Posted on 09/10/2004 7:06:51 PM PDT by ambrose
Posted on Fri, Sep. 10, 2004
Man named in Bush memo left Guard before document was written
BY PETE SLOVER
The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas - (KRT) - The man named in a disputed memo as exerting pressure to "sugar coat" President Bush's military record left the Texas Air National Guard a year and a half before the memo was supposedly written, his own service record shows.
An order obtained by The Dallas Morning News shows that Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt was honorably discharged on March 1, 1972. CBS News reported this week that a memo in which Staudt was described as interfering with officers' negative evaluations of Bush's service, was dated Aug. 18, 1973.
That added to mounting questions about the authenticity of documents that seem to suggest Bush sought special favors and did not fulfill his service.
Staudt, who lives in New Braunfels, Texas, did not return calls seeking comment. His discharge paper was among a packet of documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News from official sources during 1999 research into Bush's Guard record.
A CBS staffer stood by the story, suggesting that Staudt could have continued to exert influence over Guard officials. But a former high-ranking Guard official disputed that, saying retirement would have left Staudt powerless over remaining officials.
The authenticity of the memo and three others included in Wednesday's "60 Minutes" report came in for heavy criticism Friday, prompting an unusual on-air defense of the original work. Experts on typography said they appeared to have been computer-drafted on equipment not available in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
And the family of the officer who supposedly wrote them, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984, said it wasn't his nature to keep detailed personal notes.
In its network news broadcast Friday, CBS said the documents were supported by both unnamed witnesses and others, including document examiners.
Earlier, CBS anchor Dan Rather told The Dallas Morning News that he had heard nothing to make him question the legitimacy of the memos. He attributed the backlash to partisan politics and competitive journalism.
"This story is true. The questions we raised about then-Lieutenant Bush's National Guard service are serious and legitimate," he said, expressing confidence the memos are authentic. "Until and unless someone shows me definitive proof that they are not, I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumor mill."
The interview concluded before The Dallas Morning News determined the date of Staudt's departure, so that issue was not included. But a CBS staffer with extensive knowledge of the story said later that the departure doesn't derail the story.
"From what we've learned, Staudt remained very active after he retired," the staffer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "He was a very bullying type, and that could have continued."
In the "60 Minutes" report, Rather said of the memo's contents: "Killian says Col. Buck Staudt, the man in charge of the Texas Air National Guard, is putting on pressure to `sugar coat' an evaluation of Lt. Bush."
Staudt was the person Bush initially contacted about Guard service, and he was the group commander at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston when Bush arrived there to fly an F-102 jet. He later transferred to Austin, where he served as the chief of staff for the Air National Guard.
In the disputed memo, Killian supposedly wrote "(another officer) gave me a message today from group regarding Bush's (evaluation) and Staudt is pushing to sugar coat it."
It continues: "Austin is not happy either."
The CBS staffer said that the memo appears to recognize that Staudt has retired, since it differentiates between his displeasure and that of Austin, where he served his final Guard stint.
But another Texas Air National Guard official who served in that period said the memo appears to wrongly associate Staudt with his group command in Houston, and - based on that mistake - the memo distinguishes his views from that of the Austin Guard headquarters.
Retired Col. Earl Lively, who was director of Air National Guard operations for the state headquarters during 1972 and 1973 said Staudt "wasn't on the scene" after retirement, and that CBS' remote-bullying thesis makes no sense.
"He couldn't bully them. He wasn't in the Guard," Lively said. "He couldn't affect their promotions. Once you're gone from the Guard, you don't have any authority."
The report about the memos originally appeared to stir anew longstanding questions about Bush's Guard service, including whether he defied a direct order to take a physical exam, and whether his suspension from flying was partly for failure to meet military performance standards.
The campaign of Bush's Democratic rival, John Kerry, stood mostly mum, saying Bush should answer all questions about his service. Earlier this year, though, Kerry aides raised the exact points the memo seemed to address.
Bush has not commented publicly about the CBS report, and aides say his honorable discharge proves he fulfilled his obligations.
But the White House, which contends that all known records of Bush's service have been released, also took the unusual step of distributing the CBS memos to reporters the night of the broadcast.
"We don't know whether the (CBS) documents were fabricated or are authentic," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday.
"He couldn't bully them. He wasn't in the Guard," Lively said. "He couldn't affect their promotions. Once you're gone from the Guard, you don't have any authority."
I am begining to dispise dan rather. His determination to perpetuate this FRAUD, a FRAUD based on SOURCES WHO WERE THERE....even if the MEMOS were not so sickeningly WEIRD...and dan's FAILURE to disclose that the FAMILY, and other sources who are NAMED and were THERE who ALL disagree with that piece of so called investigative PROPAGANDA is simply ASTOUNDING on its face!
