Typewriter Expert can't duplicate Guard memos using IBM Composer

The Shape of Days Blog ^ | 9-10-04 10:34 PM | J Harrell

[handy]

When I first heard back from Gerry, I felt a little bad for having bothered him. He'd been fielding calls and letters all day, he told me, including an inquiry from CNN. But he was a trouper, willing — enthusiastic even — to help out.

I asked Gerry, in a fit of hubris, if he wouldn't mind trying to reproduce a sample from one of the CBS memos on his Selectric Composer. Just over an hour later, he emailed me back a sample, typed up on his Composer using the 11-point Press Roman type ball and scanned into his computer.

At first glance, the sample Gerry provided looks pretty darned close. The type is proportionally spaced, just like the type in the CBS memos. Gerry was also able to reproduce the now-infamous superscripted "th," though he had a disclaimer about that.

snip

The most obvious discrepancy was that the line-spacing — what typographers call leading (rhymes with "shredding") — was off. I e-mailed Gerry about this, and he replied: "Yes, if I had really tried, I could have matched the spacing (leading). The leading on the composer can be finely adjusted. Don't know if it is down to the single point level, but it probably is since you can set the leading according to the font, and the leading dial goes from something like 6pt up to 14pt."

Much better … and pretty darned close to the original. But not close enough.

[Vinomori]

The whole problem with this will be the Sandy Berger Effect. The SBE means that a damning story erupts and simply gets ignored. That's what will happen here. It will be denied and soon ignored. Independent voters won't have a clue what went on, and all Rather has to say is that the challenges to his credibility are "partisan internet and talk radio" people, and the independent voter will understand that this is nothing.
So we must figure a way at FR not just to uncover this kind of thing, but to also carry it through to completion.

[Keith]

The left, from DUers, to Juan Williams, to Rather himself, have all been crying, "Stop worrying whether the memo is fake or not, look at what it says!"

yea...must be why Hitler and Howard Hughes diaries are consulted so often by historians...

/sarcasm

[Dave Olson]

One thing that bothers me is this: Even if it was possible to produce these documents so perfectly with a manual typewriter, it makes no sense that someone would deliberately go through that much effort for what were supposed to be just memos in a personal file. Especially by someone who didn't type.

[JasonC]

They are allowed to lie about their opponents. They say their opponents lie about them, so it must be so. And if they can be lied about, then they can lie about their opponents too. It is only "fair".

Swiftees drew blood. They had no rebuttal. So they (1) called them lies then (2) lied themselves and then (3) planned to hide in moral equivalence and call for both sides to stop. After they got in their smear.

[steveegg]

Ping (and gather the clans).

[Keith]

fear not...the internet and email will continue on a micro level to effect a "drip, drip, drip" effect.

Kerry is toast. Uncover the DNC ties to this to seal a filibuster-proof Senate...

[Squantos]

After audits to confirm proper procurement and disposal at a disposal, reclaimation center called DRMO (?) the records would have been kept till the next audit. Supply and Equipment NCO's and OIC's at individual squadrons would have kept records IAW directives for record keeping which I believe was two years. Active and inactive files for NF1 and NF2 items which related to accountable hard property like typewriters, desks, chairs and expendable office supplies like bond paper and pencils etc...

Just how I remember it....:o).

Stay safe !

[JasonC]

Everyone within the orbit of Jupiter knows by now that these are forgeries types in Microsoft Word within the last year or so. Some people just don't like this obvious fact, and deliberately choose to lie about it.

[nikos1121]

"The whole problem with this will be the Sandy Berger Effect. The SBE means that a damning story erupts and simply gets ignored. That's what will happen here. It will be denied and soon ignored. Independent voters won't have a clue what went on, and all Rather has to say is that the challenges to his credibility are "partisan internet and talk radio" people, and the independent voter will understand that this is nothing.
So we must figure a way at FR not just to uncover this kind of thing, but to also carry it through to completion."


