Posted on 09/20/2004 2:34:18 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON -- In its rush to broadcast a story besmirching George W. Bush's Vietnam-era war service, CBS News has managed to turn a long-running controversy over the President's lacklustre military career into a public accounting of its own judgment.
After watching the network and iconic news anchor Dan Rather squirm for days amid mounting evidence that CBS fell for a hoax when it cited memos indicating that a squadron commander was pressured to "sugar coat" Mr. Bush's performance in the National Guard, the President finally slid in the dagger over the weekend.
"There are a lot of questions about the documents, and they need to be answered," Mr. Bush said, with even CBS's own hired experts now telling other news organizations that they warned the network about the authenticity of the memos before the broadcast.
The brouhaha extends far beyond the authenticity of the documents. Right-wing radio talk shows and Internet sites are almost beside themselves with glee, certain that they have exposed the veteran newsman's bias -- and Mr. Bush's rival, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, may end up suffering by association.
Almost alone, Mr. Rather appears to retain some hope that the papers in question aren't fake. "If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story," he said last week.
But there may not be much of a story to break. Since it became an issue last week, document experts have established that the typewriters of the 1970s were incapable of producing the sophisticated letter-spacing evident in the memos. It has also been shown that the secretary who would have typed them says she didn't and that one of the officers named in the memo had been out of the military for 18 months at the time.
Mr. Bush's former commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry Killian, has been dead for 20 years and can't explain what he really thought of the young lieutenant.
CBS says that even if the documents are suspect, it stands by the main thrust of its story -- that Mr. Bush got preferential treatment while flying fast jets in the Texas Air National Guard. "So much of the debate has focused on the documents, and no one has really challenged the story," senior executive Josh Howard told The Washington Post. But that too may change. Although CBS has refused to divulge its source for the documents, suspicions have focused on a disgruntled former guard officer who has admitted contacting Mr. Kerry's campaign.
Tenuous threads link the memos to Bill Burkett, a retired National Guard officer who claimed last month to have offered Mr. Kerry's campaign some information that could be used to attack Mr. Bush's military service. The memos faxed by CBS to one document expert bear the number of a Kinko's store near Mr. Burkett's home in Abilene, Tex., but Mr. Burkett has recently declined interviews.
Mr. Kerry's team denies any connection to the documents -- "no ifs, ands or buts," spokesman David Wade said.
But appearance can be everything. Mr. Kerry has deliberately packaged himself as a war hero, in contrast to Mr. Bush, who wangled a cushy, hard-partying, pilot position and never had to go to Vietnam. Wherever it originated, the attack against Mr. Bush's National Guard service apparently sought to rekindle those comparisons.
We're going to remember you said that!
Indeed we will!
When I heard the President's statement, I knew CBS would cave.
Democrats made similar attacks earlier this year. In April, Kerry referred to Bush as a president who "can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard," and who "has yet to explain to America whether or not, and tell the truth, about whether he showed up for duty." In February, Kerry said he wanted answers about Bush's service in Alabama, saying "Just because you get an honorable discharge does not, in fact, answer that question."
Lost amid all the charges are the facts about Bush's time in the Guard. When did he serve? What did he do? Did he fulfill his responsibilities? Was he in Alabama? In the March 8, 2004, issue of National Review, Byron York investigated and found the answers. ***
First it's not Mr. Bush, it's PRESIDENT Bush. Second, to quote PRESIDENT Bush, "let the truth come out". Third, I hope Mr. Blather can take his Bixxh-slapping like man but somehow I don't think he can.
THEM DIDN'T "FALL FOR A HOAX" - THEY HATCHED THE SCHEME IN CAHOOTS WITH THE DNC --- and yes, I'm yelling.
"Sugar-coat" Is what the forged documents alledge Killian was asked to do, in regards to LT Bush's military performance.
"Sugar-coat" Is that what CBS will try and do, in regards to Dan's felonious report and cover-up?
I'd like to see this reporter fly a plane and then call it "cushy".
And there is STILL no evidence that he "wangled" anything.
CBS may "Sugar-coat" it, but I think they'll just baffle everyone with more outright BS.
"Mr. Kerry's team denies any connection to the documents -- "no ifs, ands or buts," spokesman David Wade said.
We're going to remember you said that!"
It all depends on how you define 'connections'
"Mr. Kerry has deliberately packaged himself as a war hero,"
Operative word is 'packaged'
The package was an empty one.
And a Canadian paper is qualified to judge this...how?
Ugh. This article was written from a hopelessly biased point of view.
Anyway, not that I like the conclusion, and in fact, I am surprized by it, but I don't believe that a crime has been committed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1216465/posts?page=133#133 <-- read from #133
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1217992/posts?page=55#55 <-- Nos. 55,72,101,113
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1218457/posts <-- See #6 (by ScottFromSpokane)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1219685/posts?page=37#37 <--
As for CBS and Burkett, it is looking as though CBS and Dan Rather are going to do a mea culpa, and attempt to limit inquiry so it does not reach past Burkett.
Are you sure about that? There must be some way!.... Think!
B-w-a-a-h-a-a-ha-ha!
sKerry can only make himself look big, if the tears President Bush down.
It looks like we need to start parsing Danny-boy's words. This sounds like Clinton-speak "We knew they were fake; we just wish we had the real thing"
The same thing goes for the Democratic Party.
A lot of mush from Captian Dan the "news" man.
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