Where Karl Rove got the idea for the Dan Rather sting...

[rfranklin]

If you listen to NPR's This American Life this week, they have a story about autograph expert John Reznikoff, who was conned into selling JFK papers that, among other things, revealed evidence of JFK's affair with Marilyn Monroe. Problem was that the papers were forgeries. One of the ways that Peter Jennings (ABC's 20/20) uncovered the scam was a Selectric typeface that wasn't available until after the date that the document supposedly was written. This scandal erupted in 1997.

Sound familiar?

I can't find anything referring to the Selectric issue on the web, but it is mentioned in the radio show.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Some Question Authenticity of Papers on Bush

By Michael Dobbs and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 10, 2004; Page A01

Documents unearthed by CBS News that raise doubts about whether President Bush fulfilled his obligations to the Texas Air National Guard include several features suggesting that they were generated by a computer or word processor rather than a Vietnam War-era typewriter, experts said yesterday.

Experts consulted by a range of news organizations pointed typographical and formatting questions about four documents as they considered the possibility that they were forged. The widow of the National Guard officer whose signature is on the bottom of the documents also disputed their authenticity.

The documents, which were aired Wednesday night on "60 Minutes II," bear dates from 1972 and 1973 and include an order for Bush to report for his annual physical exam and a discussion of how he could get out of "coming to drill."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x815249

[RC]

1. I really hope this comes back and bites somebody - hard.

Dan Rather needs to be vindicated.

But I know it won't. They have too much to hide if things start to unravel.

[underpants]

2. If I remember correctly "Buckhead" posted his incredibly detailed info as the credits were rolling

There is no way that someone knew that level of specifics without prior warning and probably a prepared dossier to post ahead of time.

BTW- that segment on a Wednesday night never aired in Richmond VA because the local channels were doing tornado watches- nasty storms.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Certainly was not done on a Computer

because you can not tell the difference

It would take digital rendering with some special algorithms to detect

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. Yeah, Rather got suckered big time!

This was no doubt a set-up and Rather and his producers bit hook, line and sinker. I would offer that their sloppy dilligence removed the Bush AWOL story from the national conversation just as it was designed to do. While this Rovian operation was pulled off brilliantly, Rather does share a great deal of blame for even including these disputed documents. The fact is that there was a great deal of VERIFIABLE, AUTHENTIC information that convicted Smirky of being AWOL. These documents killed all of that!

[Egalitariat]

10. Rather was an easy target. He wanted so bad for the story to be true, that his defenses were very

low.

[starroute]

5. The typography was absolutely authentic

There were a lot of threads here on the subject -- I participated in many of them.

The typeface matched that of an IBM proportional-spacing typewriter of the period. It did not match any current computer fonts.

There were many small irregularities in the letters that are typical of typewriters -- letters that are not quite on an even baseline, letters that are slightly distorted by the impression on the paper made by the letter before them, things of that sort.

Also, several of the letters had a typed heading that was slightly slanted and off center compared to the body of the letter. That sort of thing comes about when you informally create your own letterhead by typing the heading on one sheet of paper and then making multiple xerox copies.

I don't dispute that Rather was set up by being handed copies (not originals) that could not be authenticated. But the letters themselves were real.

[Chemical Bill]

9. It was more an example of the corporate media...

choosing to pay attention to the blogger raising the stink, and not actually looking at the facts. And some people still believe that Rather was proved wrong, which he never was. I hear you, even if some here don't.

Bill

[FLPanhandle]

6. They dangled the bait and Rather snapped it up

As a journalist, he is responsible for confirming the authenticity of his material. He failed big time. They counted on sloppy journalism and got it.

[FreakinDJ]

7. He trusted his source

He never named the source but referred to him as an old trusted friend on several occasions.

But yes it was the same old disinformation technique that dismantled LIHOP as well

[FraDon]

8. Yet another dis-information / innoculation black op.

We've seen these operations for centuries; they can be very expensive to pull off.

History stays re-written by the winners.

[spotbird]

11. Bingo. nt

[leveymg]

12. When in doubt, express it. If Rather had said CBS obtained copies of documents, and not claimed

they were originals, this would have avoided a great deal of trouble. The issue would have then reverted to the authenticity of the content, rather than whether these were original TANG files from 1973.

[robcon]

13. All Rather had to do was admit that the docs were not authentic.

The info on Bush was correct: the documents he proffered were forgeries.