Posted on 09/17/2004 12:56:21 PM PDT by Cableguy
The man cited in media reports as having allegedly pressured others in the Texas Air National Guard to help George W. Bush is speaking out, telling ABC News in an exclusive interview that he never sought special treatment for Bush.
Retired Col. Walter Staudt, who was brigadier general of Bush's unit in Texas, interviewed Bush for the Guard position and retired in March 1972. He was mentioned in one of the memos allegedly written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian as having pressured Killian to assist Bush, though Bush supposedly was not meeting Guard standards.
"I never pressured anybody about George Bush because I had no reason to," Staudt told ABC News in his first interview since the documents were made public.
The memo stated that "Staudt is pushing to sugar coat" a review of Bush's performance.
Staudt said he decided to come forward because he saw erroneous reports on television. CBS News first reported on the memos, which have come under scrutiny by document experts who question whether they are authentic. Killian, the purported author of the documents, died in 1984.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
"Dan promised to report any major developments that counter his initial report."
Excellent point.
The Republican talking points for the past day-and-a-half has been: Rather needs to be fired. Some couch it within the context of CBS's credibility, but the bottom line is the same. They want to end Rather's career. "Here's how we play hardball in Texas," etc. To do so would send a chill down the spin of any investigative reporter that came sniffing around the administration in the future. A clear attempt to quiet the so-called free press.
[Yet another rightwing plot to keep progressive reporters from using honest "forgery" to attack the fascists!!!]
I wish Rather would do a story on the kangaroo court he's being subjected to.
["This is Dan Rather reporting and tonight I am doing a special story about the rightwing cabal attacking me for merely using forged documents. COURAGE!"]
If firing a newsperson gives a news organization credibility ... Faux News would have to fire their entire organization.
[I say FIRE everybody at FOX News and replace them with experienced forgers!]
Rather will fight and win. Let them waste their time and energy. He is the top journalist and doesn't have to kiss anyone's ass.
[Dan already has your head up his ass.]
Look. Rather could clear all this up in five minutes. He could: 1) provide the original document and have it examined by a panel of neutral experts or 2) At least provide a generalized description of the source. ("Sources close to ____________") would suffice nicely. This method is used all the time to provide information without divulging the identify of the source, yet for some reason, CBS won't even do that.
[What? Do I detect a slight bit of rationality on this DUmmie Board? I say BAN this poster!!!]
Well, since Rather and CBS seem to be the last hold-out of "fair and balanced", it's no wonder that the conservatives are screaming for action. I STILL think that CBS was set up. And it smells like Rove to me.
[Absolutely! Karl Rove secretly flew to Austin, TX in an SR=71 spy plane. Then he faxed forged documents to CBS from the local Kinkos and flew back to Washington without anybody knowing he was gone. Devious. Sneaky. A typical ROVIAN plot!!!]
I wrote a letter of support to Dan Rather and recieved a nice responce from CBS: Thank you for taking the time to write. Your support is appreciated. As you can imagine, we've been inundated with negative emails. It's refreshing to hear from a viewer such as yourself. We strive for the highest level of journalistic integrity and will continue to do so, no matter what the cost. A free society demands free, unmuzzled media expression. Selena, CBS Evening News
["Thank you for taking the time to write. Your blind support is appreciated. As you can imagine we've been inundated with negative e-mails from rightwing fascists. It is refreshing to to hear from a clueless viewer such as yourself. We strive for the highest level of journalistic forgery and will continue to do so, no matter what the cost to our veracity. A free society demands free unmuzzled media forgery. Dan R.---SeeBS Evening News."]
Dan Rather knows who Karl Rove is. The biggest weakness with a person like Rove is that they always assume everyone else is an idiot. I wonder if Karl isn't the fly in the web this time, too.
[And Dan Rather probably knows that Karl Rove is the evil genius behind Global Warming. Our Danny Boy is on to all the devious Rovian plots. There's no fooling him!]
Rather is going to raise the ratings on 60MIN 11. And he couldn't find a better way as far as I am concerned.
[That was a genius idea of Rather to use forged documents to boost his ratings. Way to go, Dan!]
Maybe it's because I've watched a poker tournament, but I think Dan Rather is playing a little "Texas Hold 'Em" with everyone. In the face of all the controversy with the documents, he's been suspiciously calm. I don't believe he's dealt his trump cards yet. Either he CAN prove that the docs are genuine, or he can prove that someone tried to set him up. Or maybe he has additional evidence that will definitively seal Bush's fate.
[Or maybe he is waiting to prove that the Hitler Diaries are real or...or maybe Dan Rather is just waiting for you to pull your head out of his butt.]
I think it's common to retire at the highest rank you held while on active duty. Guard and Reserve promotions are legit, but not quite permanent. I used to know this stuff. Right now I'm floating on distant memories.
Too sweet...this keeps unraveling on them. They are engaging in Mike Tyson Ear Biting Strategies....lol
We're lucky he hasn't suffered from Arkancide. Actally he WON'T suffer from Arkancide because the Clintonistas are the "hidden hand" giving Kerry HIDEOUS advice.
coup de grace...
There used to be a program called ROPA ( Reserve Officer Personnel Act, 1954 ) where higher grade officers were promoted one grade upon their retirement. It used to be almost automatic.
Oh, I am sure Dan will see it when ABC News does its evening broadcast, putting another nail into Dan's coffin.
It would certainly help if people would post all of the title words exactly as written so that my searches on a few of the key words don't lead me to believe that the article hasn't appeared yet.
We had a Command Sergeant-Major with 30 years service (battlefield commission in Korea) who retired as a Major General: one day he was walking around in with his stripes and rockers, then he was promoted pending retirement, put on his stars, and had a lot of fun with some a&&hole company and field grade officers who hadn't known he was a reserve officer and who had given him a hard time. I saw him practically bracing a West Pointer Infantry Captain who was particularly disliked by the senior noncoms.
Wait until Mara finds out he was building a barn...
I would love to see what the koolaid-drinkers at democratsunderrocks are saying about this!
Wow. I don't know what they put in that Kool-Aid the DUmmies drink, but it sure is powerful. Check out that last line: "seal Bush's fate." It sounds almost plaintive, doesn't it? It's funny that the DUer mentions poker, because the post could've been written by a desperate gambler eager to catch just one winner, and maybe this hand, or this horse, or this lottery ticket will be the one big winner that redeems years of losing. The DUmmies been hungering for that one little thing that would "seal Bush's fate" for 4 years now, and they've jumped on every little thing they could in order to turn it into the knockout punch for Bush. From the recounts to Enron to Abu Gharib, each one has been the Great Hope, and each time they've been so disappointed. If they weren't such vicious little brats, and if their distress weren't so very enjoyable, I'd feel sorry for them.
Brit's been taking friday off quite a bit. Wish he wouldn't do that.
Awesome article. Why didn't Rather interview this guy?
LOL! Funny that you would post that right after I posed my question!
Not quite that either. Wish we had an Admiral here to explain it all. You're correct that there's no such rank as Commodore. The one-star rank is now called "Rear Admiral (Lower Half). In fact, many officer billets in the Navy are held by officers one paygrade lower than the billet calls for.
For example, the "Captain" of most Naval vessels is actually a Commander in rank - Bird Farms, Gator Freighters and other large ships are exceptions. The "Commodore" of a squadron of ships is a one-star flag billet, but is usually held by a Captain.
Thanks! I love hearing reports from Democratsunderrocks without having to actually go slumming myself!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.