Comments: Buckhead Revealed...Hello Memogate!

He was also on the GOP Fulton County Registration & Election Board,
http://www.fultongop.org/committee_2001.asp

Posted by Jimmy Dare at September 20, 2004 12:57 AM

Not true that it would be unlikely for someone with MacDougald's background to notice that the fonts looked fishy. I worked in a law office, and believe me, producing reams of paper with words on them is what they do. Not to mention having to read sheafs of briefs submitted by opposing attorneys.

The fact that his first guess was Palatino shows that he does, indeed, know a thing or two about fonts and his mention that the Wang systems which were common in the 80s used monospaced fonts. This guy was definitely around word processing, unlike reporters; thus their clueless ruminations on the subject.

Had earlier poster TankerKC not noted during the 60 Minutes broadcast that the documents didn't look like those produced when he was in the USAF and sent up the first red flag, Buckhead may not have checked them out as he did. But somebody would have; there were too many formatting, terminology and factual errors not to have been noticed by others. In fact, two of CBS' own document examiners warned CBS there were problems with the memos.

What is odd is that Burkett himself wouldn't have noticed the flaws. One guy who said he's no expert said as soon as he saw 01 August 1972 flash on the screen, he knew it was wrong, because in those days the military never used an "0" in a date. It would have been 1 Aug 1972. And the signature block should have been on the left. What was Burkett thinking???

Posted by DianaM at September 26, 2004 04:47 AM

Re: your theory that Karl Rove dreamed up the idea after hearing that Ben Barnes was speaking out, Burkett's own attorney gives a different timeline, saying CBS tried all summer to pressure and coax his client:

"David Van Os said that it was CBS’ intention from the outset to cast Bill Burkett in an unfavorable light. “Dan Rather and CBS were intending all along to use the interview to dump on (Burkett),” Van Os said. “What we got was a bunch of mealy-mouthed bull****.”

Van Os said that Burkett had to think long and hard about what to do with the documents in his possession. “Bill was very reluctant to give CBS the documents; because he did not want to become caught up in what he knew would be created if he did,” Van Os said.

“Bill did not go to CBS, CBS came to him. CBS spent all summer trying to pressure and coax Bill into letting them have copies of the documents that they believed he had.”

Here's the link: CBS Source's Attorney: "Bill Burkett Just Got Burnt by Dan Rather"

Posted by DianaM at September 26, 2004 05:01 AM

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