MEMO TO DAN: FAKE BUT ACCURATE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH

Real Clear Politics ^ | September 16, 2004 | T. Bevan

[Lazamataz]

LOL

C^BS is through.

Your screen name is perfect for this article. :o)

[nosofar]

If the documents are 'accurate', it should be possible to come up with evidence other than faked documents to support this assertion. If it ISN'T possible, then the claim they are 'accurate' is unsupportable.

[NewMediaFan]

Senator Kerry & DNC Chairman McAuliffe celebrate the
"fake but accurate" reporting of CBS News anchorman Dan Rather.
 

[nosofar]

That statement shows a fundamental misunderstanding of who bloggers are and what they do.

Bloggers are people, too. There are credible ones and not-so-credible (and incredible?). One should not dump them all into one bucket.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[nosofar]

"CBS is through."

CBS is more than just news. They've shown they handle fiction very well, so maybe they'll just still with that.

[joesnuffy]

A freeper put it best and most succiently the other day..(wish I could remember who)

He said....that if Dan Rather's memos 'though fake' contained 'true information' they should be believed by the public...

Then his lottery ticket 'though fake' contained the 'true number' should also be honored by the lottery commision....and accepted by other lottery players

[KingKongCobra]

Here's mine: It's OK now for cops to plant evidence on people that they know are criminals. Fake but accurate evidence should be good enough, right CBS?

[greatvikingone]

I'd like to see Mr. Rather take his 'fake but accurate' check to the bank and see how much money they give him...

[moonpie57]

I can't believe this article I just read on DU...well, yeah I can believe it...LOL

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/09/16_filter.html

What struck me funny was this:

It shouldn't need to be said that CBS does not bear the burden of proof. It is not their responsibility to prove the documents are genuine; it is the responsibility of others to prove they are false. To date, this hasn't been done.

To be followed 3 paragraphs later by this:

Truth has taken a backseat to rumor and innuendo. Research is outdated. Facts are inconvenient. What is reported is what attracts the most people. Blame can be laid at a number of places: the ever-dwindling attention span of the average citizen, the culture of willful ignorance that exemplifies this rush to the bottom, the steady stream of new "journalists" looking for the quick and easy scoop, the ever-spreading Internet rumor mill.

Reckon the author, PermanentRevolution, is really John Flipper Kerry??

[BlueYonder]

You gotta love the headline: "Memo to Dan: Fake But Accurate..."

Kinda reminds me of what Arnold said in his speech at the RNC: the theme for the Democratic convention should have been "True Lies."

The same goes for dnCBS's lame and lamer Rathergate.

LOL

[OldSgt.]

But ya got to know, those libs/dims are going to agree with Danny boy. When they want to believe something the .FACTS don't count.

[COURAGE]

You should e-mail the RNC with that idea! If you do not, I'll steal it and tell my buddies there!

[erik22lax]

is that not an oxymoron

[Tempest]

Lovely and well written article.

[TheyConvictedOglethorpe]

...but the longer Rather and Heyward continue on as the controlling forces at CBS News the further the credibility of their organization will sink.

At what point does CBS News' credibility sink so low that they can no longer be considered a functional news gathering operation? That's a question I'd be thinking about if I were one of Viacom's auditors. If one of the company's divisions is acting in a way that risks its "going concern" assumption, would I still be able to render a "clean" opinion on Viacom's financial statements?

[PJ-Comix]

Here are the latest DUmmie FUnnies on the subject of Dan Rather and Memogate. Their deloooosional paranoia is HILARIOUS:

It would seem that Rather is getting some good satisfaction out of making the White House squirm and twist and contort on this, so I can't imagine that he showed ALL he was going to show just last night.

Dear CBS News and Dan Rather: THANK YOU !!! Thank you for standing up to the misinformation that is being presented to the American people on a daily basis from the White House and every level of government. As I news junkie, it has been disturbing to watch the decline of journalistic integrity.

I thanked him and told him I was a typewriter repairman and that the doc's looked authentic to me.

We love you Dan, and a large group of us here are rooting for you (we're all Deaniacs....so you know how intensely we feel about cleaning up the media!) I think you are displaying genuine integrity, and it is this we admire above and beyond whatever the final validity of these documents turns out to be. We trust you, (at the moment, ha!) because of this integrity, and so much of America is aching for this right now!

With CBS acting like the only broadcast media with a spine, I'll wager the far right is afraid of what else they may have found. Keep in mind that the opposition seeks to destroy the messenger, not the message. Witness the focus on the authenticity of paper and ink, rather than the information contained.

I truly appreciate the integrity CBS News has shown in covering these recent stories regarding Mr. Bush's National Guard duty.

Here is my take on this....CBS has the originals, Rove sent the fakes to Rather, Rather knows these are fakes, but these fakes are being used to smoke out Rove. I find it strange that Rather would interview the secretary on his program for her to say she thought these documents were forgeries. Actually, Rather asked her more then once about the forgeries, then she mentions a diary. Maybe CBS has the diary. Although the secretary verified the information I think Rather is too smart to know this is not enough after all he has been investigating this for four or five years. I think Rather wants to prove that Rove sent these so called papers to him -- he is giving every opportunity to allow Rove and company to say these papers are forgeries. My impression he was emphasizing the papers were forgeries just as much as the contents. He also knows there are some documents missing -- proof now the WH has more documents available after I don't know how many times, they keep saying they turned them all over but all of a sudden more are found. When interviewing the secretary Rather was very confident (almost smug). I believe he is holding a lot back. Go Dan Rather!

the docs he's allowing to be broadcast probably are fake in an effort to trip up bushco, but I doubt that Viacom's lawyers would let him go to air with bullshit and risk the financial hit to the stockholders. There is too much money at stake to be that reckless. And Rather isn't like the cable-cabal... innuendo, insinuation and speculation passing for evidence... We don't know all there is to know, so it's too soon to be howling about fakes---Rather hasn't tipped his hand yet.

i suspect that these forgeries are, in fact, forgeries. i suspect that they were leaked by the GOP in order to create the belief that CBS is untrustworthy on not only this issue, but any others in which they have criticized the administration in the past. this all just seems way too intentional to me.

[Loyalist]

I thanked him and told him I was a typewriter repairman and that the doc's looked authentic to me.

IIRC, the expert whom Time hired to authenticate the memos was a typewriter repairman. Do we now have evidence of DU collaboration with the MSM in Memogate?

[Loyalist]

I thanked him and told him I was a typewriter repairman and that the doc's looked authentic to me.

IIRC, the expert whom Time hired to authenticate the memos was a typewriter repairman. Do we now have evidence of DU collaboration with the MSM in Memogate?