If the guy is raving loon how did he get in contact with Rather? Did Max Cleland really blow him off?
At some point, if he is the source, someone decided to take him seriously, what I would like to know is who that was.
No. Max spoke with him and referred him to the Kerry campaign.
Parallels Drawn Between CBS Memos, Texan's Postings
excerpt:
Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said. "You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not."
~snip~
I don't give much weight to Cleland's disclaimer at the end. He wouldn't refer just anybody to the Kerry campaign.