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"I Am Buckhead": Newspaper Exposes Blog Folk Hero
MediaInfo ^ | 09/18/04 | E & P Staff

Posted on 09/19/2004 9:21:37 PM PDT by Andy from Beaverton

I Am Buckhead": Newspaper Exposes Blog Folk Hero

By E & P Staff

Published: September 18, 2004

NEW YORK It was the scoop of the day in the presidential campaign (which tells you something): The Los Angeles Times found Buckhead.

The paper reports that it has solved the mystery of who exactly posted the very first (and in some minds, very suspicious) blog blast at the credibility of the "60 Minutes" Killian memos. But as the Times put it, "it did not come from an expert in typography or typewriter history as some first thought."

Buckhead, as he was known at the Free Republic site, has been unmasked as Harry MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes. He even helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

His identity, the Times says, "is likely to fuel speculation among Democrats that the efforts to discredit the CBS memos were engineered by Republicans eager to undermine reports that Bush received preferential treatment in the National Guard more than 30 years ago." GOP officials have denied this.

Reached by telephone by the Times on Friday, MacDougald, 46, confirmed that he is Buckhead but declined to answer questions.

MacDougald, a lawyer in Atlanta, is affiliated with two prominent conservative legal groups, the Federalist Society and the Southeastern Legal Foundation, where he serves on the legal advisory board.

Suspicions that MacDougald may have been tipped off have arisen because his quick comments on typography seemed to go far beyond his reputed expertise. He wrote that the memos purportedly written in the early 1970s by the late Lt. Col Jerry B. Killian were "in a proportionally spaced font, probably Palatino or Times New Roman....The use of proportionally spaced fonts did not come into common use for office memos until the introduction of laser printers, word processing software and personal computers," MacDougald wrote. "They were not widespread until the mid to late 90's. Before then, you needed typesetting equipment, and that wasn't used for personal memos to file. Even the Wang systems that were dominant in the mid 80's used monospaced fonts."


TOPICS: Free Republic; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: buckhead; cbsnews; danblather; forgery; friendsofbuckhead; killian; pajamahadeen; pajamaratti; rather; rathergate; seebs; weareallbuckhead
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To: alydar

LOL!!! Ohhh please. You do realize that Buckhead was not the 1st to call something suspicious on the memos, right. He was just articulate about it, but then again considering his proffession one would consider him to be articulate.

Another thing. I know the left is trying to make it more sinister than it really is, so stop and think. IT IS NOT UNCOMMON TO FIND A CONSERVATIVE WITH CLOSE REPUBLICAN TIES ON THIS WEBSITE!!!

Also it's not uncommon that a conservative would be the first to spot the memos. I mean do you really think that a liberal would look at documents which are disparaging of the president with a critical eye??? Nor do you think that a non-partisan would have much interest in looking at such documents with a critical eye???

Alright welcome back to common sense.


61 posted on 09/20/2004 1:35:49 AM PDT by Tempest (Don't blame me, I'm voting for Bush.)
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To: alydar

B/S


62 posted on 09/20/2004 1:37:51 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson
Best regards. What a story this has turned out to be. According to the New York Times, CBS News will go on the air today and admit that it now has "grave doubts" about these forgeries, and that it was "misled" about their authenticity.

New York Times

63 posted on 09/20/2004 1:41:30 AM PDT by Bryan
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To: Choose Ye This Day

Yeah, but thats DemoRATs for ya, always blaming the Republicans for their insanity.


64 posted on 09/20/2004 1:42:20 AM PDT by katdawg
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To: Bryan

LOL. And Dan Rathers will be permitted to retire in fine style when he should be headed for jail, IMHO.


65 posted on 09/20/2004 1:44:29 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson
One good look at the memos, which were all over the TV screen, would show that they were proportionally spaced and that the font was either Times New Roman or Palatino. Anyone who has used Microsoft Word more than once or twice -- an attorney who types his own documents, for example -- might be familiar with what lies behind that pull-down menu labeled "Format."

And I suspect that Buckhead might have been using an arcane, high-tech, state of the art device known as a "VCR," which allowed him to record the broadcast and review it over and over to spot these characteristics.

Imagine that.

66 posted on 09/20/2004 1:46:00 AM PDT by Bryan
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To: Defiant

LOL...Now that's a good one.


67 posted on 09/20/2004 1:46:18 AM PDT by katdawg
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To: Jim Robinson

Good Morning Mr Robinson!
Wonder what news we are going to hear about today?

And who it is, that's going to report it?
Shhhh........It won't be cbs.

Well.............me thinks it may be FR!