DAN RATHER IS SICK! I will NEVER FORGET THIS!
And I think we can put dan rather in the girlie man category, forever....he does not have the dignity nor the COURAGE (shove that, dan) to COME FORWARD WITH THE BLATANT AND HURTFUL ERRORS MADE IN THIS JOKE OF A SOPHOMORIC ATTEMPT TO MISLEAD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR COMMANDER IN CHIEF.
Don't forget:
Vertical line spacing does not match a typewritten document.
And from a fellow Freeper whose name escapes me:
[A]nother aspect of the type on [the August 18, 1973 memo] suggests, perhaps proves, forgery. 1. The type in the document is KERNED. Kerning is the typsetter's art of spacing various letters in such a manner that they are 'grouped' for better readability. Word processors do this automatically. NO TYPEWRITER CAN PHYSICALLY DO THIS.
To explain: the letter 'O' is curved on the outside. A letter such as 'T' has indented space under its cross bar. On a typewriter if one types an 'O' next to a 'T' then both letters remain separated by their physical space. When you type the same letters on a computer next to each other the are automatically 'kerned' or 'grouped' so that their individual spaces actually overlap. e. g., TO. As one can readily see the curvature of the 'O' nestles neatly under the cross bar of the 'T'. Two good kerning examples in the alleged memo are the word 'my' in the second line where 'm' and 'y' are neatly kerned and also the word 'not' in the fourth line where the 'o' and 't' overlap empty space. A typewriter doesn't 'know' what particular letter is next to another and can't make those types of aesthetic adjustments.
2. The kerning and proportional spacing in each of the lines of type track EXACTLY with 12 point Times Roman font on a six inch margin (left justified). Inother words, the sentences break just as they would on a computer and not as they would on a typewriter. Since the type on the memo is both proportionally spaced and kerned the lines of type break at certain instances (i.e., the last word in each line of the first paragraph are - 1. running, 2. regarding, 3. rating, 4. is, 5. either). If the memo was created on a typewriter the line breaks would be at different words (e. g., the word 'running' is at the absolute outside edge of the sentence and would probably not be on the first line).
3. The sentences have a wide variance in their AMOUNT of kerning and proportional spacing. Notice how the first line of the first paragraph seems squished together and little hard to read but the last line of the first paragraph has wider more open spacing. Even the characters themselves are squished in the first line (as a computer does automatically) and more spread out on the last line where there is more room.
There's no way a typewriter could 'set' the type in this memo and even a good typesetter using a Linotype machine of the era would have to spend hours getting this effect.
McCauliffe is pretty damn good at covering his own ass by stealling his victems drawers.
The Dems set out to screw the Repubs, but in case they get caught in the act, plan "B" calls for accusing the Repubs of screwing themselves in order to charge the Dems with rape.
If even one of these is correct, the document fails. If the smart quotes fit, you must convict!!!
Yep, good point! Any legacy MSM-ish authors who write the books on this will have to wade through dozens of FR threads! Love it!
If I get this right, the memo's were written in Times Roman font, but the military (per DOD instruction) has always used Courier 12. Has anyone else seen any official documents written in Times Roman?
" He attributed the backlash to partisan politics and competitive journalism."
Competitive "journalism"? CBS...RATHER? LOL!!!!
I wrote CBS and the other so called "journalists" 5 years ago to tell them they had become irrelavant and were FIRED.
......geeez, they're taking their time exiting....
Okay, thanks. We don't want to be arguing over the wrong points.
""From what we've learned, Staudt remained very active after he retired," the staffer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "He was a very bullying type, and that could have continued.""
Staudt is ALIVE and currently not responding to telephone calls to his home. He might come charging out (like Killian's widow and son) to speak to the press after being maligned by CBS staffers who didn't even know him.
No sweat. There are several other things glaringly wrong with it as well, but to go into it would constitute a threadjacking, so, another time. :-)
Now the unit I am in currently does use Times New Roman 12 for "Soft copy" correspndence.
The reasoning for using Courier is that it is the closest MATCH to the old documents done on Typewriters.
Thanks for the news, Ambrose!
BUMP!
Karl Rove did a good job in making up these Doc's !
"Oboy. The fit has hit the shan."
And the thick plottens!!!
The questions we raised about then-Lieutenant Bush's National Guard service are serious and legitimate," he said, expressing confidence the memos are authentic.
You can call contrived and proven false questions and assertions "serious and legitimate" but again, lies are the stuff of treason.
"Until and unless someone shows me definitive proof that they are not, I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumor mill."
Communist technique: Spout lies until one after the other is proven a lie, then assert that they are not lies. See #1/
In short, Blather should be arrested for his own protection. There are still a few American patriots in this country.
Geesh, this stuff keeps hitting (the fan) faster than I can keep up with it!
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.