INDCJournal: Powerline and INDC Credited

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September 10, 2004

Powerline and INDC Credited

Posted by Bill

The morning after the "60 Minutes II" airing, the Internet was buzzing with claims that the documents were forged.

Powerlineblog first aired speculation that there was persuasive evidence from the typefaces and spacing that the documents supposedly prepared in the age of typewriters in the early 1970s showed the unmistakable characteristics of computer printing.

Another blogger, Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal, who had read Powerline, said, "I decided to find a top typeface expert and ran his analysis on my Web site."

Ardolino's expert, Philip D. Bouffard, is a nationally recognized forensic authority in typewriter and electronic typefaces.

Bouffard has the largest collection of full letter impact typewriter specimens in a private collection today. Having worked at NCR and a forensic laboratory for more than 30 years, Bouffard still works with entities such as the State of Ohio on Medicare fraud cases.

Bouffard said the CBS documents appear to have been copied about 10 times in the state he saw them. Nevertheless, he states, "All the documents have been created on the same printer. And the proportional spacing and the common characteristics of numbers like 4 and 7 and letters like lower case c and upper case G are beyond the capabilities of any of the typewriter impact specimens I have in my collection. The centering of headings is also beyond the capabilities of any typewriter I know of."

His conclusion: "It is remotely possible there is some typewriter that has the capability to do all this ... but it is more likely these documents were generated in the common Times New Roman font and printed out on a computer printer that did not exist at the time they were supposedly created."

Unfortunately, no mention of LGF's document overlay (or any of the others). But still, I think this calls for some giddy homespun Dan Ratherisms about the blogosphere:

"That's crackling like a hickory fire!"

"Could be game set and match Republican bloggers."

"That's tight as the pages in a book."

"The blogosphere has aced its first midterm."

"It's beginning to get exciting as the Democrats' fingernails are starting to sweat."

"If a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a hand gun."

Wait a minute ... "if a frog had side pockets?"

What the Hell does that even mean?

You know, Dan may be an agenda-driven, irresponsible journalist and a pompous, dictator-coddling shill, but ... I'm going to miss him.

UPDATE: NY Post mentions LGF, Powerline.

Posted by Bill at September 10, 2004 08:29 AM | TrackBack (5)

Comments

This is laughable. You can create an exact replica of the August 18th memo in about two minutes with Microsoft Word. Just use 12 point Times New Roman. You don't have to change the margins or anything. I typed the whole memo in and the word wrapping was identical. The position of the date at the top of the memo was puzzling. Just tab the date over 8 tabs and the date is positioned exactly has it is found in the memo.

Posted by: Ralph at September 10, 2004 09:14 AM

True, Dan Rather may have broadcast an obvious forgery, but that doesn't mean he's dishonest:

"I think the fact that someone has told a lie, even a big lie or maybe several big lies over a lifetime, does not mean that they're an inherently dishonest person..."

"..I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things."

If one delves a little further back into the archives, Dan has a more trenchant self-analysis:

"Well, you know, I've been a dumb-ass all my life."

Posted by: Knuckledragger at September 10, 2004 09:20 AM

All right, Bill--Congrats! A major newspaper mention for your investigative journalism--excellent!

Posted by: Lornkanaga at September 10, 2004 09:27 AM

Congratulations on good work. I'm starting to feel a little sorry for the DNC and Dan Rather. Not really.

Dan Patterson

Posted by: Dan Patterson at September 10, 2004 10:12 AM

Game, set and match to the bloggers, er, I mean digital brownshirts. Rather was, is and will always be a tool.

Posted by: orfi at September 10, 2004 10:35 AM

EXPOSED!

Posted by: Iraqi Intelligence at September 10, 2004 11:53 AM

Congratulations Bill. I see this as a huge moment, where bloggers are now viewed as credible enough to be sources for MSM stories. Of course, we knew that all along ...

Posted by: Jeff Brokaw at September 10, 2004 12:26 PM

"Worst Liberal press Meltdown since three mile island...."

"Damn those self-righteous bloggers...Damn the internet...This full metal jacket free flowing communications crap is making the lives of the DNC spindogs a living hell"... 1st ammendment anyone...

UPDATE: CBS has issued a statement that they stand by their original reports and that the documents are legitimate. ( Screw Killians Wife and Son...What the hell would they know )

Posted by: Hunter at September 10, 2004 01:10 PM

We need more Ratherisms!

"Reveal my sources? I'm puckered up tight as a duck's ass!"

"This story's gonna be hot as the blacktop on Highway 121 in July,"

"And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't been for you meddling bloggers!"

Posted by: Mike G in San Diego at September 10, 2004 03:38 PM