WAS SAD MAX THE PART OF THE PHONY DOCUMENTS SCAM?

Neal Nuze ^ | 9/20/04 | Neal Boortz

[RichardW]

That's the $64 million dollar question. This story still has legs.

[RichardW]

"Rove was at the RNC when Bush Sr was RNC Chairman--'73--and may well have known the family before then.

Much as I believe Rove has the talent, I don't believe he'd flirt with anything as potentially dangerous as this--even if he'd been careful enough to avoid breaking the law in any way.

Why is it so hard to accept that the new folks at Kerry and/or the DNC are MORE than capable of perpetrating a crime? They've got a TRAITOR leading them. What crime's heavier?"

Try to think outside the box. If I was running someone for president I would want to know everything potentially dangerous about his past. If I had a loose cannon like Burkett floating around, what better way to undermine these NG allegations than have a national news organization implode with a phony story like this. It is the ultimate preemptive attack on the opposition.

Having said this, I don't know what the story is. However, what I do know is that when we know who did the forgeries, we will know the rest of the story. If we don't know who did the forgeries, then we are left with speculation. So my theory is just as valid as the next persons and can't be ruled out of hand.

Is Rove a master chess player? Certainly Rather and the DNC are not.

BTW, I'm not sure why this is so dangerous. A forged document can't be damaging if it is unmasked as soon as this one was. In fact, by all accounts, it redounded to Bush's benefit.

Did someone in the DNC do this? I don't know. If so, then obviously Kerry is finished. Whichever way it plays out, Bush is better off after the story broke than before it broke.

[libstripper]

I agree that Burkett was probably the person who either made up the documents or provided their content, especially because they contain a number of pieces of Army jargon instead of Air Force jargon and Burkett was Army National Guard, not AF National Guard. The problem, however, remains of who convinced CBS that Burkett was a good enough source for it to rely on. Burkett is a loon who couldn't carry that burden of persuasion by himself. On his own he probably wouldn't even be able to find people to do it. That leaves Cleland, the DNC, and the Kerry campaign as the persons and entities who, if no more, vouched for Burkett to CBS. That also leaves them as the ones who created the forgeries.

[Mach9]

Dangerous only politically. Dangerous because it tends to support the Bush's Brain theory.

Otherwise--I think you're right. Bush IS better off; better than that, WE are better off.

[schaketo]

Hunter Thompson once said that Nixon's idea of a good joke was a paraplegic who couldn't reach high enough to vote Democratic. But Max Cleland just made himself the joke and ensured many folks won’t be reaching for that demo-lever on 11/2. The post-op on this will be fascinating. It’s going to look a lot like an old “Fugitive” rerun. Who was that one armed man?

[John Valentine]

Surely, no one connected with the Kerry campaign or the DNC could be consideres an unimpeachable source, either.

Frankly, I tend to the view that there never was a source that was really reliable, only Rather's fevered desire to hurth Bush, come what may.

[Travis McGee]

Got that Kerry "I voted for the forgery" montage handy?

[finnigan2]

I don't know if Mad Max was the CBS source or not but, in keeping with the best traditions of the Clinton Presidency, it's not the accuracy of the charge that matters, it is the seriousness of the charge.
Why don't we just maintain that Cleland was the source until he and the Kerry campaign can absolutely disprove it?

[finnigan2]

I don't know if Mad Max was the CBS source or not but, in keeping with the best traditions of the Clinton Presidency, it's not the accuracy of the charge that matters, it is the seriousness of the charge.
Why don't we just maintain that Cleland was the source until he and the Kerry campaign can absolutely disprove it?

[PhilDragoo]

[nopardons]

hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe...:-)

[Starboard]

Because they want to believe it. Such is their pent-up Bush-bashing hatred that they are willing to broadcast a false story based on forged documents to advance a political cause. Dan Rather wanted revenge...and he smelled blood. This was going to be his big story to go out on....the news story that brought down a sitting president and led to his re-election defeat. Instead, their carefully constructed fantasy collapsed - and with it what was left of a major media institution's integrity. In the end, Rather didn't take down George W. Bush, he took down CBS News and his career.

Excellent synopsis. Right on the money.

[devolve]

[cookcounty]

Has anyone asked Max "what atrocities detailed by John Kerry did you participate in?"

[MeekOneGOP]

So .. now CBS is the victim? After two weeks of drinking their own Kool-Aid...insisting that the documents were accurate, and trotting out experts who supported their claims, suddenly CBS is the victim here? CBS wasn't duped - their viewers were. The documents were obvious forgeries, and CBS ignored the warnings from their own experts that they didn't look authentic. In other words, they're acting like they accepted a $100 bill drawn with a green crayon and were deceived. We're going to buy that, aren't we?

Just so ya'll will know, I'm ashamed
that Dan Ra^ther is from Texas!

[potlatch]

I wonder if Cleland is feeling used by the Kerry campaign yet, or if he is still enjoying being their poster boy!!

[devolve]

[potlatch]

Gosh, there's so much going on in those pictures you have to stop and watch for a minute!!

[ntnychik]

I wonder what the Dixie Chicks think of Gunga Dan (if they think).

[yellowhammer]

Here's some good analysis of Cleland's potential role in this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1222027/posts?page=14#14