It was the first public allegation that CBS News used forged memos in its report questioning President Bush's National Guard service — a highly technical explanation posted within hours of airtime citing proportional spacing and font styles.
But it did not come from an expert in typography or typewriter history as some first thought. Instead, it was the work of Harry W. MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes who helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Times has found.
Yes, that's right, the mysterious "Buckhead"--who challenged the authenticity of the TANG memos within four hours of CBS airing its story--is a Republican operative. Gee, whoda thunk it?
Reached by telephone today, MacDougald, 46, confirmed that he is Buckhead, but declined to answer questions about his political background or how he knew so much about the CBS documents so fast.
"You can ask the questions but I'm not going to answer them," he told The Times. "I'm just going to stick to doing no interviews."
Think that might be because we'll find out stuff MacDougald wants kept hidden? Like maybe he had a hand in getting the dubious memos made and into CBS's hands in the first place? Or, alternatively, that he knows they're real and can actually provide a provenance trail?
And, of course, the RNC continues to deny knowing anything about any of this. Yeah, right.
1 comment:
It's amazing how hard it is to find objective news and information about this issue. Every report I've seen pretty much agrees that they are completely fabricated. Now, I don't know about you, but when every news vendor in American tells me one thing so quickly and without much evidence, I have to figure something strange is going on.
I'm not saying these documents are real (in fact, they probably aren't), just that it's odd there are no actual news stories about it. Also... there's the greater issue that it's actually a non-issue. Who really cares how W. served in the National Guard? This is what's going to make or break this election? How sad is that?
Post a Comment