I thought we got Dan Rather fired!
Posted on 02/27/2005 1:37:05 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush's four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin's crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed, TIME magazine will report on Monday.
If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. "Putin thought we'd fired Dan Rather," says a senior Administration official. "It was like something out of 1984."
TIME's John Dickerson: The Russians did not let the matter drop. Later, during the leaders' joint press conference, one of the questioners Putin called on asked Bush about the very same firings, a coincidence the White House assumed had been orchestrated. The odd episode reinforced the Administration's view that Putin's impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides.
Developing...
this is too bizarre to be made up, i guess. Putin must think bush is really a pushover to have taken this long simply fire a few folks, without any arrests for forging government documents.
Does this mean that Dan Blather is a KGB operative?
Hasn't anybody brought the Russians up to speed on Bloggers?
They are so last year.
I thought we got Dan Rather fired!
One can only assume that a country that has always been steeped in misinformation would have a hard time distinguishing between truth and lies.
More interesting will be to see how the MSM handles this.
If this is true, this moron Putin must understand that the White House did not fire Rather, but CBS let him go so they save their ratings.
Anyway, I do not believe this story at all of what Putin told President Bush, it is too dramatic and too dumb to be true. Another lie created by a delusional left wing liberal media.
And this guy has his finger on the button. Scary.
Its real. I saw clip on FNS.
This is too good to be true.
Maybe ;)
I guess he just assumed the American government controlled their media just like he does.
Frank Gannon's sleepover friends got Rather fired...? ;)
no bias in our MSM...only enough to have a former KGP leader think our govt. controls our media!
And since that has been disproven time and time again, you can be sure that he (and his aides) corrected the record.
His aides must be getting their info from DU.
Shaking my head over this one.....
Ditto that. I hope --- no, I pray, that Putin knows and understands more about the US than this story indicates.
If it is true, we sure have a lot of work to do. But it also says that he's not nearly the 'crafty KGB guy" as I had thought. Just another ill-informed Euro-lefty.
I'm sure the Ruskies are firing up their Commodore Computers as we speak........
Give me a break, President Bush will not allow a guy like Putin to lecture him on freedom of the media in the US.
This story is as fake as a 3 dollar bill.
Sorry, don't follow him that closely. ;)
even worse......I think his staff is getting their info from "that 70s show".......
Is this really any different from what the people at DU or the Keith Olbermann/Jeff Gannon show believe?
Who were the sources for this fake story? The Russians?
Fired? Nah. Everyone knows Dan's downfall was engineered by Karl Rove. Get that guy on you, and you're toast. Rather's lucky Bush decided to leave him with his life.
By the way, Vlad, did you know Americans have their houses cleaned by pixies? Yep, it's true.
Who's Dan Rather?
that was my first thought, as well.
If this is true we're not dealing with rational people. I think it may be time to dig a new bomb shelter (not a bad investment as we live in tornado country) and lay in some 'Mormon class rations' (one year of food, etc.).
I don't know. The clip I saw was a Russian reporter asking Bush why he fired those reporters at CBS.
Now that is a scary thought, a KGB agent plugged into DU as representing the heart and soul of America!!!
FrankJeff Gannon's sleepover friends got Rather fired...? ;)
ROFL!!!!
Is it possible the Putin hasn't heard of Free Republic? Surely not.
Who is Dan Rather? He is a lying sack of crap.
I'm sure they have a thread up already praising Putin for "standing up" to Bush.
If there is a Russian version of FR I'm sure he had it shut down.
This is half the story, later on a reporter mirrored the same statement as Putin, at which point, either Bush or one of his aides explained that the President does not have the authority to fire people in the press.
It may have been Bush himself, since the opening response to the reporter (who is russian media) was "do you think your free"?
My decoder ring told me that Rove fired Rather. He was no longer a "useful idiot".
Ulness a pefect Rovian Storm caused Rathers fall ;-)(/DU ,Tinfoil time.)
:P It've been better if I knew the guy's name, but what can ya do?
" This story is as fake as a 3 dollar bill."
If any corroboration comes out from the russian government in the next few days would you reconsider?
This is just crazy enough to be true, it simply isn't a credible hit piece for a western audience to buy. I think the idea of the press being almost completely unaccountable to the government is much more alien to putin than the idea of the press literally being directed by a ministry is to us.
Putin is probably wondering why Bush just didn't have Rather poisoned.
I guess 3 dollar bills are now legal tender.
Its on tape, and the clips are being shown on tv now.
Later on, a russian media reporter asked the same question, and then recieved an explanation about how US presidents don't get to fire reporters.
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