Posted on 09/14/2004 3:50:28 AM PDT by RatherBiased.com
As it turns out, Killian's secretary, Marion Carr Knox, who was interviewed by Rather this evening, is alive (age 86), and according to her own account, she did type memos that had the same content as the ones Rather has been displaying nationwide -- excepting only that some of the terms now used are 'army' not 'airforce' jargon. She flatly said the 'Rather memos' are fakes. She has a spirited personality and was likely convincing to a general public.
While I believe Mrs. Knox was the shared serectary/typist for the TANG squadron, I find her testimony to be a bit less than believable. As a long time employee of the TANG (26 years, I believe) she had to have typed thousands of memos. I once worked in an office where I also typed at least hundreds of memos, letters, and other documents. I can guarantee you that I did not remember the content of any of those letters, memos, etc., for more than a week after doing the work. This is fairly common for a typist... they are merely an interface from the author to the page and most often do their work almost unconsciously. For Mrs. Knox to remember SIX memos out of the thousands she must have typed, even those about the son of an obscure Congressman, would require a leap of faith in her powers of recall.
Mrs. Knox has demonstrated her agenda and her bias by making statements such as "Bush was appointed President" and "Bush stole the election." She has even cited the Democrat talking points almost word for word in her conversations with reporters or on talk radio. She has also demonstrated that her memory is less than accurate because she also re-iterated that "it was Staudt and not Hodges that was pressuring to sugar-coat Bush's less than stellar performance," ignoring the well established fact that Col. Staudt had been retired for 18 months before the so-called AWOL events and any memos about them even started. Everyone questioned has agreed that Staudt had no "pull" to do anything after his retirement from duty.
Her statement also flies in the face of other reports and evaluations on Lt. Bush generated from officers other than Killian, Hodges,, et al., who would have been the ones under pressure from Staudt, all of which reported a competent but not outstanding young officer. These reports are not being questioned.
I think that Mrs. Knox is a very nice old lady who happens to be a strong partisan Democrat who has created her memory of "memos" she typed from the current flap. Anything else requires that she have an eidetic memory (possible) but dis-proved by her misrembering Staudt being in a position to pressure anyone.
I agree that Marion Carr Knox is unlikely to have such detailed recall of the memos. The illusion that she did have was, I think, partly owing to the way Rather staged and edited her appearance on the program. However, I do think she does recall the essentials of Killian's reactions and concerns accurately and probably related them truthfully.
Partisanship aside, she's a pretty sharp cookie. Her speculation that differences between the forged and putative originals may be owing to an attempt by the forger to evade charges [of theft of federal property?] was creditable. This of course leaves open the slim possibility that the originals may still be extant and may yet turn up if they escaped the shredder.
My (and Nixon's) best guess about the identity of Deep Throat of Watergate fame is Mark Felt, an FBI man now in his mid-90s, who left or was dismissed by the FBI shortly after Watergate. I incline to think his identity is being kept secret until after his death in order to evade federal criminal charges that might flow from his Watergate activities.
As you say, there is an outside possibility that Ms. Knox has a Ken Jennings type of recall, in which case she may even be right about Staudt's lasting influence beyond his retirement. My own experience in academic settings has been that the influence exerted by former Deans, Provosts, Vice Presidents and Presidents is often as sinister as it is real.
In this latter respect, I'm reminded of Knox's most actorishly effective moment in last night's interview. When asked about Killian's son's denials, she replied with a cloyingly mischievous expression, and in a voice that was laced with Bogartian vinegar: "He has no way of knowing whether it's true or not."
She may be, as you wrote -- and contrary to what bvw speculated a few posts back -- "a very nice old lady", but I'd not be surprised if she was hell-on-wheels around the office in her TANG days. Again, many thanks for your invaluable assistance. I'll get back to you about that swamp when the profits on my new toll bridge allow for further expansion of my nascent empire.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.