[doug from upland]

FReepers have become legendary. FReepers took down an anchor.

[beyond the sea]

no one lied, the memos are real

Dan's tombstone

[beyond the sea]

Mr. Burkett has said that this document and the others he gave CBS were provided on a "stand-alone" basis—meaning he wouldn’t vouch for their authenticity—and under a promise of the utmost secrecy. He had first told Ms. Mapes that the memos had come from a former Guard colleague named George Conn.

LOL. A real con.

;-)

[Calusa]

Wow! Hunter S. Thompson and Dan Rather ride the shark in the same week (or, so). The Times (really) are a-changing!

[Dr. Thorne]

"The road to the White House leads through the Clyde Whataburger" was the group’s joke.

To me this is a flat admission that this entire group had a tacet mission to install Kerry as the next president. These people spend their lives breaking their arms patting themselves on the back only to be revealed as villainous partisans. Of course, they don't understand the "villainous" part as they are so cock-sure that their motivations are the noble and correct ones: To remove from office a president with whom they disagree.

To them, the end justifies the means. May fools like these always be exposed and expelled from the public forum.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

If he wasnt such a liberal-anus rim licker he might of lasted long enough to have a graceful exit. As it is his doctrinaire leftism served him no goood..

[Maria S]

Massive amount of time, money, and network airtime to prove the truth of these memos! Nothing but scorn (and very little airtime) toward swiftboat vets.

[FlipWilson]

Quote:

"In any case, Mr. Rigler went on to say that interviews with former National Guardsmen were leading him to believe the truth of the documents, if not their authenticity.

"It was so well known for years at Camp Avery about Bush and his failure to serve in the Texas Air National Guard," he said, referring to the base where Mr. Bush had been stationed in the early 1970’s. "It was just so very, very common. You know, he didn’t even show up out there during his whole eight-year tenure as governor and commander in chief of the Texas Air National Guard—not once did he go to Camp Avery. So most people just sort of looked at him as a draft dodger. They didn’t hold him in very high regard at all."

He continued: "The story—and I’m talking to some people at Camp Avery—the story about the files, the non-service, the memos, stuff like that, had floated around for years. For that reason, it makes you think it’s likely true"."

Yes, and so the story goes. The problem is, nobody can actually prove it IS true. Hence why there is this scandal. Someone wanted to get this accepted "truth" out so badly, that they accepted the memos as being authentic. Afterall, they merely reflect that which is common knowledge, i.e. Bush the draft dodger.

I just have to wonder if CBS ever took the other approach, namely, to ask if perhaps the accepted "truth" was not true at all? Aren't journalists supposed to be skeptical? I bet if the shoe were on the other foot and this was a story about the Dem nominee skipping out on his/her National Guard service, the MSM would have approached it with doubt.

Oh well, Dan is done. Now lets see how much time elapses before Mr. Jennings steps in the same dog doo as Dan. tick tick tick tick.

[sr4402]

This article doesn't help answer my questions.

What did Dan Rather know and when did he know it?

[An Old Marine]

"no one really seemed to be interested in the truth."

Pretty well covers the media's whole attitude these days.

[woofie]

Rove set em up ...I have the documents to prove it

[carola]

Either Mr. Burkett created the documents or someone gave them to him. If someone gave them to him, then they could have been created by any number of entities, including an anonymous Bush hater, the Texas Democrat Party, the Kerry Campaign or Dan Rather's daughter. Why isn't there some kind of official investigation to find out who (besides Dan Rather) tried to sabotage President Bush's campaign?

[kittymyrib]

Burkett got one thing right...the Thornburg panel was definitely a "corporate damage-control plan." The tip off was their finding that there was no political bias at CBS! Even the old execs at CBS have said the slanting of the news there was blatant.
Wonder when the NYObserver will quit beating the dead horse story of the President's TANG service?

[razorback-bert]

Mr. Smith began filling the briefcase with dozens of 90-minute microcassettes recording his telephone discussions with everyone he spoke to about the memo scandal.

Tape, we got tape.

Roll tape!

[Western Phil]

These people need to read some banned literature - the ten commandments. There is one in there that says "Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor." If they can't figure out what that means, they should look up Luther's explaination and study it for a few minutes.

[NewYorker]

"It was so well known for years at Camp Avery about Bush and his failure to serve in the Texas Air National Guard," he said, referring to the base where Mr. Bush had been stationed in the early 1970’s.

So where did he learn to fly a fighter jet?

Too bad CBS didn't spend their time and $$$ investigating Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia.

[kinghorse]

Texas is conservative but when she produces a liberal, it usually the most virulent strain. LBJ to GungaDan to ??? Be afraid, be very afraid.

[cyncooper]

I just read this article via the link at Drudge, then checked to see if it was posted. What a bizarre read and structure the thing has. As to commentary on it, I'll start with:

On Sept. 2, 2004, Mr. Smith and Ms. Mapes met with Mr. Burkett and his wife, Nicki Burkett, in a Whataburger restaurant in Clyde, Tex. They discussed the possibility of procuring the Bush National Guard documents. Mr. Smith had worked with Ms. Mapes on a number of 60 Minutes and CBS Evening News pieces starting in 2000. He was hired again as a freelancer in August to work on the National Guard story.

"The road to the White House leads through the Clyde Whataburger" was the group’s joke.

This is blatant evidence that the intention was to bring down President Bush, yet the "panel" declared they could not find political partisanship as motive.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Dick Thornburgh disgraced himself with the report this panel issued. Even without the above admission from the group that the reason for the story was to elect Kerry, it was clearly possible for the panel to have reached that conclusion based on the evidence we had on the public record.

[cyncooper]

In any case, Mr. Rigler went on to say that interviews with former National Guardsmen were leading him to believe the truth of the documents, if not their authenticity.

"It was so well known for years at Camp Avery about Bush and his failure to serve in the Texas Air National Guard," he said, referring to the base where Mr. Bush had been stationed in the early 1970’s. "It was just so very, very common. You know, he didn’t even show up out there during his whole eight-year tenure as governor and commander in chief of the Texas Air National Guard—not once did he go to Camp Avery. So most people just sort of looked at him as a draft dodger. They didn’t hold him in very high regard at all."

He continued: "The story—and I’m talking to some people at Camp Avery—the story about the files, the non-service, the memos, stuff like that, had floated around for years. For that reason, it makes you think it’s likely true."

Boy! I'm glad Rigler didn't bother us with dreary details like names when he made these claims about what "people" have said. Evidently he wasn't asked for them, either, as I don't see any reference to "Mr. Rigler refused to name the people he claims made these statements".

And we've had to be subjected to lectures from the MSM about what constitutes "real journalism"? We're not going to take it anymore. We demand documented facts.

[mowkeka]

Adios you fruitcake! Believe me, you won't be missed.