CBS News | CBS: Bush Memo Story A ‘Mistake’ | September 20, 2004 21:42:19: “CBS: Bush Memo Story A ‘Mistake’
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Was there really a question by the staff? Let’s get serious. I looked at the documents over a week ago, when the first question of the authenticity came out, and after searching a few websites, and my own personal knowledge, came to the same conclusion.
In the high tech world of computers, it has become much more difficult to synthesize a typewriter. Typewriters are notorious for being much more like handwriting. Even using the same ball in a selectric typewriter, you may notice different drops, leading, and kerning. Besides that, if you look at probably 75% or more of military documents typed in the 60’s, 70’s and later, most are in Courier, a monospaced font-type.
If you need proof, look at John Kerry’s military record see:
There you will see mostly monospaced courier fonts.
Besides that, you will see that most Command Letterheads are pre-printed, even today. They use different color inks, and are typeset. While today, it is done with desktop publishing, back until the early 1990’s it was done on very expensive typesetting machines.
I think that what upsets me here, is that journalists need to keep their skeptical edge. I don’t care if it is CBS or FOX. Moreover, who were these experts that said this stuff was legitimate? I would call into question their ability in the future to verify any documents.