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."
AT-LARGE FREEPER ASSIGNMENT: We need folks to start plugging in combinations of operative/media names like Bob Slater, Van Os, Burkett, Mapes, Lockhart, & other key players to see what combination pops up on Google searches.
It means that it was well received. Big Difference.
First of all "I cant recall" is a term usually used when you don't want to admit the truth and you think you can get away with it.
Second of all, it seems more likely that Burkett passed the forgeries to the DNC and then DNC forwarded them to CBS. CBS then wasn't happy with the quality of the copies and Mapes called Lockhart to get her better copies. Lockhart then called Burkett and Burkett then went to Kinko's to fax his forgeries directly to CBS.
I don't think he's really back in the game. His speech was "red meat" to his already-partisan base. It probably won't affect whatever's left of the undecided vote, and it certainly isn't going to sway the Republican faithful one way or the other.
I think he senses his hard-left Democrat base becoming disenchanted with him and had to do something to prop up his anti-war credentials. Most likely the RNC and the Bush campaign will hit back with a variation on the "flip-flop" theme and his attack will go nowhere.
Plus, all the available oxygen is being sucked up by the CBS fiasco, with more names coming out with every passing hour.
Bush in a 50 state landslide and Rather will resign after the "investigation".
Get those oysters tested before devouring them. :)
USA today doing an article tomorrow on cbs internal investigation focusing on mapes/kerry connection.
hmmmmmmm....
I thought the original story was that Cleland told Burkett to call the campaign. This is different-- or am I misremembering?
The difficulty with telling lies is that it's a lot more difficult to remember the lie you made up than the truth that you lived.
Kerry will win DC.
If you want to call that a win.
I suppose that Mapes contacting Lockhart is just one of the many ways in which CBS practices journalism "without fear or favoritism". . .
ping
need time to digest it all.....
Take a look at this Kerry remark in 2003 vs. his remark today:
"Those who believe we are not safer with his capture don't have the judgment to be president or the credibility to be elected president."
Another waffle.
The stack is getting higher and higher...
Yep, you'd think that for an establishment that doesn't allowed the word terrorist to be used on terrorist they might take some precaution to word that sentance honestly.
MARYLAND:
BUSH 48%
KERRY 48%
UNDECIDED 3%
Ping.
Let's take a bet on how long before Lockhart has to do the "Sandy Berger thing". I suspect before the week is over, that Lockhart will have to step down from the Kerry campaign so as to "not cause a distraction".
I hope that helps.
If Lockhart goes, that would signal a defeat for the Clintonistas within the Kerry camp and a victory for the Teddy Kennedy cabal.
Exactly. Someone needs to find out what video production company the DNC used for their "fortunate son" piece and look at their production/post production dates. When was the voice over recorded? Who is the VO talent and when was the VO session? Who edited the video and when? When was the video onlined? When/Who did the video dupes and transfers for web streaming. If CBS gave the DNC the Ben Barnes/Rather footage and if the voice over was recorded BEFORE the hit piece was aired on CBS, it is hard proof of collusion.
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