Does a bear...? 
Posted on 09/24/2004 1:39:48 PM PDT by QQQQQ
As he described it, Bill Burkett was sick of the Kerry campaign's sheer ineptitude. A member of the Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party and a retired Army National Guardsman, he became incensed as he watched his candidate's credibility suffer from TV ads sponsored by Swift Boat veterans, while Kerry and his staff bungled their responses.
Burkett wanted to do something about it, and believed he had the means to do it. But Kerry's people weren't listening.
In an Internet posting, he candidly wrote that he waded through "seven layers of bureaucratic kids trying to get a job after the election" before he finally got on the phone with former Sen. Max Cleland (D.-Ga.), Kerry's veterans coordinator. Burkett also hinted that he spoke to other "seniors" in the campaign.
In an August 21 Web posting about his conversation with Cleland, Burkett wrote: "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground. . . . He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back."
Exactly what "information" did Burkett give the Kerry campaign? Was it, as Republicans are now asking, the same now-discredited documents he provided to CBS's "60 Minutes"?
'Knee Deep in Big Muddy'
Another Kerry campaign principal, Joe Lockhart, admits he spoke with Burkett several days before the "60 Minutes" broadcast. But both Lockhart and Cleland deny any involvement in bringing the story to the attention of CBS.
A Kerry campaign spokesman and a Democratic National Committee spokesman both failed to respond to voicemail messages asking them if they knew what Burkett meant when he said, "So I gave them the information to do it with."
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie and White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett, pointed to evidence they believe indicates that Kerry's campaign had foreknowledge that Bush's Guard service would become an issue soon.
"Did the Kerry campaign know about the existence of the documents in question in advance of the CBS report? A chronology of events indicates they did," Gillespie told reporters in a September 22 conference call.
For example, Kerry's response to Bush's September 2 convention speech--a scathing Kerry indictment of Bush's service during the Vietnam era--came as a surprise to many pundits. Kerry, who had just suffered through weeks of ads questioning his brief Vietnam service, presumably would have wanted to shift attention away from the Vietnam era.
Gillespie said that on September 6, former Hillary Clinton aide Howard Wolfson started work at the DNC on "Operation Fortunate Son," a public relations campaign that was officially launched September 9, one day after the CBS report, to attack Bush's National Guard service. It included a three-minute Internet advertisement portraying Bush as a privileged shirker that included footage from the "60 Minutes" broadcast.
Responding to questions about the timing of "Operation Fortunate Son," Wolfson released a statement, saying: "Republican allegations of a 'Vast Left Wing Conspiracy' designed to expose the truth about the President's military service are laughable."
The same day as the "60 Minutes" report, an independent group called "Texans for Truth" began its own ad campaign on Bush's guard service.
"One might argue that these steps were taken without advance knowledge of the existence of the documents and this is all coincidence," said Gillespie. "But that strains credibility."
Moreover, it is undisputed that Burkett was in contact with Cleland in August and with Joe Lockhart, a top Kerry aide, on September 4. Lockhart has acknowledged that CBS producer Mary Mapes--a network news veteran who reportedly holds her left-wing views in plain sight--gave him Burkett's phone number and encouraged him to call Burkett. "She said there was someone helpful on the story who had been trying to reach the campaign and really wanted to talk to me," Lockhart said. He said he did call Burkett, but claims the two did not discuss the National Guard documents.
Did they forget the memos? Did they put Burkett up to approaching CBS? Who did actually give the memos to CBS?
Who is drilling the KINKOS staff?
Surely there is a clerk that remembers something!!!
9 HOURS BEFORE THE CBS REPORT: "Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe said, 'George W. Bush's cover story on his National Guard service is rapidly unraveling. ... George W. Bush needs to answer why he regularly misled the American people about his time in the Guard and who applied political pressure on his behalf to have his performance reviews 'sugarcoated.'" (Terence Hunt, "Questions Raised About Bush Guard Service," The Associated Press, 9/9/04)
"Who is drilling the KINKOS staff?"
There are more "KINKOS" involved in this whole sordid mess than clerks in some Texas copy store.
Here's what I think. Burkett asks CBS for money to air the memos, CBS refused. Burkett then asked the DNC for money, if he gave CBS the documents to air, they agreed. Burkett faxes the documents to CBS, who aired the documents with virtually no authenication. Maybe my timeline is messed up, but it is possible the DNC paid Burkett for the memos.
That turned out to be false. McAuliffe said it the day after the report.
Does a bear...?
I think Bob Ferkit and Zack Exley forged the memos with Burkett's help. SOMEONE gave them to Burkett - I don't think these are his creations - perhaps the wording is, but not the type job.
They knew about the memos before they didn't know about the memos.
And why do I think that the person/s responsible for Mapes getting the Abu Ghraib story also had a hand in this one..?
Maybe I am even more suspicious, than you, but I don't think Burkett is the one who forged the memos.
I think the DNC or Kerry campaign forged the memos, based on what Burkett told them, then gave them to Burkett, who then "came forward" and gave them to CBS.
That would explain the claims that "even though the memos are false, the information is accurate", i.e. Burkett told them some unverified, made up claims/accusations against Bush, then some "bright Kerry/DNC staffer", commissioned by senior staff, made up the memos.
"They knew about the memos before they didn't know about the memos."
McAwful mentioned sugar-coating before he knew about the sugar-coating.
I read the thread headline, think of something, and lo' and behold, my thoughts are magically presented in photographic color! Excellllllent!!!!!!!!
It works for me.
9/24/04 Human Events, Prosecute the Forger
"The logical suspicion is that a domestic enemy of this particular President created the forgeries CBS made into global news. But for all we know now it could have been a foreign enemy of the United States. That is why Justice must do its job: Find the culprit, indict.
Entire article:
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=5168
My Post#181 In the News/Activism forum: So Seriously,Who is Lucy Ramirez? I suggested one logical place to find a forger would be to look into the underground smuggling circles where documents R US florishes. What say you all?
If a bear... in the woods and no one's there to hear it... well, never mind.
Well, we can smell it. ;o)
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