Third rate forgery bump.
Oh, come on, Bill, that's way over the top, even for you! Enough of this! Mapes, Rather, Heyward and the rest are not innocent little wide-eyed street urchins. They engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the American public while unlawfully influencing a federal election. And now you're making excuses for them, Bill? Puleeeeeeeze!
I should think this indicts all the conspirators in this CBS scheme to defraud the public with forged memos. Including Mapes and Rather and Barnes....
ping. Safire believes felonies have been comitted.
Funny how these big boys are a little behind the curve nowadays.
We need to get the FBI out asking these folks questions at some point. Let's see how anxious they are to lie with Martha Stewart fresh in their memories! This may have to keep until after the election but at least it should put the fear of G-d into some of these miscreants, eh Terry?
I've been saying this all along. Watergate finally was broken when Judge Sirica starting putting the burglars behind bars. They all broke except for Liddy. Same thing should happen here. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Lock 'em up.
The material that might help move things along has already been developed as part of the Free Republic CBS Memo Forgery Project.
The result includes material for use with:
* station renewal jackets or the like
* discussions with MSM
* etc.
A key part is the Conclusion and Recommendation shown below which is downloadable as page 11 and 12 of the MSWord document here or as a pdf .
This key section is reproduced below, but actually looks much better in the downloadable MSWord document above:
IT IS THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROJECT THAT:
CBS DID NOT EXERCISE REASONABLE PRUDENCE IN PUBLICATION OF THE FORGED MEMOS ON 60MINUTES
In addition to the many items detailed in the Project Report, the following were immediate red flags:
1. The superscript "th" in the 04 May and in the 18 August Memos would have been a clear forgery indicator to anyone familiar with a manual typewriter, the only equipment available in 1972.
2. The layout of the documents including proportional spacing should have caused any staff member to try to replicate the memos in Microsoft Word default settings. A simple overlay held up to the window would have revealed the forgery.
3. The use of the "0" in the 04 May and in the 01 August Memo dates and the lack of a distribution list for the these purported orders would have led anyone with past military experience, even at the private level, to know that the documents were not valid.
4. The use of a validator with no admitted typographic expertise. Moreover, that validator was instructed to validate only one Memo signature from a photocopy, despite that validator's own previously published statements that a photocopy could not be used to determine signature veracity.
IT IS THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE PROJECT THAT CBS AND 60MINUTES:
a. Issue a clear and unambiguous public apology to the American Public and to President Bush:
- on CBS News and on 60Minutes
- on the CBS web site
b. Terminate or accept the resignation(s) of those CBS person(s) asserting the authenticity of Documents on CBS News and on 60 Minutes.
c. Post on the CBS web site the source(s) of the forged memos and a chronology of the events relating to this matter specifically including contacts in electronic, telephonic, or written form with any 527, DNC, or Kerry Campaign employees, representatives, or agents. Also, immediately take steps to preserve all such notes and records.
d. Produce within 14 days a follow-up CBS 60Minutes presentation detailing the facts and circumstances relating to the acquisition and use on 60Minutes, CBS News, and the CBS web site of the forged documents.
e. As the forging and use of forged military documents, especially during a national election, is a serious and possibly criminal issue: formally notify the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Election Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission of the details concerning the acquisition and use of the Documents and fully cooperate with any subsequent investigation(s) and, if appropriate, any prosecution(s).
.
Depending on what you want to use it for there are also an attachable:
* Main CBS Memo Forgery Report (pages 1 to 10)
* Executive Summary (pages 18 to 20)
* Technical Appendix MSWord Overlay on a forged CBS Memo (pages 14 to 16)
If you feel strongly, you can always replace the IT IS THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROJECT THAT:
and IT IS THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE PROJECT with something stronger but then you need to sign it as it becomes your opinion or conclusion and not that of the Free Republic CBS Memo Forgery Project.
BTW, the original thread where this was reported is here if you would like to see the background.
Here's another question that I haven't heard answered.
How did Mapes know to contact Burkett? We know Burkett was trying to shop the docs. Did he call CBS?
He says he called Cleland, and he called the DNC but got nowhere. But did Cleland or the DNC alert Mapes to Burkett? Otherwise, how did Mapes know Burkett had the docs?
Bump!
Safire needs to read USA Today more. They revealed the name of the non-source -- Conn. And he told USA Today he had nothing to do with this.
Conservatives should stop slavering over Dan Rather's scalp, and liberals should stop pretending that noble ends justify fake-evidence means.
Why shouldn't Dan Rather be fired? He was the one who pushed this story on the air.
Very interesting that the criminal code applicable to this incident has popped up in the NYT.
Unless, of course, there is no controlling legal authority.
Bump!
On Scarborough Country Now.
But, on the following, the New York Times is right:
Conservatives should stop slavering over Dan Rather's scalp, and liberals should stop pretending that noble ends justify fake-evidence means. Both should focus on the lesson of the early 70's: from third-rate burglaries to fourth-rate forgeries, nobody gets away with trying to corrupt American elections.