Posted on 09/20/2004 8:54:24 AM PDT by TheGeezer
Edited on 09/20/2004 9:07:32 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Update by moderator:
EXCLUSIVE
STATEMENT FROM DAN RATHER:
Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY story about President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question—and their source—vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome.
Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where—if I knew then what I know now—I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.
But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.
Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.
Mistakes were made. We misreported. We're sorry, we promise not to get caught next time.
Hey slow down, I just have a dial-up line and need three DSLs to keep up....
Grin...
There isn't a doubt in my mind.
Oh, horseshit!
Anyone make up a plate of crow for him yet?
Fox reports White House is crafting statement in response to CBS statement.
Good post. (new tag)
Isikoff is right. This reeks. Burkett was the courier. He was a vulnerable figure with enough baggage to throw him under the bus if the forgeries were uncovered.
My gut is telling me Cleland is not involved as deeply as we think. It doesn't make sense that he would come out and admit that he talked to Burkett if he was the main guy involved.
The Carl Cameron quotes regarding Kerry open up a whole new can of worms. Cleland's not the guy, though. It's someone higher up.
What a crock!
Thank you for that report.
I saw much of it getting ready for work. If you don't mind him lying through his teeth and not being called on it, the speech delivery was actually good.
It looks to me like somebody wrote his speech, put it on the prompter, and then somebody scary took him out back and said, "Read it from the prompter, and don't you even think about Ad libbing, because if you do, we'll kill you slowly - got it?"
No more 12 words to say something you could in 2. Plenty of red meat, monday morning quarterbacking on Iraq without telling anyone what he'd do differently. Mentioned at least five times that the world things we suck. Slipped back to his experience in Viet Nam once without saying the word 'Viet Nam'.
The sickest thing is that Kerry virtually gurantees we'll be at war with both Iran and North Korea in his speech if he's elected, but Iraq was a stupid choice.
Got it.
He actually mentioned something about the troops going over without enough body armor!
If it were a debate, he'd have been hammered, but it wasn't.
This whole thing is proof that the left will go to any means to regain power in government.
On another note, anyone checked out Reuters, etc.? They're running it as a one paragraph story! Like it was some kind of minor typographical error that's being corrected at the bottom of page 23.
It means they wanna continue to lie & spin, get back to business as usual. The statement is so 9/9/04.
President Bush hasn't even completed four years in office. That means that CBS began this smear campaign at least a full year before Bush was elected. Possibly before Bush was even a candidate or even a potential candidate.
Sure looks like premeditated slander to me.
"...Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully."
Really...so why the continued perpetualization of this bold faced lie?
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