Rathergate" Scandal Takes New Turn

Accuracy In Media ^ | 1/13/05 | A.I.M.

[Foolsgold]

"Rathergate" Scandal Takes New Turn - Same CBS Source That Pronounced Phony Documents as "Genuine" Was Also Behind Abu Ghraib Prison Story on CBS

In a bombshell in the CBS "Rathergate" panel report, it is revealed that Dan Rather personally assured CBS News President Andrew Heyward that the discredited Bush National Guard story was not only true but "very big." At the same time, Rather said it wasn't "as big as Abu Ghraib," the Iraqi prisoner abuse story used by CBS and other media to blacken the reputation and image of the United States around the world. What's more, it turns out that David Hackworth, a controversial retired colonel who has emerged as a strident opponent of how the Iraq war is being conducted, was a key source for canned CBS producer Mary Mapes in both stories.

[Foolsgold]

Not totally sure but I think I heard that the investigators were also legal council for C the Bia S

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Isn't Hackworth a source for WorldNetDaily, too!

[scott7278]

It's time for David Hackworth to go back to his mother ship...

 

[Arizona]

It's a long article, very informative. Everyone needs to read the whole thing, not just the excerpt.

az

[tfecw]

Can Bush sue for defamation of character or libel (or is it slander...one is written, one is spoken)

Although i guess it'd be hard to prove the report hurt his chances for running for president

[cweese]

Good find. Thanks for posting!

[nikos1121]

This is just the start of it. I think the four that were fired will sue for wrongful termination of employment. Even if they have no legal grounds they will be paid just to keep them quiet.

Anyone who has read or heard parts of the Thornburgh report will see that basically Rather tried to cover his @ss and let the others below him take the fall. He also used his influence to circumvent normal journalist reporting.

I therefore am suggesting that we coin a few new phrases in the aftermath of Rathergate.

1. The Dan Rather Syndrome

The Dan Rather Syndrome: Noun. A pervasive attitude in one's work environment where the boss often has his subordinates take the blame for any of his (or her) wrong doing so as to cover his own @ss.

For example:

"My boss has Dan Rather Syndrome. He let two of us take the hit for his screw up on those mutual funds."

2. danrathered.

dan-rath'-erred: verb 1. to be let go to cover the incompetent missteps taken by a superior. 2. using one's influence to overturn the will of a majority of people.

Example:

"My boss danrathered me. He let me take the fall for his blunder that cost us the Anderson account."

3. Danrather Journalism

danrather journalism: noun. A term that denotes politically biased journalism.

example:

"The editorial displayed evidence of danrather journalism, portraying the republican senator as a racist."


Let this be Dan Rather's legacy.

nikos

[rellimpank]

--it seems to this barracks lawyer that somebody is guilty of falsification of military documents.

For example, if I was to claim some veteran's identity and use it to attempt to get VA medical care, I suspect it would be considered a crime. What's the difference?

[Hold DiMayo]

Yes. He is antimilitary and antiUS.

[tjg]

I'm pretty disapointed with Hack. He can be a peacenik if he wants, I don't have any problem with that.

But he's hurting the John and Jill Grunt the same way Kerry did during the Vietnam war, with his rabid anti admin, anti soldier campaign.

[OK]

Re: Isn't Hackworth a source for WorldNetDaily, too!

No, they just carry his weekly columns. He lost credibility with me a long time ago, but I read WND daily.

[iceskater]

Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media (AIM), commented that, "Rather's reference to Abu Ghraib, in the context of preparing the bogus attack on Bush, demonstrates that the agenda of Rather and CBS was not only to sabotage Bush's re-election campaign but to undermine the war in Iraq. They were looking for 'big' stories to hurt the U.S. at home and abroad. The Abu Ghraib story on CBS inflamed the Arab/Muslim world against the U.S., inevitably costing the lives of more American soldiers in Iraq at the hands of fanatical Muslim terrorists."

I thought the Thornburg/Boccardi report said there wasn't any bias?

[tfecw]

ooooh...i didn't even think of that one, good call

[sr4402]

'Trust me, the Bush National Guard documents are not phony, they just can't be verified. Therefore you should trust everything that I and CBS says.'

/sarcasm off

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

So, does WND carry his pieces in the name of "balance" or is Hackworth a buddy of Farrah?

[Sacajaweau]

The forgeries were so stupidly presented, that CBS got caught....Kinda like a setup.

The prison story was so well documented.....it also smells of a setup.

Those little misfits look like they would take money to "smile".

NO ONE with any common sense would let a photo be taken with those prisoners. The photos were absolutely unnecessary. I'd watch them for a long, long time.

[cweese]

I've long believed the prison "scandal" was a deal where someone in the media (CBS/Mapes) arranged for these photos to be staged, then used them to make something out of absolutely nothing. I would LOVE to see Mapes go to prison over this, if it's ever investigated from this angle.

[TruthWillWin]

So perhaps Hackworth was who Rather was refering to as "an unempeachable source"?

[Notwithstanding]

IIRC, defamation of public figures is tortious when the publisher knows (not sure to what degree of certainty) the information to be untrue.

But W would never sue.

[highflight]

DEFENDING AMERICA
David H. Hackworth
January 12, 1999
I well remember the 31 January 1991 Battle of Khafji that I witnessed so closely I could smell the cordite, see the gun flashes and experience the pucker factor. When it was over, burning tanks littered the field and more than 300 Iraqi prisoners ended up in the POW cage. Iraqi columns beat feet back across the Saudi border, and then Saddam, emulating General William Westmoreland of Vietnam, declared victory. "We won the mother of all battles," he exclaimed from the bottom of his bunker.

Eight years later he's still declaring victory while here we are, readying our missiles and bombs for another serious go at the ever-more-defiant monster of Baghdad with yet another no-win plan.

WHERE EXACTLY DOES HACK STAND ON THIS ISSUE 5 YEARS LATER? INQUIRIN MINDS WOULD LIKE TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!