Posted on 09/16/2004 8:34:43 AM PDT by Pukin Dog
This is third-hand information that I just received from a source in Washington that I trust, and I am sharing this as a vanity-post only for consideration. Don’t ask me for links or other forms of verification, or who my source is, because I won’t tell you. This is only for your consideration, take it or leave it. Put on your tin-foil hats if you want, but I trust the person who told me the following.
What I was told, is that the public has been a victim of a very elaborate media scheme to trap President Bush. CBS knows that the documents they have been using are fakes, and they are trying to make sure that the public, and more importantly, the White House knows that they are fakes, in order to make the White House comfortable with taking a position denying the accusations contained in the phony documents. Other news organizations are participating in this ruse as well; their mission is to attack CBS regarding the fake documents to provide the White House with a false sense of security.
The reason why CBS is sticking with the story, is that they believe they have actual authentic documents which would back up their accusations against the President, but what they don’t know, is that those documents are also forgeries, but much, much better forgeries, which would likely be believed by the general public when authenticated by dozens of experts.
The media does not believe that the accusation on its own would be enough to bring down the President. But combine those accusations with real (looking) documents, AFTER the President has denied those accusations, and the media (and Democrats) believe they would be able to expose Bush as an arrogant liar.
When you hear Dan Rather goading the White House, suggesting that “the longer the accusations go unanswered the truer they become”, understand that the denial is what they are after. This is why they are not concerned about the original forgeries, they are only to bring Bush to respond to the accusations contained; at which point they nail Bush with their (good) forgeries, catching the White House in a supposed lie, and allowing the rest of the media to go after Bush for lying, drug use, and his service with respect to Vietnam.
So when you see the Washington Post, LA Times, NY Times and others excoriating CBS over the phony memos, understand that they are all just playing their role in encouraging Bush to take a strong stance against the forgeries by denying the accusations contained in them outright. They then have Bush on the record in what they hope is a provable lie.
CBS will claim that the original documents were ‘misplaced’ by their owner, but decided to go with the story because they knew that the real (forgeries) documents existed and would be brought forward if (when) they were found. Clearly, Bush would not have these documents in his own records, but the media would only accuse him of destroying his own copies, and not consider that he never had them to begin with.
The media knows how weak John Kerry is, and they know that at this point it would take a cataclysmic event to bring down George W. Bush. So in the absence of this event, they are creating one out of whole cloth. “Lying, cheating, drug user” would be their message for the rest of the election cycle.
Being smarter than the media figured, the White House is not confirming or denying anything. Except for the first lady’s comments, they have said absolutely nothing about the forged documents at all. They don’t have to. If they cannot get Bush on the record denying the accusations, they have nothing. The media may eventually release their better forgeries as an October surprise, but again without a Bush denial, the accusations would be dismiss as a desperate effort by the elite media to bring down our President.
The current document scandal has the additional benefit for the Democrats of removing John Kerry from the news. His numbers are always better when he is not talking. He cannot win this election, and the media and DNC know that. Their only hope is to bring down Bush, one way or another.
We are all lucky that Bush, Rove and the rest are smarter than that.
The political lesson is to NEVER respond to an attack with anything but facts or exculpatory documents. Never complain, because it makes you look weak. Never deny anything that you cannot prove. John Kerry broke all these rules with the Swifties accusations and is paying for it today. Kerry cannot deny their accusations, so he should have kept his mouth shut, instead of trying to prevent the information from getting out, and later attacking the messenger.
Far fetched? What do you think?
Unfortunately from the way our media is now a big partisan, unethical zero, it's believable. And frightening. How far will they go in the too-many weeks before November 2?
I have no idea if this ruse is true or not. What the Democrats fail to grasp is that I don't care what anybody did or didn't do 30 odd years ago. Seriously - I don't care.
I want to know what a candidate did 3 years ago. That's a heck of a lot more predictive than what he did 30 years ago.
The following article validates that you are correct. http://www.thehill.com/york/091604.aspx
Given the CBS scandal, now might not seem the right time for McAuliffe to press the issue. But Democrats think they have a winner.
“I do think it’s working,” top DNC official Howard Wolfson said Tuesday when asked about the Democratic attack on Bush’s service. “There was a Newsweek poll that came out this week that showed that the president lost 10 points in his credibility numbers in one week since these issues about his service began.”
And that, of course, is what it’s all about. The CBS memos are forgeries? Who cares? They did the job.
Pukin Dog? Gee, that's a pretty name. Sheesh!
