It's sure starting to point to Rove

Regardless of whether the CBS Killian documents are real or not, it's sure starting to look like they were planted at CBS, probably by Karl Rove or one of his toadies. This would be consistent with the Karl Rove modus operandi, originating with him bugging his own office and claiming his client's opponent did it, back when he was a functionary in Texas.



Turns out that "Buckhead", who first questioned the documents almost as soon as the 60 Minutes piece aired, is one Harry W. MacDougald, a lawyer in the Atlanta office of the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. He's also affiliated with the Federalist Society and the Southeastern Legal Foundation, where he serves on the legal advisory board.



How did he manage his analysis so quickly? Perhaps because he received the letters at the same time CBS did and therefore had plenty of time for analysis?



Think about it: If you were running the Kerry campaign, and you had information that would damage George W. Bush, wouldn't you blanket the media with it? Wouldn't you send it to EVERY MAJOR NEWS OUTLET, not just one? So why did these memos end up at CBS?



For one thing, CBS owner Viacom is headed up by Sumner Redstone, who's a Democrat and Kerry supporter. For another thing, there's no love lost between Dan Rather and the Bush family. Google the following words: Bush grudge Dan Rather and you'll see that the right is claiming a 16-year-grudge against the Bush family on the part of Dan Rather. Of course, more recently, Dan Rather was one of the biggest cheerleaders for Bush's war, which he explained in an interview on BBC Newsnight on May 16, 2002 as follows:

"It is an obscene comparison - you know, I am not sure I like it - but you know there was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tires around people's necks if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it is that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions, and to continue to bore in on the tough questions so often. And again, I am humbled to say, I do not except myself from this criticism."

But still...Rather is a favorite bête noire of the Bush family...so as the story of Bush's Air National Guard service came back into the forefront, wouldn't it make sense to try to debunk it by passing known forged documents to someone who'd be sure to give them lots of coverage?



Yes, I think they're forgeries, and I think their source is Karl Rove.



UPDATE. Mr. McDougald sure does get around. Digby notes that MacDougald, a Republican member of the Fulton County, GA Elections Board, wrote a letter to Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox inquiring about the security of Fulton County's touch-screen voting machines. As Digby notes:

That Buckhead is a real renaissance man, isn't he? Where does he find the time to study typography and forensic document investigation on top of his legal work for the VRWC, serving on the local elections board and spending vast amounts of time on Freerepublic? Busy, busy, busy.



One thing I might warn everyone about on this voting technology issue. Be advised that if we win and it's close, the set-up has been put in place for Buckhead and his grubby little friends to rush online claiming that we stole the election. I have a hundred bucks riding on it. Projection has gone beyond a psychological diagnosis to an actual propaganda tool.