1. Who is the "we" in "We have reassembled the files".
2. Who is the "unimpeachable source".
The answer to either or both will lead us deeper into the bowels of the Democrat party.
I'm still interested in the Robert Strong connection, as well. Strong, an English professor and apparently introspective type, isn't the type to have inserted himself into the cabal. Somebody recommended him to CBS and Rather was led to believe he was of sufficient importance for Himself to fly to Austin to interview him.
Strong might be a Robin Rather connection. But, in that case, there's somebody else telling both Robin and Bill what to do and when to do it.
Excellent points! I keep thinking there has to be some person or persons operating in the background that we don't yet know about -- not even biased, partisan CBS would be dumb enough to take a bunch of "newly uncovered documents" straight from Bill Burkett and rush them onto national TV. Cleland's role may loom large, for Rather would consider him an 'unimpeachable' source (though why Cleland could be expected to know anything about TANG documents is a mystery to all except rabid leftists). Barnes could well play a large role -- did he merely tell his fairy-tale because CBS showed him documents, or did he have a role in arranging for the documents to be created and/or sent to CBS? He started flogging this horse back in May, so there may well have been many discussions in the rancid swamps of the Texas Demagogic Party between May and August. Burkett could even be the "fall guy" for a conspiracy he doesn't know about, because why would a former TNG officer produce such incredibly shoddy forgeries? (I know about the point made that there are 'Army' terms in the forged TANG documents, which could point toward Burkett, but loads of other people in the Texas Democratic Party circles could be responsible for that, too......
Burkett - supposed opportunity to obtain the documents "from the trash"
Van Os - deeply connected Democrat and Burkett's lawyer
Cleland - Veteran liason for the Kerry Campaign who gave the go ahead to "counterattack".
Dan's "unimpeachable source" may just be someone he justified in his own mind--Mary Mapes, Van Os, Barnes. He did say on O'Reilly's show that a lie isn't always a lie.
Fellow Progressive Populist Caucus Members: Our brother, Bill Burkett is under siege by the Carl Rove smear machine. Bill is a charter member of the PPC and our friend. Co-founder of the PPC with me, David Van Os assures me that as Bill's legal Counsel on a longstanding basis, any assertions that Bill has engaged in "forgery" vis a vis the now infamous documentation of the Bush desertion of duty as a Texas National Guardsman is total smear with the footprints of the Karl Rove modus operandi all over it. Representing the PPC, I stand with both our brothers Burkett and Van Os and applaud their guts to stand up to the right wing slander machine; President Kerry and many of our DNC brethren can take a lesson from our two populist fellow-Texans who have the cajones to look contemptuously in the eye these ruthless cowards bringing down our formerly proud democracy and tell them to go to h*ll.
Stan Merriman Chair, Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party.