Have you seen the latest article in the NY Post titled " 'Key' To a Memo Scam?"
Dan's only response
Posted on 09/19/2004 7:45:08 AM PDT by kattracks
September 19, 2004 -- WASHINGTON — The latest typewriters known to have been in use at the Texas Air National Guard base where George W. Bush was stationed in the early 1970s can't produce the dubious documents CBS News used to paint the president as a duty shirker, trials conducted by The Post show.It seems that only a computer using the Microsoft Word program could produce near-replicas of four documents CBS News anchor Dan Rather claims came from Bush's boss, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian.
CBS and Rather are standing by the story, saying it's possible the documents were pounded out on a typewriter. But it proved to be Mission Impossible to back up the CBS claims.
"There is no doubt this is a forgery," Pittsburgh typeface expert John Newcomer told The Post.
First, The Post tested the IBM Selectric II, which Killian's secretary, Marian Carr Knox, told CBS arrived at the base in the early '70s, when the suspect documents were purportedly produced. The IBM Selectric II was introduced in 1971.
In trying to replicate the May 4, 1972, letter, we had a nightmare of a time in just centering the heading — as was done in the CBS document. Without an automatic-centering feature, we relied on the tab key and space bar to line it up.
We were forced to use Prestige font. This is the closest font available on the Selectric II to the Times New Roman used in the CBS documents, according to certified document expert Bill Flynn.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Once again MSM is a good week+ behind FR!!!
It would be nice to see a comparison of their efforts with the forged docs.
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
I didn't think of it until after the fact but why didn't Dan ask the "lucid 86 year old" (decription courtesy of Ms. Dowd) Ms. Knox what kind of hardware she used back in the day?
There was a news segment that Fox News a few days ago that had a document expert on. This expert typed the same memo with a computer using MS Word. He then transformed this copy into a transparency and placed it over the alleged "original" and you couldn't tell one from the other. This in my mind is all the evidence needed to prove that the docs are a fraud.
Sorry, I didn't see Dan ask this of Knox.
Isn't it?
Here in Boston, on the local PBS station, there are still local media potentates claiming that the jury is still out on the authenticity of the memos. The show is hosted by Andy Rooney's daughter.
Oh wait....
Nevermind.
Yes! Absolutely! Dan Rather is a revered newscaster with impeccable credentials and unchallenged integrity.
Please excuse me. I have to go get ready for tonights broadcast.
The only reason they would lie like this is to protect their sources. That source and its trail back to the DNC is why they are doing this. It is criminal.
If the forger had used courier, however, it would have been a whole lot harder to have proven the case without the original.
At least they weren't stupid enough to put in bold and italic.
Dan's only response
If not Dan, someone has asked Ms. Knox THE question. Her reply was an Olympus typewriter, IIRC.
"Seems" my eye. Look at this comparison between the suspect copy (above) and a reproduction in Word. Note the positions where the blue guidelines fall. The letterspace, wordspace and tab stop values are IDENTICAL. Exactly 8 MS Word tab stops were used to position the date.
Spacing values are unique to each font and each platform within which the font is used. In order for the suspect memos to have been produced in the 1970s, the forger would need to have known the exact width values of the characters, the default spaceband width of Times New Roman as presented in MS Word, and the precise width of the default tab stop in MS Word. He would also have needed a system capable of applying those spoofed values to a font other than Times New Roman. I'll stick my neck out and say that such a system wasn't available in the 1970s.
As long as he proclaims those are authentic documents sent him by a whistle-blower, he can shield his source. But the second he acknowledges that these are counterfeit documents, false and libelous counterfeit documents, the shield evaporates and he becomes liable to being legally forced to reveal his source.
The key question is: who is important enough to Dan, that he would fall on his sword, and take CBS with him, in order to protect that person? Answer that question, and you have the big answer
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