[narby]

CBS News states with absolute certainty that the ability to produce the "th" superscript mentioned in reports about the documents did exist on typewriters as early as 1968, and in fact is in President Bush's official military records released by the White House. This and other issues surrounding the authenticity of the documents and more on this developing story will be reported on tonight on THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER.

I was afraid of hanging everything on the "th". We need to attack this in depth.

The MS centering algorithm is shown in the 4 may 72 document. It it centered PERFECTLY, which was virtually impossible to do in 1972.

The "th" is ONLY ONE problem with the documents.

[sarasota]

Well I won't be watching the CBS Evening News, so I'll have to count on freepers.

[Mo1]

I was afraid of hanging everything on the "th". We need to attack this in depth.

Don't worry .. there are many other problems with the memos

One being .. according to Killian's widow .. Killian didn't type

[MineralMan]

"The MS centering algorithm is shown in the 4 may 72 document. It it centered PERFECTLY, which was virtually impossible to do in 1972."

Actually, no. Centering wasn't so tough, really, although it would be unlikely in the case of a casual memo. It would work with proportional type, as on the IBM Executive, or any other type. It's actually the same process Word's centering algorithm uses.

Here's what you do:

1. Type the lines of the heading you want centered on a separate sheet. Since this is usually going to go at the top of the page, you can do it before beginning to type your document.

2.Measure the width of each line to be centered, and note it.

3. Make a light pencil mark at the center of your paper, then roll the paper through. Center the mark at the "V" in the shield that covers the platen.

4. Move the carriage half the distance of the first line's measurement to the left, and begin typing. Repeat for other centered lines.

Typists did this all the time. I know I did. But...you wouldn't go to the trouble for a casual memo.

[Paradox]

I posted in another thread that _IF_ the documents proved legit, we'd have to debunk what they really mean. I have seen others (before we went crazy here with the forgery story) say that the memo's don't really reflect as badly on Bush as the media says they do. So JUST IN CASE, we need to debunk them anyways if they are LEGIT. Otherwise, we have given them more "Gravitas" then they deserved in the first place.

I still say Dan Rather has a hand on the rug and is waiting to pull it out from under us...

[Bigg Red]

I was afraid of hanging everything on the "th". ...

**
Liddy was talking about this today and scrutinizing the signature -- more specifically the way the guy indicated his rank under his signature.

[MistyCA]

I heard it also mentioned by one of the professionals that the curly end of the comma was significant, but I don't think it is. The problem with the documents doesn't, fortunately, just hinge on one or two factors.

[need_a_screen_name]

I was afraid of hanging everything on the "th". We need to attack this in depth.

The MS centering algorithm is shown in the 4 may 72 document. It it centered PERFECTLY, which was virtually impossible to do in 1972.

The "th" is ONLY ONE problem with the documents.

Rubbish!

"* The memos were written using a proportional typeface, where letters take up variable space according to their size, rather than fixed-pitch typeface used on typewriters, where each letter is allotted the same space. Proportional typefaces are available only on computers or on very high-end typewriters that were unlikely to be used by the National Guard.

* The memos include superscript, i.e. the "th" in "187th" appears above the line in a smaller font. Superscript was not available on typrwriters.

* The memos inclued "curly" apostrophes rather than straight apostrophes found on typewriters.

* The font used in the memos is Times Roman, which was in use for printing but not in typewriters. The Haas Atlas--the bible of fonts--does not list Times Roman as an available font for typewriters.

* The vertical spacing used in the memos, measured at 13 points, is not available in typewriters, and only became possible with the advent of computers."

Among others, this is provided by:

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/gborse_20040910.html

[Cicero]

I'm pretty sure that the only way you could get a superscript "th" like that would be to stop typing, exchange balls in the typewriter with smaller font, twitch the carriage advance a bit very carefully, type in the "th," switch balls back again, and then type the rest of the sentence.

Does anyone in his right mind think that someone would do that while writing a private memo for the record?

Moreover, the "th" appears to be in a much smaller font. As I recall, 10 point and 12 point were about all you could get on a typewriter back then.

[Criminal Number 18F]

the "th" is only one problem

1. Col. Killian didn't make notes.
2. He didn't type.
3. Wrong military abbreviations.
4. Standard abbrev (NLT) spelled out
5. Wrong address for Bush
6. Pressure from an officer who was no longer in the Guard! (Staudt, who retired the year before Ra^ther mentions him).
7. The "th" (I guarantee you, no typewriter did a scaled-down superscript. No can do).
8. 13-point leading. (First possible with the Mac and Laserwriter, 1987).
9. The text EXACTLY matches microsoft word (you can type the exact document yourself)
10. Times New Roman font -- the default typeface in Word -- has not been used on a typewriter.
11. The odd abbreviation in one case with a missing period in the middle of a three letter abbrev. Type that sentence exactly like that in word, and it looks JUST like that. Add the period and the last word flips to the other line.
12. Dates are not in USAF format
13. Signature block is not in USAF format and is on the right -- requirement at the time was left justified.
14. Document does not match any period doc (and yes, I've seen documents done on that IBM executive typewriter. Citations for the Distinguished Service Cross were done on it as US Army, Vietnam -- it's clearly a different kind of type and spacing).
15. Signature doesn't match Killian's signature approving Bush's request for discharge.

• (A big one): While the experts calling BS on the Ra^ther forgeries all have names, CBS makes hysterical claims of "journalistic investigation" with people that don't have names. If I have learned one thing, it's this: a source without a name does not exist. If real experts authenticated CBS's documents, those experts would have provided affidavits which CBS would be trumpeting now. There are no experts. Note also that the people who have come forward and said they talked to CBS have all said they told CBS the opposite of what the Kerry Campaign, 48th Street Division, claims they said.

Look at the way CBS is digging in on this. Folks, CBS isn't defending these docs because they trust their source. They are defending the docs because they know where they came from. They know, because they made the documents, right there in-house at CBS News.

And they did it in a deliberate (if feeble) attempt to throw an election -- there's gotta be some serious violations of 18 USC in there.

To any CBS folks lurking: do not destroy any memos, and especially not the documents that originally came to you. They are evidence in a criminal investigation, and tampering with such evidence will put you in jail. It's time to call the corporate counsel, and bring in an outside special master to investigate (as CNN did when they got caught trying to push the Oliver/Smith/Arnett Tailwind fabrication).

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F