SwiftVets.com

[Arty Guy]

The article pasted below speaks for itself. If it turns out that these really are fakes, that should be the final nail in the coffin lid for CBS's already minimal credibility as an independent unbiased news source.

'60 Minutes' Documents on Bush Might Be Fake
By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
September 09, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - The 32-year-old documents produced Wednesday by the CBS News program "60 Minutes," shedding a negative light on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, may have been forged using a current word processing program, according to typography experts.

Three independent typography experts told CNSNews.com they were suspicious of the documents from 1972 and 1973 because they were typed using a proportional font, not common at that time, and they used a superscript font feature found in today's Microsoft Word program.

The "60 Minutes" segment included an interview with former Texas lieutenant governor Ben Barnes, who criticized Bush's service. The news program also produced a series of memos that claim Bush refused to follow an order to undertake a medical examination.

The documents came from the "personal office file" of Bush's former squadron commander Jerry B. Killian, according to Kelli Edwards, a spokeswoman for "60 Minutes," who was quoted in Thursday's Washington Post. Edwards declined to tell the Post how the news program obtained the documents.

But the experts interviewed by CNSNews.com honed in on several aspects of a May 4, 1972, memo, which was part of the "60 Minutes" segment and was posted on the CBS News website Thursday.

"It was highly out of the ordinary for an organization, even the Air Force, to have proportional-spaced fonts for someone to work with," said Allan Haley, director of words and letters at Agfa Monotype in Wilmington, Mass. "I'm suspect in that I did work for the U.S. Army as late as the late 1980s and early 1990s and the Army was still using [fixed-pitch typeface] Courier."

The typography experts couldn't pinpoint the exact font used in the documents. They also couldn't definitively conclude that the documents were either forged using a current computer program or were the work of a high-end typewriter or word processor in the early 1970s.

But the use of the superscript "th" in one document - "111th F.I.S" - gave each expert pause. They said that is an automatic feature found in current versions of Microsoft Word, and it's not something that was even possible more than 30 years ago.

"That would not be possible on a typewriter or even a word processor at that time," said John Collins, vice president and chief technology officer at Bitstream Inc., the parent of MyFonts.com.

"It is a very surprising thing to see a letter with that date [May 4, 1972] on it," and featuring such typography, Collins added. "There's no question that that is surprising. Does that force you to conclude that it's a fake? No. But it certainly raises the eyebrows."

Fred Showker, who teaches typography and introduction to digital graphics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., questioned the documents' letterhead.

"Let's assume for a minute that it's authentic," Showker said. "But would they not have used some form of letterhead? Or has this letterhead been intentionally cut off? Notice how close to the top of the page it is."

He also pointed to the signature of Killian, the purported author of the May 4, 1972, memo ordering Bush, who was at the time a first lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, to obtain a physical exam.

"Do you think he would have stopped that 'K' nice and cleanly, right there before it ran into the typewriter 'Jerry," Showker asked. "You can't stop a ballpoint pen with a nice square ending like that ... The end of that 'K' should be round ... it looks like you took a pair of snips and cut it off so you could see the 'Jerry.'"

The experts also raised questions about the military's typewriter technology three decades ago. Collins said word processors that could produce proportional-sized fonts cost upwards of $20,000 at the time.

"I'm not real sure that you would have that kind of sophistication in the office of a flight inspector in the United States government," Showker said.

"The only thing it could be, possibly, is an IBM golf ball typewriter, which came out around the early to middle 1970s," Haley said. "Those did have proportional fonts on them. But they weren't widely used."

But Haley added that the use of the superscript "th" cast doubt on the use of any typewriter.

"There weren't any typewriters that did that," Haley said. "That looks like it might be a function of something like Microsoft Word, which does that automatically."

According to an article on the CBS News website, the news program "consulted a handwriting analyst and document expert who believes the material is authentic."

[tigger1]

2 of the documents are fakes, there is no doubt about. Here is the link to the two documents in question:

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/BushGuardmay4.pdf

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/BushGuardaugust18.pdf

In both cases a subspcirt th is used in the documents and no type writter or word processor at the time could do that.

The other two have to be questioned alone because the other two are fakes.

