Posted on 09/23/2004 11:15:20 PM PDT by FairOpinion
FORT WORTH - The former Texas Air National Guard commander who gave CBS documents critical of President Bush's military service said he thinks the network has tried to make him the "fall guy" in the dispute over whether the memos are authentic.
ADVERTISEMENT Bill Burkett, who lives on a ranch near Abilene, said he still believes the memos are real, but he said he warned CBS to independently verify the documents before airing them.
CBS broadcast a story on Sept. 8 that accused Bush of using family connections to get into the Guard to avoid military service in Vietnam, and the memos, supposedly written by one of Bush's now-deceased commanders, indicated that Bush's performance was "sugar coated" despite his failure to meet certain requirements.
Questions quickly arose about the memos, but CBS staunchly defended them until Monday, when it acknowledged its reporting was faulty and it shouldn't have used the memos.
Burkett told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that "CBS duped me" by identifying him as the source of the documents.
That was the rally that we were there for.
Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
Burkett offered himself to be used, so CBS and the Dems did.
I think CBS would have come out with an early correction of the story if they were not trying to protect Kerry/DNC. They met for days with their lawyers to see what kind of statements they could make to get out of the mess and so everyone could get his/her story straight. That is why Rather stalled by insisting that the docs. are real, saying he had unimpeachable sources, etc. I think Burkett is a useful idiot--Kerry/DNC got the initial idea from him because he has been dogging Bush with similar stories for years. They ID'd Burkett as the source when they got caught because they had to ID someone. Burkett can get his payoff when he settles his lawsuit with CBS.
The main reason I say this is that all campaigns (Republican and Democrat) time when they release damaging info. on the opponent ("Operation Fortunate Son," for instance). I think Kerry/DNC timed this story to come out just inside the McCain-Feingold 60 day limit on advertisements. Network news has no restriction on it. A weak accusation (or even a lie), such as the one relating to the Bush-National Guard issue, has a better chance of taking hold if there are no 3rd party groups to counter it. It also forces the President to talk about the issue if no one else will counter it--that's a win for Kerry/DNC. Kerry/DNC also got a little too greedy when their henchmen (Harkin, et al.) ran their mouths as soon as the story broke on 60 Minutes II ...just a condensation of some thoughts.
Oh no I think you might have taken my comment incorrectly. I want to see Burkett, CBS, and the DNC go after each other and a high profile vicious struggle. It may help to loosen some lips.
For the most part I was simply trying to be funny...
so little faith in the truth. go for the truth; liberals lose.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.