Posted on 09/18/2004 8:51:41 PM PDT by kristinn
An Atlanta lawyer, Harry W. MacDougald, has become a key figure in the controversy over whether CBS News relied on forged documents to question President Bush's service in the National Guard.
Writing under the nickname "Buckhead" in a posting on FreeRepublic.com, a conservative Web site, MacDougald was the first to question the authenticity of documents, purportedly written in 1972, because the proportionally spaced fonts used in the memos were not used in typewriters at that time.
"I am saying these documents are forgeries, run through a copier for 15 generations to make them look old," he wrote in a message posted less than four hours after the Sept. 8 broadcast of "60 Minutes II" in which the documents were revealed.
Overnight, "Buckhead" became an Internet hero to conservatives as his five-paragraph posting touched off a cascade of questions about the documents. One suggested he be named "Freeper of the Year," using the name FreeRepublic posters call themselves.
On Democratic blogs, meanwhile, questions were being raised about how "Buckhead" could have analyzed the typefaces so quickly, and whether the questionable documents could have been a Republican plant.
MacDougald, 46, confirmed he was "Buckhead" after the Los Angeles Times traced his identity through biographical hints posted on the Web site. He declined to comment further to the Journal-Constitution or to the Los Angeles Times.
MacDougald serves on the advisory board of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, and as a sole practitioner was involved in two of the foundation's high-profile cases: a challenge to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, and the Arkansas disbarment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton.
He also wrote an amicus brief for FreeRepublic.com in a breach of copyright case brought against the Web site by the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.
Phil Kent, a former president of the foundation, said he was "tickled" to learn of MacDougald's involvement.
"He's always been kind of an Internet watchdog," Kent said. "Harry's a jack-of-all trades. He's very aware of a lot of things most of us wouldn't pick up on."
Former Atlanta City Councilman Lee Morris, who was deposed by MacDougald as a friendly witness in one of several whistle-blower cases he successfully litigated against the city, described him as a "meticulous" attorney, who "seemed like he was fired up for the right reasons."
Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Colin Campbell, who interviewed him several times about the whistle-blower cases, said MacDougald struck him both as "a man of integrity" and "someone who loves to stir the pot."
While several associates referred to MacDougald as a prodigious researcher, none knew of any experience he has had in identifying forged documents.
MacDougald works for Womble, Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, a North Carolina-based firm that opened its Atlanta branch in 1993. He's a graduate of Brown University and the University of Georgia Law School.
He's also a member of the Atlanta chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group from which a number of the Bush administration's federal judicial nominees have been drawn.
The memos reported on by CBS were allegedly written by Bush's Texas Air National Guard commander, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, suggesting that Bush had received preferential treatment and failed to show up for a required physical.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that Bill Burkett, the former Guard officer suspected of providing the documents to CBS, contacted former Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) in August to offer the same information to Sen. John Kerry's campaign. Cleland confirmed that he told Burkett in a brief phone conversation to contact others in the campaign.
Burkett wrote in a Web posting that the Kerry campaign didn't call him back. The Post also pointed out several words and phrases that were repeated in the alleged Killian documents and in Web postings made recently by Burkett.
In addition to the speed with which the typeface discrepancies were pointed out, Democrats have questioned the immediate release of copies of the documents by the White House, which had obtained them from CBS.
As more information filtered out, "Buckhead" became more cautious than he was in his initial post.
Congratulations were "premature," he replied to one admirer on Sept. 9, saying his conjecture was "not 100% conclusive because the IBM Executive and IBM Selectric Composer would do proportional fonts."
Later in the day, "Buckhead" wrote to another poster that he felt additional information was confirming his suspicions.
"As for my part, this tsunami would, without any doubt whatsoever, have happened w/o me, so it ain't no big thang," he wrote.
"I will have a cold one tonight, though."
Because most of the media morons, as you put it, are under 30 and have no idea what a typewritten memo would look like.
Nor do they have sufficient curiosity to find out...
Hey, two sides of the coin:
-In hindsight, it is pathetically obvious that they were fake.
-At the time, Buckhead was a real molodyets to pick them out so quickly.
True. Let the story play itself out.
I've thought since the start that it may not have been fraud or a hoax but was made a joke or a prank because it was so obvious.
That it appears to be a person with some mental problems the absurdity of the it makes sense as well.
He's certainly got my vote for SCOTUS. Great article, thanks for posting!
Great article and surprisingly pretty unbiased.
I think that anyone over 35, those who used typewriters anyway, would gaze upon those documents and there would be something slightly nagging about them.
