Posted on 09/20/2004 5:32:23 PM PDT by Dont Mention the War
Posted on Mon, Sep. 20, 2004
NEW YORK - At the behest of CBS, an adviser to John Kerry said he talked to a central figure in the controversy over President Bush's National Guard service shortly before disputed documents were released.
Joe Lockhart denied any connection between the presidential campaign and the papers. Lockhart, the second Kerry ally to confirm contact with retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, said he made the call at the suggestion of CBS producer Mary Mapes.
"He had some advice on how to deal with the Vietnam issue and the Swift boat" allegations, Lockhart said Monday, referring to GOP-fueled accusations that Kerry exaggerated his Vietnam War record. "He said these guys play tough and we have to put the Vietnam experience into context and have Kerry talk about it more."
Lockhart said he thanked Burkett for his advice after a three to four minute call.
Lockhart said he does not recall talking to Burkett about Bush's Guard records. "It's baseless to say the Kerry campaign had anything to do with this," he said.
CBS News apologized Monday for a "mistake in judgment" in its story questioning Bush's Guard service, claiming it was misled by the source of documents that several experts have dismissed as fakes.
Burkett admitted this weekend to CBS that he lied about obtaining the documents from another former National Guard member, the network said. CBS hasn't been able to conclusively tell how he got them, or even whether they're fakes or not.
Kerry ally Max Cleland, a former Georgia senator, also said he had a brief conversation last month with Burkett, who told him he had information about Bush to counter charges against Kerry's Vietnam War service. Cleland said he gave Burkett's name and phone number to the campaign's research department.
Kerry spokesman David Ginsberg said nobody in the campaign's research department followed up on Burkett's offer of information.
Lockhart said Mapes asked him the weekend before the story broke to call Burkett. "She basically said there's a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you," Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush's Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records "that might move the story forward. She didn't tell me what they said."
Yep. Don't mess with Texas.
You've got to remember that many hard-core activists in the Democrat/liberal wing of the party have a sense of being the "enlightened elite", and that they just can't conceive of why us "pore dumb folks" in the hinterlands don't fall down in slavish enchantment at their feet.
Certainly Lockhart feels that way, as has been documented in the past. He studied at the feet of Mike McCurry, after all.
I am beginning to think that it is a case of the CLinton;s trying to kill the Kerry campaign, and the Kennedy clan fighting back.
This is no longer a fight over JOhn Kerry winning in 2004, these are the first shots of an internacene war for control of the DNC for 2008 and beyond. The Clinton's have begun making thier move to total nuetralize the Kennedy faction and consolidate the radicals lefts hold on everything Democrat.
"Lockhart, the second Kerry ally to confirm contact with retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, said he made the call at the suggestion of CBS producer Mary Mapes."
OMG- Where to begin? The journalistic ethics violated just in this ONE sentence are stunning...
but what is really remarkable is that Lockhart appears so corrupt that he's freely admitting the conversation took place...and DOESN'T REALIZE THIS IS A BREACH OF ETHICS.
I don't believe this at all. Burkett would never have gotten through to Rather if not for Kerry's people pulling his ear.
Some former guy from CBS was just on Hannity and he said he has never known Dan to be bias .. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.
Do these people know how really ridiculous they sound when they say stuff like that ..??
"What I want to know is why the hell a CBS news producer, at least one in his or her right mind, would even think it was permissible to contact a member of either party's presidential campaign"
What I want to know is why Mapes doesn't have half a dozen cameras and microphones shoved in her face at this very monment?
I see Larry King just trotted Jimmy Carter out to be the latest mouth to say that Bush's TANG record is the real story and poor Dan Rather Blah Blah Blah
Uh Oh, it looks like CBS got caught hiding a card up its sleeve, plus there's another player in the game with whom they're colluding?
At what point does the Tall Texan pull out his Colt .45 for the "final call"? I think it just happened with Scott McClelland's demand to know if there was any involvement with the Kerry Campaign.
From the above story:
"Lockhart said Mapes asked him the weekend before the story broke to call Burkett. "She basically said there's a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you," Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush's Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records "that might move the story forward. She didn't tell me what they said."
If Mapes had the story, what possible reason would she have to call Lockhart and say that there were some "records that could move the story forward"?
Was she asking him to "authenticate" the documents?
It is also interesting to see Lockhart et al covering their tracks by admitting there were phone calls, which should make us wonder with these professional liars why the candor? Could it be that they know someone has phone records or maybe even recordings?
Add to that the fact that their founder was the original person to attack Bush's Guard service in 1994? That prior to 1994 he had access to National Guard files via his boss Ann Richards? That as campaign manager for their last gubernatorial candidate and head of the largest Dem organization in Texas that every Democrat operative knows him well.
Tie Glenn Smith and Texas Veterans For Truth into the story and you get unlawful coordination.
Listen to what Rather said in his apology about how the gist of the story is still true and has been well-documented and that his error was in relying to much on a very small number of documents, which still don't detract from the larger message. Typical backstepping. "Oh sorry....even though the documents are false (which would make the central accusation false in any court in the land) the basic story is still that Mr. Bush received special treatment while in the TANG". A lot of hogwash from him and CBS, if you ask me.
on hannity and colmes now
Here's a thought: I've seen two, very good wiring diagrams for the (ever expanding) circle of names in this storyline on Blogs. If someone has the time, a really good visual representation would be a horizontal timeline, from left to right , above the line you could have CBS and below the line, DNC/Kerry campagin officials, connecting lines/names above and below as appropriate.
With all the timeline revelations going back literally 5 years, adding in "Fortunate Son" video, plus the expanding names, I think it would make for a really damning visual. I might have a go but I'm starting way behind on this one...this is unbelievably fascinating
"Lockhart would not have been smoked out yet by a fear of Burkett phone records being released. He admitted it before he had ever really been tagged for the call. There's something else going on..."
OR...he's deliberately sabotaging the kerry candacy for a Bush win.
Anyone else wonder if Burkett was asked to come up with the evidence that would "connect the dots" on the story? He was obviously willing to do anything to help the Kerry campaign and the DNS could use him as a scapegoat if it plot leaked.
Did a quick search on Free Republic and johnhuang linked to this WND article that says it was released on Sept. 14th. If I'm not mistaken, that would have been Tuesday of last week.
"I think the call connections went just the other way. From Burkette to Cleland.
Then Cleland told Lockhar so he called Burkette to check on the documents given to Cleland.
Then Lockhart called Mapes. Remember CBS said they had an "unimpeachable source" who they had to protect.
They are trying to spin the phone calls the other way because as bad as collusion with CBS looks--it looks even worse if the Democrats were the ones pushing the documents to CBS. That will truly sink Kerry and possibly the DEMS along with it."
So then, all that is needed is to subpoena call records for ALL of those involved and follow the time line of who called who first. Could take a little bit of work, but shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Or is it more complicated than that?
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