September 15, 2004
Bill Burkett: Source or Forger?
~10:41pm~ EST
JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH ABILENE KINKOS: Bill Burkett has a standing account with the Kinkos in Abilene Texas, and while the lady who answered the phone would not be more specific she did say Burkett was in there last week she waited on him on last (a week ago) Tuesday....
And, via BeldarBlog:
I just checked the file properties (Open the doc in Acrobat, go to "File" & click on "Document Properties"). The CBS News PDF I examined was authored on September 8 using an Adobe 5.0 plug-in for Windows. It was not modified.
Maybe Bill "Trashcan" Burkett faxed the phony documents to CBS on Tuesday and CBS saved them in PDF format the next day.
That's a quick turnaround and doesn't leave CBS much time to do their well-known, thorough, painstaking research.
Perhaps this is a red herring. Even if Burkett is the source, he could have faxed them to CBS weeks ago.
Update: Allah has clarified the rank abbreviations. "1st Lt" and "Lt. Col." are correct for USAF. We must remove that item from the lengthy list of items pointing to forgery, and let Burkett "back into" suspicion as the forger, as well as source.
Struck out info below is incorrect:
Update: Read "In Search of Utopia's" Trackbacked post. David makes a good point. I hope he will persuade Kos, Atrios, and the rest of the Lefties to adopt this position. Then, having achieved consensus on the fact of the forgeries, a "united" blogosphere will call for Rather's head on a pike.
Update: Anyone see this comment by Bill Burkett?
"Of the files that I saw within the 15 gallon waste can were numerous documents which detailed why 1LT George Bush was grounded from flying including a two-page counseling statement signed by LTC Jerry Killian."
http://www.steveverdon.com/archives/politics/001110.html
Dated Aug 14, signed Bill Burkett, I presume it is "authentic." And, as far as Mr. Burkett goes, possibly exculpatory. Why would he use the correct abbreviations "1LT" and "LTC" there and then erroneously use "1 st Lt" and "Lt. Col." in the forged docs?
Let's be careful about "LTC Burkett," as one of his buddies referred to him in today's NYTimes. There is plenty to suggest that he is a source of rumor-mongering about Bush's TANG service.
But the use of "OETR," "1 st Lt," and "Lt. Col." in the docs suggest a non-military forger. Indeed, many bloggers included that point among the many problems with the docs. Thus, their use would tend to argue against Burkett as the forger. Any thoughts?
We need to get it right. We are the pajamahadeen. We are not some agenda-driven Conniving Blowhard in Suspenders sitting in front of a news camera, spreading rumors and half-truths. We are the internet, the blogosphere. We have an obligation to be factual.
Posted by Commissar at September 15, 2004 11:28 PM
Commissar, I think you guys listen to me more than they do. I am on more conservative Blogrolls than Leftie ones. Personally I think you should make me an honorary member. LOL!
Extracted from: David Anderson at September 16, 2004 12:09 AMDavid,
The Lefties dont listen to you? Try this (in 16 point font, if possible) "BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!! BUSH=HITLER!!"
They'll fall all over you (Wonkette, too).
I'm sure that is because you at least make your points intelligently and do not show a deep hatred like so many others though David. We respect that.
Extracted from: Chad Evans at September 16, 2004 12:47 AMYeah, I posted that Steveverdon link with the Burkett entry on my blog earlier tonight.
I was mostly interested in hearing his description of his encephalitis, but did notice and mention the trashcan bit.
I think Mr. Burkett is a whole bubble off as a result of his brain infection.
If I were big media, I's sure as hell be bribing the night clerk for a check of the records on the machine.
Extracted from: SarahW at September 16, 2004 02:46 AMThoughts on this in your post above:
"But the use of "OETR," "1 st Lt," and "Lt. Col." in the docs suggest a non-military forger. Indeed, many bloggers included that point among the many problems with the docs. Thus, their use would tend to argue against Burkett as the forger. Any thoughts?"
Plenty: Burkett is sounding more and more like a "Lee Harvey Oswald"-like patsy! According to Drudge, his lawyer (David Van Os) is a Democratic Activist:
http://www.vanosforsupremecourt.com/vanos_biography.htm
Extracted from: OhianForBush at September 16, 2004 10:01 AM- Yes ... some thoughts indeed ... Think collaboration - B is a prolific writer, albeit a fruitcake with a heavy ( self delusionary ) grudge against Bush... H has a history of fraudulent documents having tried to peddle a set to a DNC mavin a few years back....
Extracted from: Hunter at September 16, 2004 10:11 AM- B/H/DNC/CBS/Mary/various 527's - Yes, a look at kinko's fax records would be, in the words of Arte Johnson, "veddy veddy interesting comrades"...
Extracted from: Hunter at September 16, 2004 10:20 AMAny thoughts?
Yes. The problem with the ranks was not the format, it was the periods. Army and Air Force use different abbreviation styles.
Note the differences between the branches.
So the abbreviation style either points to non-military or someone trying to guess how the USAF does things.
(side note: while the official way to abbreviate the Lts in the Air Force is "2nd Lt" and "1st Lt" (no periods), more and more people are getting away with using "2Lt" and "1Lt" (note the last letter is not capitalized).
Extracted from: nathan at September 16, 2004 10:40 AMZOINKS!
There is evidence that CBS assisted with the forgery. If you look at the following post on LGF:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12612_Killian_Memos_Crumpled_and_Smoothed_Out
you see that enhancing one of the memos reveals detailed crumple marks.
If the memo was crumpled before it was sent from Abilene to CBS, those marks wouldn't be so detailed, because fax machines don't transmit in grayscale.
The memo had to be crumpled *after* it was received from Abilene, and *before* it was scanned into an Adobe file.
Someone at CBS crumpled the document to make it look aged.
CBS is an *active participant* in this forgery. It should be prosecuted for fraud to the full extent of the law.
Extracted from: Shaggy at September 16, 2004 11:02 AM"Someone at CBS crumpled the document to make it look aged."
Maybe. Or maybe there's at least one grownup at CBS who saw what was coming out of the fax machine and recognized where it belonged. Then Mary Mapes retrieved it from the circular file, smoothed it out....
Extracted from: Queenie Thrale at September 16, 2004 12:50 PMIf I were an enterprising reporter, I would get my behind down to the Abilene Kinko's and start checking the temp files of their rental computers. Just in case.
Also, as former company clerk of a Marine unit, let me just say: Officers do NOT type their own documents.
Extracted from: Curtis the Marine at September 16, 2004 01:13 PMThese are good reasons to move slow on the Burkett theory. I've been partial to the Marty Heldt hypothesis, myself, because he's an Iowas farmer and Sen. Harkin went off on a high-risk rant when this thing broke.
Maybe CBS contacted Burkett to confirm the story, instead of starting with him?
Extracted from: Scott W. Somerville at September 16, 2004 01:46 PM
