who will literally lie to the people to advance their own politics. And they call themselves "journalists." Liars is what they are. Partisan Democrat liars, pretending to be giving us "news" while they twist and slant everything that happens into left-leaning mush.

They jumped the shark this time. It's all downhill for them now.

[Eastbound]

"Dinosaurs staring up at an incoming meteor"

A very good line. :>

[Bonaparte]

"FONTGATE!"

I think I'm going to stick with "RATHERGATE." He's had this coming for a long, long time.