Reply #10: Not only that, the documents themselves may very well be genuine

[PurityOfEssence]

As the chorusing of the unswervatives drowns out reality, this is the real truth: CBS could not verify their authenticity because they didn't have originals. Once CBS withdrew it's allegation, the burden of proof rests on those who refer to them as "forgeries". The burden of proof rests on the accuser in this society, so anyone who dismisses them as fakes is deliberately lying, stupid, or too prejudiced to care.

Yes, these are mere leaves that obscure the real issues: Junior used privilege to get out of combat, sucked very expensive training at public expense with no intention of honoring his commitment, broke his contract in many ways, lied about it repeatedly and used position to destroy evidence and destroy people who tried to get the truth out. Even if the letters were forgeries, this is all provable and damning: he's a lazy, greedy, pampered coward without a scruple to his name.

The reason I carp on about the letters is that my instincts tell me that they're copies of authentic, personal memos, and if so, this makes the story so much more compelling to the average schmo: it shows that not only are these dicks liars of the first rank, they're vigorous propagandists and unscrupulous to the marrow.

Killian wasn't a typist, and the brevity of the memos (and at least one typo) fit with this kind of person's M.O. The letters may very well have been written on typewriters of the kind available, the signatures look authentic to those who know, and the whole thing fits with the CYA bent that he was on: he didn't like Junior, was offended by the flagrant favoritism and sloth, knew that records were vulnerable due to Junior's connections and gave a damn. To have made duplicate files in addition to the ones his secretary said existed at one point makes perfect sense. The only thing that casts doubt is some of the terminology, which has been pointed out to smell more like Army speak than Air Force lingo. This doesn't sound conclusive so far, but it sure as hell would be interesting to know.

For one thing, forensic analysts can examine the paper stock and toner and try to match it with copiers that would have been at the base where the documents were purloined.

I want this to come back. I want them to huff up with dudgeon and say it's been vetted and he's been "cleared" over and over. This just shows their despicable dishonesty with each step, and the Swift Boat lies can be thrown in their face to boot.