If that person was a FReeper he would approach the Viacom EYE with a jaundiced eye. The FReeper, quite open to the possibility of fraud in this case by considering the source, would in many instances see the fraud easily and quickly.
True, but my experiences in producing documents in that period would have led me to conclude that the chances of either of those things being present in a backwater National Guard post would be nil. I was working at a Navy facility with lots of advanced stuff and we didn't have anything like that. I visited many Navy facilities/commands/ships and they were using plain-vanilla Selectrics or older electric/manual typewriters. Nobody would ever have felt a need for anything fancier for doing routine office paperwork. I'm sure that that wouldn't have been enough for the "Dan's right" people, however. They've even been clinging on to the preposterous possibilty that Killian was using a Selectric Composer, despite evidence that they're so complex to use that Killian would have to have been insane to employ it for a memo. Not to mention that no one has recollected that the unit had a Composer. Not to mention that it's been conclusively demonstrated that even the Composer can't produce an exact copy the way Word can.
I immediately yelled at my tv "we might not have checks and balances but then again apparently neither does CBS...if they do, a lot of good it did them..."
In reality the only checks and balances in place are ala CBS vs FOX or whoever VS the internet.
Internal 'checks'...yeah whatever.
"They're trying to cover up for the fact that a bunch of twenty and thirty-year veterans in a print medium didn't catch it."
...and didn't WANT to catch it!
I also knew immediately. It's just too obvious. I have no special expertise, and I was late to the party, so I can't take credit for helping to expose the fraud. Kudos to Buckhead, and all the others who have done that. I knew before I read their posts, and I'm sure many others did too. Regardless of what CBS and Dan Rather say, they knew too.
BTTT
Check out the second link, below.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "The Manifesto of Pukin Dog"
If you haven't already joined the anti-CFR effort, please click here.
I don't want to go there. Since you're already soiled, could you tell us what they're saying?
You ain't just whistlin' Dixie!
MEDIA ETHICS PROJECT SEEKS FCC RULING AGAINST CBS NEWS FOR RATHERGATE
Media Ethics Project (“MEP”) of New York today petitioned the FCC to sanction CBS News and its parent organization, Viacom, Inc., for its recent broadcast of news reports based on forged documents.
In announcing the FCC filing, MEP Chairman William L. Whitely stated: “Most people familiar with Dan Rather’s reports have seen solid evidence from various credible sources showing the documents to be forged. Yet, day in and day out, CBS has stubbornly continued to maintain that the memos are authentic. This supremely arrogant conduct violates the public trust and FCC rules and policies. Viacom cannot be allowed to flaunt the Commission’s rules in this manner. ”
MEP seeks a ruling by the FCC finding that the deliberate actions of CBS and Viacom maintaining the authenticity of the documents, constitute broadcasting of falsified, faked, distorted or staged news reports in violation of Commission policies. MEP is asking the FCC to sanction Viacom including imposing fines and ordering forfeiture of one or more broadcast licenses .
Mr. Whitely added that, “This whole episode must be regarded as a remarkable failure of management. It is truly sad that the proud traditions of professionalism of CBS News, the division built by the likes of Morrow, Severeid, Reasoner, Mudd and Cronkite, have been allowed to slowly fade away. In their place is an organization where unprincipled ego, bias, negligence, partisanship and vindictiveness apparently determine the setting of management policy. Such changes are not in the best interest of CBS, the CBS affiliates and CBS shareholders, nor, most certainly, are they in the public interest as well. Staying to this course, the House that Paley Built will likely become the Network that Rather Wrecked.”
MEP has asked that the FCC expedite its consideration of the group’s Petition for Declaratory Ruling against CBS News.
See a full copy of the MEP Petition for Declaratory Ruling at http://mediaethicsproject.blogspot.com/ or www.mediaethics.8k.com
With MEP's filing, the FCC now has a formal Petition to review requesting that CBS be found guilty for violating Commission policy prohibiting the broadcasting of falsified, faked, distorted or staged news reports as contrary to the public interest.
All interested parties will now be able to contact the FCC to request that it take immediate action on the MEDIA ETHICS PROJECT Petition For Declaratory Ruling Against CBS News.
FCC Contact Information:
Chairman Michael K. Powell: Michael.Powell@fcc.gov ---
Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy: Kathleen.Abernathy@fcc.gov --- Commissioner Michael J. Copps: Michael.Copps@fcc.gov ---
Commissioner Kevin J. Martin: KJMWEB@fcc.gov ---
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov
To the contrary, it is the MSM that has enjoyed the ability to pick and choose the news that is "fit for print" with no means of checks or balances. It is the internet that finally provides a voice to the rest of us. Their monopoly is reaching its twilight.
ping
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