CBS memos: fake.
After CBS has based stories on several memos, verified by a rather-shady handwriting expert, the authenticity of those memos is under attack. One key point is that the memos were typed, not written, so a handwriting expert is of little use. Also, the text in the memos has “proportional spacing”, which is the official term for how the letter “i” takes less space on a page than the letter “m”, for example. Microsoft Word uses proportional spacing, but almost no typewriters in 1972 did, due to the complexity of the task. In addition, there is an issue with superscript, which is the “th” on 187th, which was also rare in typewriters of the time. The only typewriter known with those capabilities is the IBM Selectric II, which was introduced a few years earlier, but is believed to cost a rather hefty amount ($4,000 in 1972 money. That’s more than $15,000 today). However, the Selectric II had very limited proportional spacing capabilities, meaning that it can not space letters as well as Microsoft Word. And, indeed, it appears that the documents are spaced much better than a Selectric could produce. One final piece of evidence is curved commas “,” and apostrophes ’ (no quotes, because apostrophes and quotes look quite similar). Almost all typewriters used straight, blockish versions of these characters.
It seems that CBS’s documents were made in Microsoft word, possibly with Times New Roman font, printed, and Xeroxed over several times. When a document is Xeroxed, the copy is of lower quality than the original (it will become a bit blurry). If someone Xeroxes an original item, they can Xerox the copy again to make it appear older and more difficult to verify authenticity. If someone repeats this process, they may eventually blur text to the extent that it can not be read. It appears that these ‘memos’ were Xeroxed (faxing or scanning has similar effects as well) several times in this fashion to make them appear more authentic.
However, Times New Roman font dates back to the 1930’s, so it could be included on a typewriter, especially a very expensive one. The problem is that Jerry B. Killian, the man who reportedly wrote the memos, could not type (well, he could punch the keys, but couldn’t type at a decent speed). Instead, he wrote everything by hand. But Killian was not a copious note-taker, which he would need to be if he kept such copious notes.
Extensive research by sources like this guy proves beyond the reasonable doubt that these memos were forged. No typewriter can be used to make a perfectly centered heading on two different occasions, and which matches up with Times New Roman font perfectly.
CBS also has a source which says that Bush finished his National Guard duty, and the pdf can be found here. I believe this can take a while to download. The belief that these are forgeries has gone to the extent that a $10,000 reward is being offered for anyone who can recreate the memos on a typewriter from 1972 or earlier (here is the link if you really want to try).
Finally, the family of Mr. Killian has come out against CBS. Not only did they claim he doesn’t keep extensive notes or type, but they say the man also liked George W. Bush (Jerry B. Killian died in 1984). One of CBS’s main supporters of the memo, quoted here, has now stated that he was mislead by CBS, and the man who requested that Bush’s record be “sugar coat(ed)” was honorably discharged a year and a half before the memos were written.
And here’s my own contribution: the May 19th, 1972 memo claim Bush “says that he is working on another campaign for his dad.” From 1971 to 1973, George H. W. Bush was a delegate to the UN, and I have found no records of H. W. Bush running for office in 1972. It may be possible that Bush was working in a position under his father, who wanted Nixon to be reelected, but that is very unlikely.
It seems that CBS’s documents were made in Microsoft word, possibly with Times New Roman font, printed, and Xeroxed over several times. When a document is Xeroxed, the copy is of lower quality than the original (it will become a bit blurry). If someone Xeroxes an original item, they can Xerox the copy again to make it appear older and more difficult to verify authenticity. If someone repeats this process, they may eventually blur text to the extent that it can not be read. It appears that these ‘memos’ were Xeroxed (faxing or scanning has similar effects as well) several times in this fashion to make them appear more authentic.
However, Times New Roman font dates back to the 1930’s, so it could be included on a typewriter, especially a very expensive one. The problem is that Jerry B. Killian, the man who reportedly wrote the memos, could not type (well, he could punch the keys, but couldn’t type at a decent speed). Instead, he wrote everything by hand. But Killian was not a copious note-taker, which he would need to be if he kept such copious notes.
Extensive research by sources like this guy proves beyond the reasonable doubt that these memos were forged. No typewriter can be used to make a perfectly centered heading on two different occasions, and which matches up with Times New Roman font perfectly.
CBS also has a source which says that Bush finished his National Guard duty, and the pdf can be found here. I believe this can take a while to download. The belief that these are forgeries has gone to the extent that a $10,000 reward is being offered for anyone who can recreate the memos on a typewriter from 1972 or earlier (here is the link if you really want to try).
Finally, the family of Mr. Killian has come out against CBS. Not only did they claim he doesn’t keep extensive notes or type, but they say the man also liked George W. Bush (Jerry B. Killian died in 1984). One of CBS’s main supporters of the memo, quoted here, has now stated that he was mislead by CBS, and the man who requested that Bush’s record be “sugar coat(ed)” was honorably discharged a year and a half before the memos were written.
And here’s my own contribution: the May 19th, 1972 memo claim Bush “says that he is working on another campaign for his dad.” From 1971 to 1973, George H. W. Bush was a delegate to the UN, and I have found no records of H. W. Bush running for office in 1972. It may be possible that Bush was working in a position under his father, who wanted Nixon to be reelected, but that is very unlikely.
posted by Chris at
2:34 PM
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