Joe and Ice:
First. the memo: There was no need to check forgery on a ny deeper scale than a cursory glance. It was printed with an inkjet rpinter in a font no typewriter in the world has. It is not written in military style numbering, though terminology is correct.
Second, Dan Rahter served as a war correspondant for a number of years. He would have easily been able to recognize a military document of the era in question. His only excuse would possibly be some for of dementia.
Third, if the US military had any reaon to doubt Bushes service, they would have pursued it rigorously. They have done so for much more prominent people and on less evidence.
Forth, I am a libertarian. Not a Republican or a Liberal. I believe in the peioples rights ahead of the states. I am just merely pointing out that not all journalist have been neccesarily fair or honest.
First: You have offered nothing in support of your claim that the Killian Documents were false. You have asserted they were false. Please see what the document experts said about the documents:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathergate
Response of the document examiners
Prior to airing, all four of the examiners responded to Mapes' request for document analysis, though only two to Mapes directly:[44]
Emily Will noted discrepancies in the signatures on the memos, and had questions about the letterhead, the proportional spacing of the font, the superscripted "th" and the improper formatting of the date. Will requested other documents to use for comparison.[45]
Linda James was "unable to reach a conclusion about the signature" and noted that the superscripted "th" was not in common use at the time the memos were allegedly written; she later recalled telling CBS, "the two memos she looked at 'had problems,'"[45]
James Pierce concluded that both of the documents were written by the same person and that the signature matched Killian's from the official Bush records. Only one of the two documents provided to Pierce had a signature. James Pierce wrote, "
the balance of the Jerry B. Killian signatures appearing on the photocopied questioned documents are consistent and in basic agreement," and stated that based on what he knew, "the documents in question are authentic."[46] However, Pierce also told Mapes he could not be sure if the documents had been altered because he was reviewing copies, not original documents.[47]
Marcel Matley's review was initially limited to Killian's signature on one of the Burkett documents, which he compared to signatures from the official Bush records. Matley "seemed fairly confident" that the signature was Killian's. On September 6, Matley was interviewed by Rather and Mapes and was provided with the other four documents obtained from CBS (he would prove to be the only reviewer to see these documents prior to the segment). Matley told Rather "he could not authenticate the documents due to the fact that they were poor quality copies."[48] In the interview, Matley told Rather that with respect to the signatures, they were relying on "poor material" and that there were inconsistencies in the signatures, but also replied "Yes," when asked if it would be safe to say the documents were written by the person who signed them.[49]
Both Emily Will and Linda James suggested to Mapes that CBS contact typewriter expert Peter Tytell. Associate producer Yvonne Miller left him a voicemail on September 7; he returned the call at 11 am on September 8 but was told they "did not need him anymore."[50]
Second: If the professional document examiners can not make a determination as to their veracity, how can you? At best the authencity of the Killian Documents are questionable. So how can you expect Rather to be more expert in document examination that the expert document examiners?
Third: The Texas Air National Guard is NOT the United States Military. It is a state sponsored milita which can be called into service of the Federal government. And when Bush junior was in the Texas Air National Guard, it was never activated for service in the armed forces of the United States.
Fourth: your description of your political persuasion is not relevant. Your are perpetuating a myth used by the right wing.
Fifth: The material contained in the Killian document was not all that earh shattering and is acknowledged to be truthful by Killian's secretary. Killian was Bush juniors commanding officer.
"The documents allegedly showed that Bush disobeyed orders while in the Guard, and had undue influence exerted on his behalf to improve his record, and included the following accusations:
An order directing Bush to submit to a physical examination.[30]
A note that Killian had grounded Bush from flying due to "failure to perform to USAF/TexANG standards," and for failure to submit to the physical examination as ordered. Killian also requested that a flight inquiry board be convened, as required by regulations, to examine the reasons for Bush's loss of flight status.[31]
A note of a telephone conversation with Bush in which Bush sought to be excused from "drill." The note records that Bush said he did not have the time to attend to his National Guard duties because he had a campaign to do (the Senate campaign of Winton M. Blount in Alabama).[32]
A note (labeled "CYA" for "cover your ass") claiming that Killian was being pressured from above to give Bush better marks in his yearly evaluation than he had earned. The note attributed to Killian says that he was being asked to "sugarcoat" Bush's performance. "I'm having trouble running interference [for Bush] and doing my job."[33] "
If you are saying that some journalist are biased and distort the news and facts, we are in agreement. Let's just be correct as to when facts are distored. I need to look no further than Fox News to see that occuring on any given day or to tune into Limbaugh and company.