John / Billybob
> So, the judge on this case will, ...
It’s not going to get that far.
This is probably a Discovery blackmail ploy.
CBS will settle.
They do not want to reveal the chain of custody
of the fake-but-true hoax documents.
See also earlier:
Dan Rather Praises Peter Arnett, Claims ‘Most People’ Believe His Story
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900267/posts
Put nicely regarding the Duke 88 minus 1 and President Broadhead. They and the still silent Duke Trustees all need to go.
bump
Cavuto gave this lying turd the first 15 minutes of his show. Dan-boy lied all the way, like he has done since 1968.
Nothing but a Cronkite wannabe with a fetish for Baab Woot-wut.
I was on the 60 minutes thread that night, I started out fuming mad at Rather’s cheap shot. I went to bed early the next morning grinning from ear to ear.
That was a great night of brainstorming by many people, I just glad I got to witness the de-construction of Gunga Dan.
Any reasonably attentive person who has looked at business correspondence since 1972 did exactly the same thing. Once that was pointed out and and you looked at the documents, the discussion was over.
I think the reason a lot of reporters are oblivious to that fact is they use typewriters, newsprint and their word processors, which are probably NOT based in Microsoft fonts, so when it is mentioned to them they just get stupid looks on their faces.
He's right, too that CBS will NOT try to answer that question. They like the fact that there are a LOT of stupid people who give the documents the benefit of the doubt.
Which faculty member apologized?
Great post Congressman.
Excellent piece, CBB.
What’s missing are the criminal charges.
Dan Rather forged a U.S. military order (for GWB to report to get his medical). He should be in jail.
That’s not freedom of the press, that’s a crime.
Were Mapes and Rather working as journalists or as DNC political operatives? That’s not hard to answer.
http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2004/09/22/lockhart_contacted_memo_scandal_figure/
Dan Rather is slithering out of the slime pond because he sees the next administration leaking everything they can on Bush and he can see himself vindicated.
IMO, Rather is trying to pull a “Don Imus” here. He wants to sue over termination of employment issues. Now he really doesn’t have a leg to stand on, as you so ably point out. But he’s counting on CBS’ continuing embarrassment over the issue to leverage a settlement or re-instatement. That’s the way I see it.
IOW, to know the models of all the typewriters in the office is to know that the "Killian Memos" were not typed on them, and thus were fraudulent (and in violation of federal law).So, I read Buckhead’s comment, slapped my forehead and said, “Of course. He’s right. These are forgeries. I should have seen it myself.”
I was in print media production at the time the “Bush National Guard” documents were allegedly produced by his commanding officer. I knew the only machines at that time which could produce the exact typesetting displayed in these documents cost about $50,000 and were owned only by printing firms. Such a piece of equipment, which cost more than the average house, would not have been available in the HQ of any National Guard unit
. . . and would, I warrant, have been a real bear to actually use the fancy font nesting which Microsoft Word employs a computer to control. Which consideration would be entirely sufficient to assure us that the "Killian Memos" would not have received such elaborate treatment. Quite apart from the cost consideration, which in its own right is quite sufficient to assure anyone that the an organization whose mission is to operate hand-me-down, obsolescent equipment would not be frittering away scarce resources on elaborate equipment whose capabilities would have been entirely extraneous to the organizational mission.And all that is over and above the highly suspicious quality of the copies of the "Killian Memos" - bad enough to lower the unwary reader's expectations of verisimilitude of a signature, and thus too bad to represent a document which has successfully been closely held for three decades.
Excellent article; I hadn't seen that the models of the typewriters at TANG had been determined.
So, the judge on this case will, in my opinion, be derelict in his duties if he (or she) does not appoint a Special Master in this case. The Master’s assignment should be to determine if the “Guard” documents are forgeries, and if so, how obvious was that? Neither Rather nor CBS may like the results of that examination. But the American press will benefit greatly though unwillingly, from that investigation.
This case is about reputation. Rather claims a tort to his reputation, and since the "Killian Memos" are in fact fraudulent, and should have been instantly seen to be so by any qualified document examiner, no injustice has been visited on Mr. Rather's reputation.But ironically, CBS's reputation is entwined with that of Mr. Rather. So it is easy to envision CBS folding like a cheap camera rather than contesting this case with any vigor at all. Your suggestion of a Special Master to dispose of the questions of what Mr. Rather should have known before going on-air with the "Killian Memos" seems directly opposite. The threat of such an investigator informing the court will relieve the court of any necessity to exert itself to decide on more ambiguous grounds; CBS will fold, and we will have to count the savings of court time as a victory, cold comfort though it may be compared to an official finding of the truth of the matter.
But wait, wait. Dan has said that no one has proven them to be forgeries. Dan has such high ethical standards that we must give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t he a totally nonpartisan newsman? Doesn’t he always treat Dems and the GOP the same way? Please, don’t destroy my world view and tell me that he is just a lying, partisan leftist. I don’t think I could stand it.
Liberals can never admit they were wrong about anything. Even when caught in lies they always try to blame someone else.
Excellent column. This is one of your best!