Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick (60 Minutes/Dan Rather investigation nears another anniversary)

Yahoo News ^ | 12/30/04

[Libloather]

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick
Thu Dec 30, 7:00 PM ET
Ibd

It 's been nearly 3 1/2 months since former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press chief executive Louis D. Boccardi were named to an independent panel to investigate the "60 Minutes" story that used forged documents to allege Bush shirked his duties when in the Texas Air National Guard in the 1960s and 1970s.

The panel was named Sept. 22, 14 days after the story aired and two days after Rather finally stopped denying that the documents were bogus and admitted the story was a mistake. The probe was supposed to get at how the story came to be.

In most newsrooms, that would take about 14 minutes, not 14 weeks, and those involved would by now have found new employment in the food-service or hospitality industry.

This screw-up, however, must be really complicated. Indeed, Mary Mapes, the story's producer, reportedly delivered a "60-plus-page defense" of the piece to investigators -- as if that's a lot to pore over.

Or is it that CBS thinks last month's announcement that Rather would be stepping down as anchor of CBS Evening News has effectively taken Memogate off the public radar screen?

If so, it should think again. Yes, we realize that holding people responsible for their actions -- think Sandy Berger or George Tenet -- was passe in '04. But CBS' transgressions date back much further than one story or one year.

As we've often said, and as one of its own, Bernard Goldberg, has damningly laid out in two books, CBS' problem is deep-seated political bias. Any investigation that doesn't address that problem will be dismissed -- at least in this newsroom -- as no investigation at all.

[OldFriend]

There will never be a public accounting of this blatant attempt to defeat President Bush.

CBS chose it's investigators well.

[woodb01]

Wow!! To me this is actually good news!

Here's why, this delay shows that what was discovered has been so damaging, and so troubling that they can not and will not make anything public without some minimal measure of internal correct, and scrubbing the report.

This also leads me to believe that the damaging stuff is being reported up the food chain so that even if the public never finds out, old Andrew Hayward's getting an earful and the rest of the board of directors is probably very angry...

HOWEVER, maybe we should start a campaign that notes any misleading statements in that report could constitute violations of Sarbanes Oxley... Now THAT would be fun...

Re-Designed (stage 1) ANTI-DNC Web Portal at ---> http://www.noDNC.com

[TYVets]

" they are off the front page. Expect nothing to happen."

If they do complete their "investigation" I will hear about it on Fox News or FR.

My viewer ship and trust of CBS News began falling in the mid to late '60s. It has been close to absolute zero before 1980.

[mewzilla]

Note to affiliates: Still twistin'....

[TYVets]

"Note to affiliates: Still twistin'...."

Here in the Central Time Zone the Evening News with Dan Rather precedes the local news.

Note FROM affiliates: why are OUR ratings so low?

The local affiliates have suffered because of Dan, part of the Rather Legacy.

[mewzilla]

One of these days they might grow a brain. But they better not wait too long....

[DustyMoment]

Indeed, Mary Mapes, the story's producer, reportedly delivered a "60-plus-page defense" of the piece to investigators . . . .

IMO, Mapes has managed to alter the focus of the investigation and has gotten the "memogate" investigation team to investigate whether or not Bush's NG service is a real story or not. I also don't believe that SeeBS has any intention of taking any punitive or corrective action on the investigation "results" and the whole thing is a dog and pony show intended to hush up Rather's/SeeBS' critics long enough for the furor to die off.

It took bloggers about an hour to expose the false nature of the story; it wouldn't take us 3-1/2 months to determine whether proper journalistic procedures were carried out prior to vetting the story.

For those holding their breath waiting for a giant expose resulting from SeeBS' internal investigation, you can go ahead and breath again. SeeBS has announced its results with Rather's "retirement" from his anchor chair. But, make no mistake, he will still be pulling the strings on whichever marionette they get to replace him.

[oldbill]

You guys just don't understand the free market system.

This "investigation" is being carried out by a law firm, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham (http://www.klng.com/)which just so happens to have one of the investigation leaders, Richard Thornburg, as a member of the firm. It is entirely funded by CBS.

These K street law firms get like $400/hour. Why should they hurry this investigation when it pays off at that rate. And what gets released is under the client, CBS's, total control, as they are the purchaser of the lawyers product.

Expect a whitewash type "mistakes were made" conclusion, with no details or specificity, like what questions were asked of what witnesses.

If they really wanted an accurate result, they should have turned all the money over to Freepers and turned them loose.

[bray]

Imagine what DNCixty Minions would be doing if Haliburton had Stonewalled a Forgery this long???

Pray for W and Our Troops

[LoneSome Journey]

That's exactly right. He has never admitted anything! cBS thinks we're going to forget about it. They are wrong.

Copy the above article and send it to:

grain@cbsnews.com

along with the statement:

We will NOT FORGET, We are STILL Waiting.

[SouthTexas]

I actually watched SeeBS more 'after' the issue came up than ever before, only to watch them prove themselves idiots. I still expect nothing to come of this.

[ImphClinton]

I agree with you but don't watch CBS News at all.

I do however watch CNN, MSNBC, PBS and FNN quite a bit. They are all liberal although MSNBC does have Scarborough Country and FNN has Hannity (though tightly reined in). His Radio show is not Biased his TV show is.

I consider ABC, CBS and NBC news to be mostly fiction. The same with Cable news but do enjoy the occasional guest and pictures which do not always lie.

[SouthTexas]

I have given up on most of the TV news completely, with the exception of local issues. I just cannot stand every lib coming on and talking about the "proven" point of no weapons in Iraq, which of course continually goes unanswered. More of the "repeat it enough" and it will become truth. Not ONE of the supposedly right wing pundits ever ask "Well, where did they go?"

[TYVets]

"I have given up on most of the TV news completely, with the exception of local issues."

35 years ago I watched more local news on TV than I do today.

The reason: today I watch Bret Hume and then forget to click the remote for local news.

The Rather legacy.

[TruthWillWin]

Wasn't the panels report supposed to be released on December 10th? Silly me, I thought that was 12-10-2004. Perhaps it was to be released in 12-10-2005,6,7 or what ever.

[sauropod]

"Liberals are nature's prank on the rest of us."

Good quote for a tagline.

[sauropod]

Meanwhile, no one seems to notice that Sandy Berger has gotten off scot-free also.

I haven't forgotten. The Clintonista Sandy Berger is hoping to march in John Deutch's shoes and evade prosecution for what he did.

[Gaffer]

The basic trait of a liberal is unbridled evil whether it is done knowingly or unknowingly. They feel, they touch, they empathize, they will 'fight for you' (regardless if it's against other Americans), and they think they are right and they will enslave you if you don't agree. In fact, they ARE evil and should be treated as such. They rationalize every evil act they perpetrate with the knowledge that what they are doing is for the good of humanity when it is, in reality, against anything good. NEVER trust a liberal.

[meema]

Good suggestion, LSJ, we each have to let them know how we feel about them, and how they are 'handling' this slight problem of theirs.

I also have the email address of my 'local' cBS from their reply to my last email on this subject.

[SouthTexas]

Our local comes on right after Hume. It's not like I have to get up and change it, like 35 years ago. But children were the first cure to that problem, before the invention of the remote.