Won't reject or buy into this theory based on a single posting.
But the message here and elsewhere should be that NO body standing in the middle or to the right of center should be taking it easy just now.
Nothing is guaranteed, even AFTER you've cast and counted your votes.
If such a scheme was ever uncovered, all the network news would die a quicker death than they already are.
It does, after all, come down to the almighty dollar and I don't think they are willing to take the chance.
Good post. The White House has been playing its' hand nicely. They should continue.
But, the FEC and the FBI should be looking into this.
Where did you get this crap? Michael Moore?
By remaining silent, Dubya keeps Dan Rather twisting slowly in the wind.
What could be better than that?
I disagree. He didn't confirm or deny anything from F9/11 either. He just ignored it. That is what he is doing now. It makes him appear above these petty issues.
If this is true, I just hope that Karl Rove and the White House are on to the game and don't take the bait. We're quickly approaching October and I am bracing myself for an "October Surprise." I don't want the Republicans to become too complacent about this election given the current state of things. Now is not the time for complacency. We have to remain vigilant and I hope we have an "October Surprise" of our own.
The current document scandal has the additional benefit for the Democrats of removing John Kerry from the news.
No, I cannot explain O'Reilly, who can?
As far as America's collective memory, I think the terrorist lesson of 9/11 combined with the internet makes more Americans even more determined to not forget.
I think there is a new America emerging,,and accountability may just be making a comeback. It's been out of the loop so long. We have to start seeing accountability and the internet helps with the verification aspect. You know, it's no longer enough to sit at home and figure out what POV is right or wrong. People are not satisfied with merely knowing the answer, they are starting to demand a more balanced portrayal of the issues. Those of us who have the time and resources to double-check the facts are doing an honorable and important service for those who cannot go behind and double-check. Bringing out all sides is important. The America that used to just swallow the news as it was fed,,she's gone. Those days have been over for awhile.
I think it's very exciting to be a part of it all.
A year ago I would have said ridiculous. Now, who knows.
There is some reason Dan Rather and CBS are willing to ruin their reputations. Preferential treatment? Missed meetings? Even Drug use? Who the heck cares - Bush has been president for 4 years.
Someone mentioned on another thread the communist tactic of getting a confession (or validation) from one person to use for propaganda which discolors all - ex. the Viet Cong, even Kerry and his anti-war efforts.
We have seen gross changes in the media and their blatant efforts to sway public opinion. We know socialists/communists have infiltrated and taken over the democrat party. So we are seeing communist tactics.
What keeps hounding me is what is the big deal about missed meetings, preferential treatment, even drug use 30 years ago? Something big enough to make Rather and CBS willing to put themselves out of the news business and into the propaganda business. What is going on?
That is the key to this whole mess.
I love a good conspiracy and this one certainly seems plausible enough. I am hoping something comes from the efforts of those attempting to turn the forged memo into a legal matter.
"the White House knows that they are fakes, in order to make the White House comfortable with taking a position denying the accusations contained in the phony documents"
notable that the WH hasn't denied any of these charges, so they haven't taken the bait presumed in this post.
I personally don't see why so many on FR have a problem with the idea that bush had influence on his behalf to help him get in the guard, etc. Given how (from what I have read) public perception of vietnam, casualty rates, etc., were changing in the late 60's (even in the 2 years since kerry joined the naval reserve), if I could keep my child out of such a mis-managed war, I certainly would.
The entire guard thing is old news, and the forgeries have completely reduced the value of the topic even if more authentic-looking documents turn up. At this point it would be met with great skepticism by those who don't just hate bush.
Something that backs up your scenario is that CBS sent the docs to the WH, and the WH released them without comment. Surely there were those in lower eschelon at the WH who said, when they saw the obvious fakes..."What th--?!"..."Hey boss, lookit this!" ... "Let's nail 'em!" ... "Whadya mean, no comment? This is fraud!"
Maybe CBS did want an action, to which they could provide an opposite reaction. In which case, never let me play poker with Karl Rove.
It is as plausible as the scenario of a news agency handing out a fraud and then refusing to recognize that fraud--every expectation I had was that CBS would take responsibility. That they would be defensive, maybe nasty, but would still face the music. I still had that much respect for them, it would seem.
How does the Spunky and Feisty Sweet Little Old Lady fit into the scenario? Seems like she was an ace that they didn't play.
I wonder if CBS is trying to get O'Reilly to take Danny Boy's place when he retires.
His sudden plunge-Left just doesn't make sense.
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