Posted on 09/09/2004 10:31:38 PM PDT by kattracks
Edited on 09/09/2004 10:55:58 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
September 10, 2004 -- THE populist revolu tion against the so- called mainstream media continues. Yesterday, the citizen journalists who produce blogs on the Internet — and their engaged readers — engaged in the wholesale exposure of what appears to be a presidential-year dirty trick against George W. Bush. What the bloggers and their audiences did was call into profound question the authenticity of four documents proudly trumpeted by CBS News in a much-heralded investigative report on Wednesday night's edition of "60 Minutes" about the president's National Guard service in the early 1970s.These were "previously unseen documents . . . obtained by '60 Minutes,' " the network bragged Wednesday night on its Web site. Their author, supposedly, was Bush's squadron commander, Jerry Killian, who died 20 years ago.
They "include a memorandum from May 1972," CBS reports, "where Killian writes that Lt. Bush called him to talk about 'how he can get out of coming to drill from now through November.' " A document dated "18 August 1973" complains that Killian is being asked to "sugar coat" Bush's record. "I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job," the document says.
Liberals went wild with glee about the story, especially after the onslaught on John Kerry's Vietnam record by his fellow Swift-boat veterans.
Kevin Drum, the most talented of the left-wing bloggers, wrote: "This story is a perfect demonstration of the difference between the Swift-boat controversy and the National Guard controversy. Both are tales from long ago and both are related to Vietnam, but . . . in the National Guard case, practically every new piece of documentary evidence provides additional confirmation that the charges against Bush are true."
[snip]The Minneapolis lawyers who run powerlineblog.com were on the case early. Two of the blog's readers directed their attention to a note left on an Internet bulletin board on the freerepublic.com Web site, the 47th posting on the topic there. Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then.
These were "previously unseen documents . . . obtained by '60 Minutes,' " the network bragged Wednesday night on its Web site. Their author, supposedly, was Bush's squadron commander, Jerry Killian, who died 20 years ago.
And this is the best they have! CBS is going down the drain.
This is a must read article. It warmed the cockles of my uncompassionate conservative heart.
I hope CBS can get sued. The amount of forensic evidence in the docs, suggesting forgery, is huge.
Who was post 47? Howlin?
The Minneapolis lawyers who run powerlineblog.com were on the case early. Two of the blog's readers directed their attention to a note left on an Internet bulletin board on the freerepublic.com Web site — the 47th posting on the topic there.
Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then.
Great article. And congrats to the poster of post 47. I belive it was Howlin', right?
This fiasco will haunt the DNC for the rest of this election cycle.
Post # 47 will liver forever. How cool is that? It's exciting that an average citizen who has been taking it from Rather for decades got payback. Hoo-ah!!!
"I hope CBS can get sued."
Where is The Great One (Mark Levin) when you need him??
Can someone post the thread with post 47?
That is way, way cool!!! I am SO PROUD to be a part of FreeRepublic!!!
I'm working eleven hours for the GOP tomorrow, and I have got to go to bed. But I'm afraid as soon as I turn the computer off, something big is going to break.
> ... they have been unmasked by ordinary people who can see
> what they and their hired experts evidently could not.
Based on other reports, it appears that the only vetting
CBS did was to make a phone call to one of the senior
officers mentioned in the fake docs, who just happens
to also be a Dean supporter.
All the real hired experts interviewed by other reporters,
pundits and hosts today, all agree that these docs are at
the very least highly suspicious.
Which post did the #47 post reference in this article come from? That post should be a permanent golden link on the main page.
Very nicely done.
FreeRepublic credited with starting Memogate!!!
The Minneapolis lawyers who run powerlineblog.com were on the case early. Two of the blog's readers directed their attention to a note left on an Internet bulletin board on the freerepublic.com Web site — the 47th posting on the topic there.
Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then.
From there it was off to the races.
Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then."
Hi Everyone over at DUh, hope you all are enjoying this as much as we are!
I know. Who's post was it that took down the Old Media empire?
Howlin, did you write post 47??
Justice will be done when Dan Rather has to go on Fox News and apologize.
Great article. This story had better have Daddy Long Legs.
Who is the guy that wrote Post #47? We should all give this guy thanks!
If we find out that it was someone inside the Kerry campaign that perpetrated this hoax, it will pretty much destroy his chances of winning the election. It makes you wonder if Baghdad Bob is the campaign manager for Senator Kerry. 
Posted on 09/08/2004 7:39:18 PM EDT by Howlin
107 posted on 09/08/2004 8:19:00 PM EDT by TankerKC
47 posted on 09/08/2004 11:59:43 PM EDT by Buckhead.
Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then.
Free Republic rocks. LOL
And then a FReeper....I can never remember who, immediately said "Can you say Osama Bin Laden"
Reading it a year later, it amazed me how astute that post was. It's still there...I'm just too lazy to find it.
Oh, I wouldn't say that at all. The documents are false. But, the charges against kerry are true, and those documents aren't false. All Kerry has to do is release them, which he won't. If he had nothing to hide, he would release them. ALL OF THEM. Blogger revolt against the one sided MSM? You bet. Interesting as well is that Steve Pitkin's sworn affidavit regarding kerry's arm twisting to make him lie to the Senate investigation at the winter soldier investigation gets no traction at all. Not to mention all the other kerry lies that it reveals.
And by yesterday morning, they were being examined with a fine tooth comb.
The Minneapolis lawyers who run powerlineblog.com were on the case early. Two of the blog's readers directed their attention to a note left on an Internet bulletin board on the freerepublic.com Web site — the 47th posting on the topic there.
Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then.
From there it was off to the races. Once anyone who had had experience writing and typing in the 1970s began examining the documents, it was impossible not to see some weird anachronisms that suggested they had been crafted not on a 1970s typewriter, but using Microsoft Word.
Isn't forging military documents a felony? ...just noticed the apostrophe in isn't doesn't curve...is this a pre 1972 software program?
Wow! Did you do that?
Tip of the hat to yall.
Post of the Century post #47?!!!
Oh no, I hope you haven't started another "hugh", "series", etc.......
Moderator should add to title, (Free Republic Mentioned!)
You just did it, never mind!
-PJ
Me too!
Great job, Howlin'!
Posted on 09/08/2004 7:39:18 PM EDT by Howlin
107 posted on 09/08/2004 8:19:00 PM EDT by TankerKC
47 posted on 09/08/2004 11:59:43 PM EDT by Buckhead.
See my post above. TankerKC mentions it first, then Buckhead.
Thanks for those links. You made some history today and are senior officers in the new media revolution. George Washington would be proud.
To: Howlin
Howlin, every single one of these memos to file is in a proportionally spaced font, probably Palatino or Times New Roman.
In 1972 people used typewriters for this sort of thing, and typewriters used monospaced fonts.
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. 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.
I am saying these documents are forgeries, run through a copier for 15 generations to make them look old.
This should be pursued aggressively.
47 posted on 09/08/2004 8:59:43 PM PDT by Buckhead
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yep
I nominate Buckhead (Post 47) for Freeper of the Year!
When will the liberal media realize that they can help the most just by reporting these stories straight-up? When they sit on the stories they only cause the stories to gather stream and push their dear Kerry further out of the news. The best thing the liberal media could do, if they really want to help Kerry, is just report the news instead of trying to manage it. They think they are helping Kerry, but they aren't.
What a day!
The day the old media dinosaur was smashed by the incoming new media meteor!
I think that you and Buckhead deserve some kind of prize/honor!
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