RATHER NEWS [Byron York] The major news in CBS anchorman Dan Rather's defense of the alleged Bush National Guard documents is the revelation that CBS News does not have the original documents purportedly written by Bush's commanding officer Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian. Rather reported tonight that the network's document consultant "believes they are real, but is concerned about exactly what is being examined by some of the people now questioning the documents, because deterioration occurs each time a document is reproduced, and the documents being analyzed outside of CBS have been photocopied, faxed, scanned, and downloaded, and are far removed from the documents CBS started with, which were also photocopies."
That last clause is critical. Document experts say it would be relatively easy to determine the authenticity of a typewritten original; a typewriter makes a small indentation into the paper with each strike, and those indentations can be studied in great detail. But a photocopy is another thing. There's no way to analyze the physical aspects of the typewritten words, nor is there a way to analyze the actual signature. In fact, an image of a legitimate signature could have been placed onto a computer-generated document and then printed out and photocopied. The news is that CBS based its report on photocopies, making it difficult to determine whether or not the documents are in fact authentic.
"Rather reported tonight that the network's document consultant "believes they are real, but is concerned about exactly what is being examined by some of the people now questioning the documents, because deterioration occurs each time a document is reproduced, and the documents being analyzed outside of CBS have been photocopied, faxed, scanned, and downloaded, and are far removed from the documents CBS started with, which were also photocopies."
I love it...they certainly can't come back now and say that the documents were handwritten
Would somebody please call the coroner, Mr. Rather is dead.