Let's not be ignorant here. This smells of James Carville. The objective here was to simply lay some doubt as to the president's military record. No one will give a rats @ss about anything pertaining to whether or not it is true or not. This is to rally their base. Problem is, it's rallying us too.

I live in Illinois and of course, I will still vote, but it is disheartening to know that my vote won't count. Those of you who are in swing states must work as hard as possible to get people to vote for the president.

That's how we win this.

nick

nick

[tmp02]

Is it possible the the documents were 'cut and pasted' with some info being original, while other important sentences replaced?

[rocklobster11]

That was an excellent article, which I referneced in my post: F O ^{nt Problems} Dan Rather?

[TomGuy]

Per FR info, the Times Roman font was only available on Linotype machines -- not typewriters -- during the 1970s era. It wasn't until around 1984 that the font was 'released' to Microsoft and Apple.

It would be highly doubtful that Killian, a non-typist, would enlist the use of a Linotype machine in order to compose his personal CYA memos.

But, I guess, if Rather's experts can believe these photocopies are true representations of legitimate documents from the 1970s era, they would believe Killian typed out personal memos on a Linotype machine.


Linotype and Monotype

[Tempest]

This kind of stuff should be forwarded to as many new agencies as possible.

[wattsup]

I was in the service from 1972-1993. I would swear on a Bible that there would have to be a clerk that signed for every highly valued item in each office. there would be paperwork transferring accounts from one clerk to another with signatures. Around that time frame I would suspect that the most advanced typing equipment would have been a IBM Selectric II.

[andyandval]

I live in Illinois and of course, I will still vote, but it is disheartening to know that my vote won't count. Those of you who are in swing states must work as hard as possible to get people to vote for the president.



New York State dittos to that, nick

[eno_]

Is it possible the the documents were 'cut and pasted' with some info being original, while other important sentences replaced?

No, they are forgeries end to end: The line spacing was not possible on any typewriter. So cutting and pasting would not work.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

The left, from DUers, to Juan Williams, to Rather himself, have all been crying, "Stop worrying whether the memo is fake or not, look at what it says!"

John Kerry strangled three puppies with his bare hands last night in his hotel room and ate them for breakfast.

Stop worrying about whether what I reported is fake or not. Look at what it says.

[IAM4UK]

That's a great article; real investigative journalism. I'm absolutely satisfied that the Killian memos are fraudulent.

If Dan Rather wants to contend there is a possibility that 1973 typewriter technology could have produced the documents they used for their 60 Min II story, I reply to him: "There is a possibility you could survive a jump from the Capital Records tower without serious injury; care to demonstrate your belief in the likelihood of that possibility?" (His refusal to jump would demonstrate just fine--I'm not advocating for his actual demise.)

[TN4Liberty]

Good question!

I worked for a DOE contractor in 1978 in the Property Department. At that time, every electric typewriter, especially IBM Selectrics, were considered capital equipment and had to be individually numbered and inventoried periodically just like cars, lathes, and buildings. Procurement was done from a special capital equipment budget (i.e., you couldn't decide to go buy one with operating funds). Disposal rules were quite rigid, involving multiple approvals, making the item available to other users inside the agency and beyond, then attempting to sell the item on the outside.

I can't imagine DOD being much more lenient on their rules, so I bet that some accounting geek in DoD has a 1973 inventory for the equipment that was owned by that ANG unit, along with when it was purchased, what building and room it was in, and who the custodian was.

It would have probably been easier to get rid of those old jets than an old typewriter.

As another point of reference, I inherited an electronic desktop calculator at work that was purchased about that time (1971 IIRC). The numbers were little lights that were in the shape of the numbers 0-9, stacked in front of each other so the correct one would glow and you could read the answer. It added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided AND would perform a square root! Cost: $7,000. This was so early in the digital age and electronic items were so expensive that I cannot imagine there being a lot of these elaborate typewriters around an ANG unit.

[SandRat]

Don't bother the press with that it might cause a member of the fraternity to hear the famous Trump words

You're FIRED!