Bloggers drive Bush memo probe
The Bush memo story has shown the Internet's broader power of linking thousands of readers together, as much as it has demonstrated the intrinsic power of blogs themselves.Not long after CBS aired its story on "60 Minutes II," dealing with memos that allegedly showed President Bush's Texas National Guard superiors raising questions about his service, a pseudonymous message board posting on the conservative FreeRepublic.com Web site called the documents a hoax.
This kind of rhetoric is common on that site's message boards, but the author asserted that the typewriter font used in the CBS memos was anachronistic and would not have come into common use until after the alleged date of the memos.
Thursday morning, while most news services were still catching up to the CBS story, Minneapolis attorney Scott Johnson posted a link to the FreeRepublic claim on his conservative-leaning Power Line blog. The item sparked an eruption of e-mail from readers, ranging from former military officers to an IBM typewriter repairman, many doing detailed, expert-sounding analysis of the memos' typography. Johnson posted excerpts from the messages, most of which said the memos were likely to have been forgeries.
Other conservative bloggers chimed in, posting comparisons to Microsoft Word printouts that they said looked virtually identical. Liberal bloggers spoke up too, working to dismantle the skeptics' claims.
Ultimately the Drudge Report linked to Johnson's site. The resulting traffic took Power Line temporarily offline, but helped raise the typographical questions to a national level.
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Discussion
4 comments about 'Bloggers drive Bush memo probe'So what's the verdict? Did he or didn't he?
I think we must remember that we are electing a president in November.
What a minute, we elect electors. And they vote for the president. That is how Gore won the popular vote but still lost.
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Posted by nidz at September 20, 2004 3:43 AM
I am encouraged by the credibility gained through the role bloggers played in the recent CBS Bush documents hoax.
I would now like to challenge all bloggers to focus on finding people who served in the Alabama unit of the National Guard Bush was assigned to who are willing to testify to the fact that he actually showed up and served his time.
If he was there, this should not be a problem. But, if these people don't exist it shows the truth to the story that Bush did not complete his military obligation.
Posted by Dave Satre at September 24, 2004 12:29 PM
As someone who is new to Blogging, I consider this to be a great medium for the average American like myself to have his voice and opinions heard. Like most people, and for far too long, I have listened to politicians and other politically connected powerbrokers tell me how I should feel about an issue. I believe these people were able to do this because they controlled the message and the avenues for distributing that message. Now, with the power of technology being harnessed in innovative ways, which allow millions of people to communicate and share information with each other, the common man and woman now not only controls the message but defines it as well.The powers that be must now listen to us because we are certainly capable of listening to and communicating with each other. I think the Rather case and the Lott case should prove to those in power that the American voter should never be underestimated nor taken for granted again. It is my opinion that Blogging will prove to be the defining moment in American politics, at least in this era of the 21st century. I look forward to debating the issues of the day and, hopefully, providing some food for thought as well. APR
Posted by AProudRepublican at September 27, 2004 8:21 AM
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