Posted on 02/21/2005 2:46:08 AM PST by Liz
The corporate suits over at CBS thought they were free and clear. Uh-uh.
Following last month's release of a scathing report by a blue-ribbon panel on their self-inflicted "60 Minutes" Memogate mess, the CBS execs hoped to get away without truly cleaning house.
True, the one-time Tiffany Network had to accept a public rebuke for the way its journalists had handled the phony document scam relating to President Bush's Vietnam-era military service.
But its two stars, news chief Andrew Heyward and anchorman Dan Rather, were spared the ax — unlike producer Mary Mapes, who was fired, and three others, who were asked to resign.
Those actions, CBS President Les Moonves said at the time, would allow the network "to put this crisis behind us."
Not so fast.
Those three other producers — including "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Josh Howard — aren't going quietly. They've refused to quit and are readying lawsuits — not only to defend their actions, but to charge that the network's report deliberately ignored evidence that implicates top CBS brass in the ongoing fiasco.
To which we say to the CBS Three: Go to it.
We think the public is entitled to know whether Heyward played a key role in CBS' obstinate public defense of the segment — long after it became clear the documents were deeply flawed and probably blatant forgeries.
We'd also like to know just how "overworked" poor Dan Rather was that both the report and the network held him blameless in the whole farce, reducing him to nothing more than a talking prop.
This was a watershed moment for the mainstream media in general, and for CBS in particular.
To be sure, any lawsuit will stay far away from any suggestion the network was motivated by political bias.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Poor Dan's been on No-Doze for years.
It's Bush's fault.
I wish I was kidding. This is how the Left is playing this now. It was all Karl Rove's fault. He planted the memos.
The blogosphere is on fire about it already. Check Instapundit, Powerline, LGF, Wizbang. It's a big deal. Let's see if they can force the mainstream media to mention this one.
Qwinn
Sorry, I should've been more clear about what the blogosphere was on fire about:
A Democrat Congressman (Hinchey - D, NY) just made the claim that Rove was behind planting the memos, even claimed he had proof, then backtracked and said it's "his belief". Check it out.
Qwinn
LOL. Remember this?
"It was amazing Thursday to watch the documents story go from FreeRepublic.com, a bastion of right-wing lunacy, to Drudge to the mainstream media in less than 12 hours," said Jim Jordan, a strategist for independent Democratic groups opposed to Bush.
"That's not to say the documents didn't deserve examination. But apparently the entire thing was cooked up by a couple of amateurs on Free Republic. The speed with which it moved was breathtaking."
I'm amazed that CBS didn't grasp the limited value of Dan Rather back in 1999/2000. His attitude and lack of common sense are obvious. CBS management left their wagon tied to this horse...until the horse was laying on the side of the road. They should have switched up several years ago. Even the number of viewers should have told that story. While Fox news kept building up and taking viewers...CBS tied itself to Dan and his obvious anti-Bush left lean. Fox has full control of the bulk of nightly viewers now...and it will take a huge move by any of the networks to trim Fox back down.
It's a gift that keeps on giving!
What a maroon...electrons DO travel fast. Breathtaking. Sheesh.
How desperate can the Dims get? Gosh, next thing you know they'll put a lunatic like Howard Dean at the head of the DNC.......oh, wat a sec, they already did that.....LOL.
According to the MSM and Liberal true believers, FReepers are a bunch of redneck, vulgar, no nothing lowlifes, like most of flyover country. So how could FReepers have been that clever, duplicitous, not to mention cunning...to have planted the documents story, etc. way back when? Libs can't have it both ways, and maybe they've figured that out, hence the evil Karl Rove is to blame, well, along with GW, of course.
Wow. So, according to this communist wannabe, we forged the memos, and we got CBS to produce and air a 60-minutes episode based on forged memos and false accusations?
The commies are hyperventialting, and clearly off their meds. I can't imagine what they'll say should true conservatives ever actually become as powerful as the Democrats were when FDR was in office. Perhaps that would finally shut them up, since it would likely send them into catatonic shock.
Note to CBS' affiliates: Suckers.
I'm a professional amateur!
Huh? Independent Dem groups?
Independent from what/whom?
What the heck does independent mean?
Oh, wait, they are doing that too.
"I'm a professional amateur!"
AttaFReeper. Your check from the Bush 2008-2012 Third Term "Selected, not Elected" Fund is in the mail.... Don't spend it all at one gun shop.
The TANG documents "cooked-up" on FR? Nonsense.
BUCKHEAD himself recently posted (to criticism by the Columbia Journalism Review): ".....my position is that any fool could see they were fakes, and I couldn't believe that no one else had made the point about the font before I did, and somebody else would have within a few minutes if I had not. Be that as it may, the premise of the CJR is that no one can tell if the memos are fakes. What a freaking maroon!"
I say buckhead and buckhead alone deserves the credit.
He had the perscapacity, sophistication, and computer savviness to see right through the faked memos.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE NEWS REPORT (Smiling picture of HRC flashes on screen over SNL newscaster's shoulder)
SNL NEWSCASTER: "New political polls say most Democrats prefer Hillary Clinton as their presidential candidate, because Democrats are looking for fresh new ways to get their *sses handed to them."
Yeah, and those bonuses in our checks last month were great!
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.