CBS: THE BLEEDING CONTINUES

NY POST ^ | February 21, 2005 | EDITORIAL

[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.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Why weren't they fired?

That opens CBS to a lawsuit quicker is what I heard among the Talking Heads discussing this.

[jslade]

They'd only play if they could use other people's money.

BINGO! Ain't that the truth.

[freedumb2003]

Those silly Democrats. There ARE NO "amateurs" on Free Republic. The eeeeeeevil Bush-Rove-Scaife Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Fund pays us, we're PROFESSIONALS. And paying us WELL. Just how well? Let's put it this way: I have platinum pajamas. LOL!

BTW, the checks were late again this month. Do we have problems in the accounting department? I can always offer my services as a financial systems consultant....

[freedumb2003]

perspicacity

That is a GREAT word. I wonder how I can get it to the WOTD folks?

per·spi·cac·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pûrsp-ks-t)
n. Acuteness of perception, discernment, or understanding.

[Liz]

.....perspicacity....That is a GREAT word. I wonder how I can get it to the WOTD folks? per·spi·cac·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pûrsp-ks-t)n. Acuteness of perception, discernment, or understanding........

Oh, I dunno. It's not as great a word as "juxtaposition."

[Liz]

Oh, I had all that for lunch yesterday.

[Liz]

Somebody photoshopped that pic with Castro saying,
"Useful idiot."

[martin_fierro]

	Media Shenanigans/ Schadenfreude
Based on an amused spectator's list Send FReepmail if you want on/off MSP list

[randog]

It was all Karl Rove's fault. He planted the memos.

Drats! Foiled again by the Stoopid Sooper Evil Genius Chimpy and his Flying Monkeys!

Seriously, it's amazing how the "incredibly intelligent" left keeps getting tripped up by "morons" like Bush & Co.

[Liz]

Nobody does it better than Fox, eh?

[WorkingClassFilth]

"...FReepers are a bunch of redneck, vulgar, no nothing lowlifes..."

Some of us are. ;)

[Semper Paratus]

This is the difference between the Right and Left.

We poured our heart and soul into the Impeachment saga but when it was clear he was going to beat the rap in the Senate we conceded he would finish his term short of mass murder shown live.

The left, on the other hand, are still fighting the last 2 National elections while the rest of the country as MovedOn. We should encourage this paranoia until we get 60 Senate seats.

[maggief]

"...a strategist for independent Democratic groups opposed to Bush."

Independent Democratic groups = The Media Fund = Soros

http://daschlevthune.typepad.com/daschle_v_thune/2004/10/more_on_the_med.html

[ko_kyi]

What makes me laugh is that in true Orwellian doublethink fashion they think that Freepers are simultaneously pajama-clad buffoons and vital instruments of a sinister and clever nationwide conspiracy.

[bilhosty]

Now if the Swift Boat Veterans will just file a libel suit, that would be sweet.

[InvisibleChurch]

maybe they can put howardean at the head of cbs news

[Pilsner]

The eeeeeeevil Bush-Rove-Scaife Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Fund pays us,

And if you tell the Bildeburgers that you are willing to infiltrate Free Republic as a sleeper agent, they will pay you too, so one can double dip ; )

[Barney59]

We should encourage this paranoia until we get 60 Senate seats.

PING that!

        GO DEAN!!!!!

[AnAmericanMother]

Aren't those a little uncomfortable?

[beyond the sea]

This was a watershed moment for the mainstream media in general, and for CBS in particular.

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 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."