God bless America! ;-)


68 posted on 09/20/2004 1:51:22 AM PDT by LadyPilgrim (Sealed my pardon with His blood, Hallelujah!!! What a Savior!!!)
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To: Andy from Beaverton
Wow is that story a whole lot of spin. Here we go again. Forget what the story is really about - a major news organization using forged documents - and look only at that "dasteredly" person that exposed it. I can hear Colmbs now: "Isn't it suspicious..."
69 posted on 09/20/2004 1:53:51 AM PDT by BJungNan (Stop Spam - Do NOT buy from junk email.)
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To: tiki
I don't want the media to know this but I think Bush is the best man in the race for president and I'm going to vote for him. I need everyone to keep this a secret because the MSM might unmask me as a (GASP) Republican.

ROFL. Very Well Put!

70 posted on 09/20/2004 1:54:55 AM PDT by BJungNan (Stop Spam - Do NOT buy from junk email.)
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To: LadyPilgrim

LOL. Should be an interesting day all right.


71 posted on 09/20/2004 1:57:59 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
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To: alydar
My two cents for what it's worth: Buckhead and his operatives used FR and it's readers as pawns. I sent him a private mailing last week congratulating him. I wish I could take it back.

Geez, are you a troll or what. Maybe you are that stupid bud. But speak for yourself, not everyone on here. No one was duped or used as pawns. The documents are fake remember? Even if your conspiracy theory were true, just how long do you think it would have taken for somone else to notice - as nearly everyone did anyhow - that the documents were cheap forgeries.

Am I supposed to believe that everyone is too stupid to see poorly done forgeries? Am I supposed to believe everyone else that weighed in on the documents would never have noticed had Buckhead not posted or that they are in on some larger conspiracy theory.

I sure hope you just forgot to put the quotes with your post. I'd hate to think I'm sharing this space with someone so stupid.

72 posted on 09/20/2004 2:07:37 AM PDT by BJungNan (Stop Spam - Do NOT buy from junk email.)
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To: Andy from Beaverton
...his quick comments on typography seemed to go far beyond his reputed expertise...

Unlike the NYT whose quick comments on any issue go way beyond their reputed expertise

73 posted on 09/20/2004 2:10:18 AM PDT by Rightwing Conspiratr1 (Lock-n-load!)
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To: Mo1
The paper reports that it has solved the mystery of who exactly posted the very first

Well that's nice .. but when are these reporters going to look into who FORGED THE DANG DOCUMENTS??????

Best post in this thread. Exactly correct response.

74 posted on 09/20/2004 2:12:27 AM PDT by BJungNan (Stop Spam - Do NOT buy from junk email.)
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To: BJungNan

The article is so funny. They sound shocked (shocked!) that Buckhead is a Republican. But then, the Democrats are always shocked (shocked!).


75 posted on 09/20/2004 2:48:21 AM PDT by freepertoo
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To: Andy from Beaverton
Suspicions that MacDougald may have been tipped off have arisen because his quick comments on typography seemed to go far beyond his reputed expertise.

What exactly does this publication know about Buckhead's expertise? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...

Lawyers get involved in all sorts of things and get loaded up with useless and trite information. It's quite possible Buckhead has had cases dealing with forgeries before. Or perhaps Buckhead is just a smart guy who has an interest in computers (I mean he IS on FR and all, which means he had some sort of tech savvyiness to him). Or maybe his dad was a typewriter technician.. the possibilities abound...

Anyone with an average IQ would know the difference between Courier and Times New Roman and if you have been on this planet long enough, would know that Times New Roman wasn't widely used in typewriters back in the 1970s.

If you couldn't tell, the media's ignorance just plain pisses me off. They should do their own investigative journalism before making a statement like that. That's just plain irresponsible editorialising IMHO.

76 posted on 09/20/2004 3:06:35 AM PDT by GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY
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To: Defiant
McDougald, is that you? Great job on the disbarment brief. Listen, we have another job for you to do for us.

Didn't you leave out the part where Rove asks Buckhead to play a game of solitaire? [See "The Manchurian Candidate" for reference]

77 posted on 09/20/2004 3:17:25 AM PDT by laredo44 (Liberty is not the problem)
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To: ArmyBratproud
Rather interviewed Burkett this weekend.



I was so sleepy that I first read: "Rather interviewed Buckhead for the authenticity of the memos"???
78 posted on 09/20/2004 3:25:15 AM PDT by danamco
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To: Wardawg
Congratulations Buckhead. Your name will be the first mentioned in the encyclopedia under blogosphere. You put this whole idea on the map with your observation, skepticism and courage to follow your instinct. Way to go.


And, on Rather's tombstone: "Buckead laid Dan Blather to rest on Sept. 08, 2004"

We will never forget 9/08!!!
79 posted on 09/20/2004 3:28:18 AM PDT by danamco
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To: backhoe
If you use a search engine to look for "Peter Wallsten -- Los Angeles Times" you will find all sorts of info and articles on the character who outed Buckhead.

The question is, how were the able to outed Buckhead???
80 posted on 09/20/2004 3:34:53 AM PDT by danamco
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