It sure looks that way now. In just one of the examples of what Power Line blog calls "the mainstream media's frantic effort to drag John Kerry over the finish line", the CBS "newsmagazine" show 60 Minutes used what now appear to have been forged documents that purported to show George W. Bush failing to meet certain National Guard duty requirements. Here is the Power Line post "The Sixty First Minute", which is long, link-filled, and self-explanatory. This post is also the hottest story in the alternative media, having an amazing 395 trackback links as of this writing.
The Associated Press (themselves the perpetrators of another outright lie in the service of the flagging and panicked Kerry campaign) has now noted the rapidly spreading consensus that the documents used by CBS are fraudulent:
News reports have said the memos, first obtained by CBS's "60 Minutes," were found in Jerry Killian's personal records. Gary Killian said his father wasn't in the habit of bringing his work home with him, and that the documents didn't come from the family.The personnel chief in Killian's unit at the time also said he believes the documents are fake.
Independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software, which wasn't available when the documents were supposedly written in 1972 and 1973...
"I'm virtually certain these were computer-generated," Lines said after reviewing copies of the documents at her office in Paradise Valley, Ariz. She produced a nearly identical document using her computer's Microsoft Word software.
The guys at Power Line are to be commended for their work on this story and the AP "Crowd That Didn't Boo" hoax as well. The sobering fact is that before the blogosphere, they used to get away with this shit.
UPDATE 9/9: The stories are breaking fast and furious. Drudge is now reporting an internal investigation by CBS regarding use of the forgeries. Congratulations Power Line! To quote your last post..."CBS is toast."
UPDATE 9/10: Commentary from Power Line's Hindrocket on the obsolescence of the "dinosaur media":
Tomorrow morning, dinosaur media across the country will be headlining the 60 Minutes "scoop" as a blow to the Bush campaign. Before their newspapers are even printed, not only is the story obsolete, but CBS is in full retreat. As Stephen Hayes reported earlier today, Power Line "led the charge" against the 60 Minutes hoax today. But the credit really goes to the incredible power of the internet. We knew nothing; all of our information came from our readers. Many thousands of smart, well-informed people who only a few years ago would have had no recourse but perhaps to write a letter to their local newspaper, now can communicate and share their expertise in real time, through sites like this one. The power of the medium is incredible, as we've seen over the last fourteen hours.Thanks to our readers; we were able to publish only a small fraction of the information we got on the fake documents. But it was more than enough.
UPDATE 9/10: Scott Ott of Scrappleface has a scoop: "1972 Email Casts Doubt on Bush Guard Service"
UPDATE 9/10: Stephen Hayes asks the experts.
UPDATE 9/10: Power Line updates their story:
A half hour ago, Dan Rather went on CNN and said that he knows the Jerry Killian documents to be authentic, and knows that they are not forgeries. Therefore, he said, there will be no retraction, no correction, and -- apparently -- no investigation......What does this mean? Last night, it was reported that senior executives at CBS News were promising an investigation. Today, Dan Rather is personally vouching for the documents' authenticity. This can only mean that Rather himself is the source of the documents. This makes sense; if a staffer on the 60 Minutes payroll had come up with the purported records, the story never would have run without the documents being authenticated. Who has the power to drive this story on to the air without an investigation that would include, for example, contacting Killian's widow, or his son? Dan Rather does.
Now I get it. The documents are not forgeries because CBS and Dan Rather say that they are not forgeries. Nothing to see here, people. Move along.
Posted by dan at September 9, 2004 10:49 PM