Gary Farber has details about IBM typewriters that used proportional fonts as far back as 1951. They also let you create a fancy superscript “th” if you were so inclined.
But check out Gary’s whole argument. And click on his PayPal link, if you’re so inclined. He’s done a real service to the online debate here.
4 responses so far ↓
1 boys@b... // Sep 11, 2004 at 6:50 am
Just a quick question on the logic of your position. If Kerry *could have* lied about Vietnam, (ie had the capability to do so) does that automatically make his Vietnam actions “hooey?”
Sounds ridiculous, huh?
Question (political peer) authority.
2 Betsy Devine // Sep 11, 2004 at 7:39 am
I think it’s hooey to generate massive publicity for claims that the documents are forgeries, when those claims are based on false statements like “typewriters don’t have proportional fonts.” Nice that the Swift Boats Liars PR firm has taken on publicizing this “forgery” claim–don’t you just love those authentic right-wing grassroots?
3 boys@b... // Sep 11, 2004 at 10:47 am
Yeah, the swifties believe that the end justifies the means. They’ll do whatever they can to smear their opponent even if involves using false evidence. I think that’s wrong in principal.
How do you feel about that principal in light of the possibility that the bush documents could be fakes?
If you ignore even the possibility of a fraud, which you could to your discredit, then further discussion would be pointless, yes?
4 Betsy Devine // Sep 12, 2004 at 3:40 pm
Hi Jackson–of course, the documents could be fraudulent. And I don’t think the story they tell is very different from what we already know about Bush’s military service, is it? I agree with you that it’s wrong, in principle, to smear an opponent with lies, even if you think that opponent deserves to lose.