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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Orcastraiter who wrote (16231)	9/11/2004 3:22:21 AM
From: Alan Smithee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Let's have CBS produce the originals and turn them over to an independent typeface expert. How much you want to bet they won't do it? [My daughter was on TV tonight - the local CBS affiliate (how ironic) - she's a cheerleader, and they focused in on her for a good 5 seconds or so at the local football game. Very cool.]

To: Orcastraiter who wrote (16231)	9/11/2004 11:48:52 AM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 90947

Austin - The man named in a disputed memo as exerting pressure to "sugarcoat" President Bush's military record left the Texas Air National Guard a year and a half before the memo was supposedly written, his own service record shows. An order obtained by the Dallas Morning News shows that Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt was honorably discharged on March 1, 1972. CBS News reported this week that a memo in which Staudt was described as interfering with officers' negative evaluations of Bush's service was dated Aug. 18, 1973. That added to mounting questions about the authenticity of documents that suggest Bush sought special favors and did not fulfill his service. Staudt, who lives in New Braunfels, Texas, did not return calls seeking comment. His discharge paper was among a packet of documents obtained by the Dallas Morning News from official sources during 1999 research into Bush's Guard record. A CBS staffer stood by the story, suggesting that Staudt could have continued to exert influence over Guard officials. But a former high-ranking Guard official disputed that, saying retirement would have left Staudt powerless over remaining officials. The authenticity of the memo and three others included in Wednesday's 60 Minutes report came in for heavy criticism Friday, prompting an unusual on-air defense of the original work. Experts on typography said the documents appeared to have been computer-drafted on equipment not available in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And the family of the officer who supposedly wrote them, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984, said it wasn't his nature to keep detailed personal notes. In its network news broadcast Friday, CBS said the documents were supported by both unnamed witnesses and others, including document examiners. Earlier, CBS anchor Dan Rather said he had heard nothing to make him question the legitimacy of the memos. He attributed the backlash to partisan politics and competitive journalism. "This story is true. The questions we raised about then-Lieutenant Bush's National Guard service are serious and legitimate," he said. "Until and unless someone shows me definitive proof that they are not, I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumor mill." The interview concluded before the Dallas Morning News determined the date of Staudt's departure, so that issue was not included. But a CBS staffer with extensive knowledge of the story said later that the departure doesn't derail the story. "From what we've learned, Staudt remained very active after he retired," the staffer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "He was a very bullying type, and that could have continued." In the 60 Minutes report, Rather said of the memo's contents: "Killian says Colonel Buck Staudt, the man in charge of the Texas Air National Guard, is putting on pressure to 'sugarcoat' an evaluation of Lt. Bush." azcentral.com