Forgery feeding frenzy: Media falling afoul of the facts

[struggle4progress]

In an effort to obscure overwhelming evidence that President George W. Bush failed to fulfill his duty in the Air National Guard, conservatives have initiated the claim -- now echoed widely by the media -- that memos revealed by CBS News' 60 Minutes on September 8 -- and purportedly written by one of Bush's commanders in 1972 and 1973 -- are fake. The memos, if authentic, provide additional evidence that Bush was given preferential treatment and ignored a direct order. The case for their authenticity is strong. <snip>

Many news outlets and conservative publications have falsely reported that the documents' "use of the superscripted letters 'th' in phrases such as 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron" raise suspicion because 1970s-era typewriters were incapable of producing such letters. In fact, journalist and weblogger Joshua Micah Marshall has pointed out that superscripted letters appear on other documents in Bush's military file that are known to be authentic. Moreover, IBM released a typewriter in the 1960s, the Selectric II, which was capable of producing superscript type. <snip>

Another widely reported claim against the authenticity of the 60 Minutes documents is that their use of so-called proportional spacing -- a typesetting method in which varying letters occupy varying widths on the line, such as an "i" occupying less space than a "w." Press accounts have cited many so-called "experts" claiming that typewriters with this feature was rare and would not have been in wide use in the Guard in the 1970s. But in fact, typewriters with proportional spacing had been available since 1941, when IBM introduced the first model. Typewriter advertisements from 1953 and 1954 suggest the feature was widely available. President Richard Nixon's official letter of resignation from 1974 used proportional spacing, as do many White House documents from the 1960s available on an online archive. <snip>

Several media outlets and conservative pundits have suggested that the apostrophes used in the CBS memos add credibility to the charge that the documents are forged. However, print advertisements for the IBM Executive Electric typewriter from as early as 1953 reveal that this typewriter featured a curlicue-type apostrophe similar to the type used in the CBS memos.

<snip>http://mediamatters.org/items/200409100010

Reasonably good counter-attack. On the other hand, the real story may be the Boston Globe documents, not the CBS documents, and all this sound and fury may be distracting from the Boston Globe story ...

[Julian English]

1. And speaking of the Boston Globe, Typography expert reverses himself

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/11/authenticity_backed_on_bush_documents/

After CBS News on Wednesday trumpeted newly discovered documents that referred to a 1973 effort to ''sugar coat" President Bush's service record in the Texas Air National Guard, the network almost immediately faced charges that the documents were forgeries, with typography that was not available on typewriters used at that time.

But specialists interviewed by the Globe and some other news organizations say the specialized characters used in the documents, and the type format, were common to electric typewriters in wide use in the early 1970s, when Bush was a first lieutenant.

(SNIP)

Bouffard, the Ohio document specialist, said that he had dismissed the Bush documents in an interview with The New York Times because the letters and formatting of the Bush memos did not match any of the 4,000 samples in his database. But Bouffard yesterday said that he had not considered one of the machines whose type is not logged in his database: the IBM Selectric Composer. Once he compared the Bush memos to Selectric Composer samples obtained from Interpol, the international police agency, Bouffard said his view shifted.

[struggle4progress]

2. Yippie!

:evilgrin:

And welcome to DU! :toast:

[glitch]

6. Oh brother. 4000 samples but not one of the Composer? yeah, ok. nt

[Skittles]

11. ya

it is unbelieveable the stuff we are asked to believe

[Raster]

8. I followed your link. It took me here..."Authenticity backed on Bush...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/11/authenticity_backed_on_bush_documents/

Authenticity backed on Bush documents
By Francie Latour and Michael Rezendes, Globe Staff | September 11, 2004

After CBS News on Wednesday trumpeted newly discovered documents that referred to a 1973 effort to ''sugar coat" President Bush's service record in the Texas Air National Guard, the network almost immediately faced charges that the documents were forgeries, with typography that was not available on typewriters used at that time.

But specialists interviewed by the Globe and some other news organizations say the specialized characters used in the documents, and the type format, were common to electric typewriters in wide use in the early 1970s, when Bush was a first lieutenant.

Philip D. Bouffard, a forensic document examiner in Ohio who has analyzed typewritten samples for 30 years, had expressed suspicions about the documents in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday, one in a wave of similar media reports. But Bouffard told the Globe yesterday that after further study, he now believes the documents could have been prepared on an IBM Selectric Composer typewriter available at the time.

Analysts who have examined the documents focus on several facets of their typography, among them the use of a curved apostrophe, a raised, or superscript, ''th," and the proportional spacing between the characters -- spacing which varies with the width of the letters. In older typewriters, each letter was alloted the same space.

Those who doubt the documents say those typographical elements would not have been commonly available at the time of Bush's service. But such characters were common features on electric typewriters of that era, the Globe determined through interviews with specialists and examination of documents from the period. In fact, one such raised ''th," used to describe a Guard unit, the 187th, appears in a document in Bush's official record that the White House made public earlier this year.

<snip, more>

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/11/authenticity_backed_on_bush_documents/

[Karenina]

3. This is seriously FUBAR

and is also Exhibit A for how far gone the fascist *media manipulation is.

Bob Mintz hears the *dauphin claim he was in his unit. He scratches his head having NEVER MET HIM, calls one of his homeboys and asks, "Did YOU ever see him?" Errrraaa... no. Mintz is game to say so, FILM AT 11. HE can PROVE he was where says he was. CASE CLOSED.

And all the rest of y'all are in a feeding frenzy over IBM typewriter font balls. This is INSANE.

[struggle4progress]

4. I think the Boston Globe story is at least as good as the Mintz story. eom

[Karenina]

5. My question is simply

WHAT IS NOT TO GET??? :freak: :wtf: :freak:

[struggle4progress]

7. I agree re: CBS story. But the Globe story also has the ...

"what's not to get" quality: Bush signed paper agreeing to drill with an MA guard unit when he went back to school -- and there's absolutely NO QUESTION that he never did so.

[DaveofCali]

9. Red Herring anyone?

The Right Wing KNOWS how to avoid a scandal, by making a counter scandal!

They are going to question the authenticity of these memos all the way till election day! Remember, the truth doesn't matter, its what people will believe.

They are stalling the effects of the memos. And yes, I believe they are doing this so that the effects of these memos, i.e. the showing of how Bush is a fraud, will not get known!

Classic Red Herring! You got to admit the amount of aggressive, centralized leadership and strategy the Right Wing has.....

[Catfight]

10. Indeed, very good poist Daveo. n/t