"It's over, Danny..."
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Posted on 09/10/2004 10:23:26 AM PDT by watsonfellow
A half hour ago, Dan Rather went on CNN and said that he knows the Jerry Killian documents to be authentic, and knows that they are not forgeries. Therefore, he said, there will be no retraction, no correction, and -- apparently -- no investigation. The text of the interview is not yet available on CNN's site, but we'll link to it when it becomes available.
What does this mean? Last night, it was reported that senior executives at CBS News were promising an investigation. Today, Dan Rather is personally vouching for the documents' authenticity. This can only mean that Rather himself is the source of the documents. This makes sense; if a staffer on the 60 Minutes payroll had come up with the purported records, the story never would have run without the documents being authenticated. Who has the power to drive this story on to the air without an investigation that would include, for example, contacting Killian's widow, or his son? Dan Rather does.
This would appear to signal the end of Rather's career. If the documents are ultimately accepted as forgeries, which seems inevitable to us, he can't survive. My guess: Rather knows that he will be retiring soon in any event, so as his last public contribution, he is doing whatever he can to elect John Kerry.
An informant, meanwhile, has a theory about how Rather got the forged documents: keep an eye on Ben Barnes.
"It's over, Danny..."
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This from the newsguy who reported JFK '63 dead b4 the official...he had a tight sphingter (sp?) then he is a pile of poo-poo!!!
How dare we question Rather's credibility, don't you KNOW who he IS????? Just another arrogant Liberal.
Neither will his daughter....nor will anyone else connected with this...
I will go out on a limb and say...that even if proven true beyond a shadow of doubt, NOBODY will even be fined...
And that may be precisely one reason the "Killian" memos are ones he "wrote to himself" (and not on letterhead). While they concern military matters, they are no more official documents than would be his diary if it mentioned Bush's service.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=762&e=1&u=/ap/20040926/ap_en_tv/tv_cbs_fallout
Viewership for the "CBS Evening News" during the week the Sept. 8 "60 Minutes" report on Bush's service was aired was down 8 percent from the same week in 2003, according to Nielsen Media Research. The next week, it was down 9 percent. ... "CBS Evening News" ratings are falling faster this year than either of its competitors. CBS is already a distant third to NBC and ABC, and the gap is getting wider.
... Privately, there's considerable sentiment that "the time has passed" for change, as one manager said.
"They need to phase Dan out in the most compassionate and appropriate way they can," said another executive.
"I don't think there's a connection there between him and the viewers we want any more," said a third. "I think the show needs an overhaul and generally what comes with an overhaul is a new face."
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