Posted on 09/28/2004 6:02:41 PM PDT by wagglebee
Longtime CBS newsman and "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer said Monday that the Rathergate forged document scandal has been "a terrible blow" to the network's credibility.
"I love CBS. I love the people who work here. This is a terrible blow to all of us," Schieffer told the ABC Radio network's Sean Hannity.
"It's hurt us in two ways," Schieffer said. "Clearly, it's hurt our credibility. But it's also like somebody just came up and kicked us in the stomach. It's hurt us emotionally."
The top CBS newsman made his comments as the latest ratings for the CBS "Evening News" took a sharp turn for the worse, with the New York Post reporting an overall 31 percent drop in viewership for Rather's broadcast in the last week.
In his comments to Hannity, however, Schieffer did his best to present a united front, repeatedly insisting "we made a mistake" rather than pointing a finger at his longtime colleague.
"I work at CBS, so I'm going to use the term 'we'," he explained.
"Dan Rather's been my friend for 35 years. I hope he'll be my friend 35 years from now, when we're both about 120 years old. But he made a mistake. A source lied to him. Now, what we've got to find out is, why were the safeguards – what happened that we didn't determine what was going on here?"
Schieffer said he intended to help rebuild his network's credibility "one story at a time," after admitting "we've got to eat a little humble pie here."
Come now...I'd LOVE to watch CBS on fire...hell is smoking pretty good right now
What goes around, comes around and it couldn't happen to a better, more deserving bunch of decrepid people.
Schieffer's either incredibly stupid or he's lying. The source told Rather/Mapes to have the docs investigated. Then Rather/Mapes ignored the advice of all their so-called experts, who told them the docs were fake, or at best questionable.
Then Rather/Mapes refused to interview those with opposing viewpoints of the contents of the falsified docs.
No, this story didn't get ugly because a source lied to Rather. This story started to stink way back at the beginning, when Rather/Mapes decided to go forward, the facts be damned.
Really, it's like he's waiting for someone to come along and tell him, "I feel your pain." This is the CBS version of the Monica mea culpa speech.
I don't know why everyone wants to pick on an unbalanced and elderly TV news reader who is fading into the twilight of obscurity with the old media CBS.
Last night, Bernie Goldberg, author of "Bias" said that if Dan Rather stopped short, Bob Schieffer would break his nose.
Nuff said.
I'm still waiting for Rather and CBS to apologize to the President.
Get used to it MSM
Exactly. Let's recall what they did. CBS used fabricated documents and conspired with the DNC to bring about a jounalistic coup d'etat of a sitting President in time of WAR. This is about as close to treason as you can get.
I know some here like Bob Schieffer but his behavior in this has been despicable. He never condemned CBS or Dan Rather for this crime. He never even apologized to the President for these treacherous acts. He acts like an idiot when he parrots the incredibly idiotic CBS line: "Nobody disputes the truth in these fabricated documents." And then he even sounded worse than an idiot when he emailed viewers that "If we turn up anything definitive that questions the authenticity of these documents Dan Rather will be the firts to report it." How arrogant can this man be! To add insult to injury he is still trying to ride these crimminal acts out and he still wants to moderate the upcoming Presidential Debate. This floors me! The man should be under oath and answering questions.
Very impressive. The truth often hurts, and stupidity should always hurt. cBS needs to hurt for a lonnnggg time.
You mean like Daniel Schorr "reporting" that Barry Goldwater was going to kick off his 1964 presidential campaign in Germany with "right-wing" German radicals?
That kind of credibility?
Or, the time that Walter Cronkite "reported" that Barry Goldwater refused to comment on the assassination of JFK?
That lie?
Or Cronkite's "reporting" that led the lies about the Tet Offensive, that encouraged the enemy to stay in the war (according to their post-war accounts), that added years to the war and cost the lives of millions of people.
That's credibility?!
Dan Rather IS CBS's creditability. They haven't had anything honest on See BS in years.
"I don't know why everyone wants to pick on an unbalanced and elderly TV news reader who is fading into the twilight of obscurity with the old media CBS."
Because a little research would show you that he has been pulling this same sh!t since the 70's. May his remaining years be full of ulcer inducing, blood pressure raising fits of liberal hatred so that I can place his obituary under my cat's litter box a little sooner.
The "terrible blow" is that you have at last been exposed as the partizan operation that you have been for 70 years..
...and continue to be today.
Lets just look at both Presidential candidates, Bob, There are inconsistencies in the military records of both candidates..
On the one hand you investigate Bush for five years, fabricate evidence out of whole cloth, and rush to press to try and bring him down.
On the other hand, 250 people present you with evidence that you could follow up and verify, and you totally ignore it.
No bias here, Move on everybody....
Then came Buckhead.
Dan didn't reckon with Buckhead. Buckhead then buried Rather under a ton of Rather's own manure. Sic Semper Tyrannis.
Umm...Dan needs to be supervised?
The Ministry of Truth is closed, Bob.
SUPER!
One way to get back a little cred would be for 60 minutes to investigate who commited a felony by forging government documents to try and influence an election... now there is news!
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