CBS Guard Documents Traced to Texas Kinko’s

Drudge

CBS Guard Documents Traced to Texas Kinko’s…

WASH POST: Documents allegedly written by deceased officer that raised questions about Bush’s service with Texas National Guard bore markings showing they had been faxed to CBS News from a Kinko’s copy shop in Abilene, Texas… Developing…

So far, nothing at WaPo.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen the famous

Yes, I linked the image right from Drudge's site.  He does it, why shouldn't I?

without the story being at top center. I guess Category 5 hurricanes trump political scandals.

Update (2247): Here it is.

CBS Guard Documents Traced to Tex. Kinko’s (Michael Dobbs, WaPo) page A06

Documents allegedly written by a deceased officer that raised questions about President Bush’s service with the Texas Air National Guard bore markings showing they had been faxed to CBS News from a Kinko’s copy shop in Abilene, Tex., according to another former Guard officer who was shown the records by the network. The markings provide one piece of evidence suggesting a source for the documents, whose authenticity has been hotly disputed since CBS aired them in a “60 Minutes” broadcast Sept. 8. The network has declined to name the person who provided them, saying the source was confidential, or to explain how the documents came to light after more than three decades.

There is only one Kinko’s in Abilene, and it is 21 miles from the Baird, Tex., home of retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, who has been named by several news outlets as a possible source for the documents.

Robert Strong, who was one of three people interviewed by “60 minutes,” said he was shown copies of the documents by CBS anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes on Sept. 5, three days before the broadcast. He said at least one of the documents bore a faxed header indicating it had been sent from a Kinko’s in Abilene.

Not much here, really, but it is another piece in the puzzle. Others are somewhat more excited:

  • Chad Evans: “This news is huge! I cannot overstate this enough.”
  • Bill INDC: “Oh, This is Could Be Big”
  • John Little provides some dramatic new photographshopic evidence.
  • Steven Taylor tries his hand at some free verse: “The path leads, it would seem, to Abilene.”
  • Kevin McGehee chimes in with “People there won’t treat you mean.”
  • Paul of Wizbang channels Alice: “curioser and curioser.”
  • Bill Quick lives up to his name, posting on this yesterday.
  • Jeff Quinton rounds up some more links.

You get the idea. As to lyrical tributes to Abilene, George Strait has already contributed “Sweet Eileen’s in Abilene/She forgot I hung the moon.” George Hamilton IV had a whole song about the city, one line of which McGehee already appropriated.

With respect to the speculation on the identity of our mystery faxer, I would note that Abiline is 474 miles from Wharton, 415 miles from Houston, and 347 miles from Huntsville. This likely means we can rule out the possibility that Dan Rather traveled back in time in a Delorean and faxed the memos to himself.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Wes Roth says:

    Here is the email I sent to Drudge at 8:27pm tonight…could be way off on this, but anymore I wouldn’t be surprised:
    ****
    DRUDGE:

    Is this the source of the Bush Memos (linked from Instapundit, old story, few months old)???

    http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200409/POL20040914a.shtml

    BUT, if you Google Bill Burkett, you get these results:

    Bill Burkett, (915) 854-xxxx, Po Box 1085, Baird, TX 79504 Yahoo! Maps MapQuest

    Bill Burkett, (972) 242-xxxx, 2511 Sunridge Rd, Carrollton, TX 75006 Yahoo! Maps MapQuest

    If you click the map of the “Baird, TX” Burkett, that is RIGHT next to Abline!!!!!!!!

    Holy COW! Is that him?
    ****

  2. M.Murcek says:

    This is a category 5 hurricane. CBS just hasn’t figured it out yet. Maybe when the roof comes off…

  3. McGehee says:

    Huh — I forgot the George Strait verse. And I’m a fan.

    <hangs head in shame>

  4. Boyd says:

    I grew up in Brownwood, TX, about 75 miles southeast of Abilene. I confess, it was me. I was doing Karl Rove’s bidding, drying to discredit the DNC and John Kerry through lies and deceit.

    I’m so ashamed.

    Not.

  5. Jeff says:

    Willie Nelson also did a song titled “Abilene.” I think Sheryl Crow covered it on her appearance on Crossroads with Nelson on CMT.

  6. j.j. smith says:

    Is Dan Rather protecting his daughter? A local Dallas talk show host “suggested” Wednesday morning that Rather’s daughter helped Bill Burkett forge the letter! The host’s local sources told the radio host that both are Dem fund raisers in Texas. Could Dan be protecting his daughter because she committed the forgery? Let’s check it out!

  7. Bobby Taco says:

    I am a naitive resident of Baird. I know where this guy lives. Maybe I should put up a W 04 sign for him ;0