I also would like see the documents in person as I also have some questions about the fonts and mainly the comma font.

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

There are several discussions about this going on in the Geedunk. It looks like this story first started right here on this forum.

Hey, algore, ain't the internet a gas?
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[Paul5388]

The military used small paper in those days. It wasn't 8.5" X 11". If memory serves right, (that's a big if!) it was 8" X 10". I suppose the size could be checked by counting characters per inch, which should be 12 and not 10 or a fraction on the original size paper.

That's strange, some of the words, like "examination" are just barely over an inch long and some, like "commander" are an inch long on my monitor which is showing an 11" wide page for the pdf. Regardless, the document still should have same characters to the inch throughout the document.

Well, I found this

[jalexson]

The Washington Post is also questioning the authenticity of the documents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9967-2004Sep9.html
_________________
"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house."
-- Mark Twain

[JCCremer]

This morning on FOX News Channel they aired a debate between two common taters, Mike Gallagher and some Kerry affiliated female. The lady made the allegation that the documents came from the "Pentagon"! Since when does the Pentagon release supposedly private papers from a deceased officer? We better shred our personal files RFN
_________________
First tour 1965-66, 173rd Airborne Bde (Sep)
Second tour 1969-70, MACV (SOG)
Retired 1987, Grade 0-6, US Army
Let the truth be known. I'm with you guys and Kerry insulted all of us with his anti-war activities. Let's hold him accountable.

[The Balloon Artist]

Remember the "Lost Hitler Diaries" of the mid 80's.

They thought those were real too.


If this is a copy of a document, there should be an original somewhere.
_________________
What about John Kerry's four months in Vietnam qualify him to be president?
Al Gore was there for five.

[spartan]

If this was typed at the unit (?) can they find a single record with the th superscripted ???

I DONT think so

Come to think of it this is a military forum - how could we do a search for anyone that was working there at the time and to look at their paper trail from that time period ?

hey - is the new swift boat ads (medals) running on TV in PA or eleswere?

Tim

[gator60]

It doesn't supprise me at all that kerry would rig this fraud. He lied and comitted treasion, why woulded he get 60 minuets, who are in his back pocket, along with NBC with the phoney Kitty lady. Whats a little fraud. It just shows that Kerry is dangerous.

[mathman]

CBS news has struck again, re-confirming their role as spokespersons for the Democratic Party. In 2000 I recall watching the election returns come in, when CBS announced (before the polls in Florida closed) that Florida was called for Gore. Their report was a lie. Their lie was intended to benefit the Democratic Party by discouraging voters in the Florida Panhandle.
Please remember: they are licensed by the FCC and they are expected to be acting in the public interest.
Now 60 Minutes presents a man who was NOT in office claiming to have used his (non-existent) office for the use of political influence.
In support of his lying claim, CBS news presents documents which falsely libel a dead man. To put in writing that one would post-date a Performance Evaluation? That is a career-killer.
That the four documents in question are false is beyond dispute. Typography? Impossible at the time on a typewriter. Format? Not in accordance with any Air Force protocol. Dates, ranks, manuals, addresses, signature block: all phony. And Killian did not type!
Together these constitute violations of the US Criminal Code. Forging official military records should result in trial and imprisonment.
Swifties, do not let this go!

[Stacman]

[roughfun]

All my USMC docs say Commanding, NOT Commander. Was USAF diff? What the hell is up with this Muller guy. Nasty man, me no like. Semper Fi.

[redhawk34]

Would some of you Wing Wipers check your orders for this?
I never saw an Army order without a "distribution list" at the bottom, showing where all the copies were sent, so many to personnel file, to finance, to HQ, and so on.
My PH orders, a fairly routine item at that time, shows 10 different recipients.
Redhawk

[lthrneck]

Blast these liberal CS'ers with emails.
http://www.cbs.com/ -------> scroll to bottom Contact button.

Semper fi

[vasubvet]

Why would the Air National Guard unit use a PO BOX? PO BOX 34567 (COME ON!!!, WHY NOT 12345). Call me skeptical, but can't the postal service check this out??

F.T.G.C.(S.S.) Ret.