Posted on 02/06/2007 4:37:21 PM PST by Polybius
The Web is a great way to deliver information, but it's also a great way to expose, spread, or jump-start a scandal.
SNIP
The Net's biggest scandals are nothing if not democratic, touching everyone from the most ordinary individuals to the highest office in the land. Not everyone deserved the notoriety. Some were hapless victims of privacy breaches; others were exposed by hackers or misguided crusaders. But in almost every case, somebody ended up getting fired, sued, or mortally embarrassed.
SNIP
3. Dan Rather Bids a Font Farewell
They were supposed to be the smoking gun the Bush Administration was desperate to conceal: four documents, dating from the early 1970s, that allegedly proved that powerful friends of our current president pulled strings to keep him out of Vietnam and put him into the National Guard. But shortly after 60 Minutes host Dan Rather revealed the documents' existence in September 2004, the gun blew up in his face. Conservative blogs Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, and Power Line questioned the authenticity of the documents--specifically, whether a 1970s-era typewriter could produce the superscript th and curly apostrophes found in the four memos.
Instead of focusing on where W actually was when he was supposed to be serving with the National Guard in 1972, political bloggers immersed themselves in the arcana of typewriter fonts--and the mainstream media followed suit. Twelve days after airing the segment, Dan Rather publicly apologized for the story, saying he could not vouch for the documents' authenticity. A few months later, he quietly left CBS--with the inevitable "gate" permanently appended to his name.
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.msn.com ...
MEANWHILE, the media now uses the term "Swiftboating" to disparage the truthful testimony against John Kerry, a man who lied before Congress spinning tales of war crimes.
John Kerry never has released his military record.
The ball in the their court. Swift Boat Veterans aren't even accused of "fake but accurate" tales. Instead it is some neo-Pravda term to bring to mind McCarthyism.
WTF does PC World know about "history" or "politics"? Unless that PC stands for Politically Correct Revisionist History.
Those who malign this site are afraid. It could cause banishment from their close minded politically correct friends.
I hear the ugliest things my "friends" and acquaintances say about people who are Republicans. Trash talking people like Lionel Hampton. Who knew he was "controversial"? So needless to say, I keep my politics off the table. "Act like a dumbs*** and they'll treat you like an equal."
Yep! I've told friends that one day our grandchildren will be reading about how FReepers and bloggers brought down an entrenched member of the media establishment.
Yup. Two guys trying to manipulate a presidential election by deceit and criminal conduct.
The difference is that Nixon was fully and publicly investigated, While SeeBS is still covering up for their lovable Danny-boy.
ping
Snide comment, isn't it? FR didn't focus on where George W. Bush was because we KNEW where he was at that time, and they knew that the National Guard knew where he was, because he'd received permission to do his NG duties at a different post. So since we already KNEW that, we focused on the fraud being perpetrated by CBS, as it was the more important story.
Conservative blogs Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, and Power Line questioned the authenticity of the documents--specifically, whether a 1970s-era typewriter could produce the superscript th and curly apostrophes found in the four memos.
Ahhh... that was a FUN night on FR back in September 2004. :o)
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my miscellaneous ping list.
That night, and the whole Swiftboaters' effort, swung the election.
That was only 3 months before I joined FR, too bad I missed all the fun.
Scary, isn't it?
Al Gore Junior's much publicized "popular vote" victory was also due to an October surprise. His popular vote victory was only by 0.51% of the vote. If 0.52% of the vote was changed by the election eve reporting of George W. Bush's DWI arrest decades earlier, then it cost him the popular vote.
And the Foleygate scandal was used to paint the GOP with an entire "Culture of Corruption" slur. And it did affect the election.
Same as it ever was. Dirty politics. And read the quotes from the mass media on my profile page. Do not expect that conservatives will get a fair shake in the election. "Too much is riding on it" for them to be balanced or to point out errors in candidates' statements or to correct inaccurate reports about candidates.
Conservative blogs Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, and Power Line questioned the authenticity of the documents--specifically, whether a 1970s-era typewriter could produce the superscript th and curly apostrophes found in the four memos.
Ahhh... that was a FUN night on FR back in September 2004. :o)
I know how you feel. I know many FReepers who were onboard here during Monicagate back in 1998. Damn, how I wish I had been here... ;-)
Yes, I think you're correct. 'Twas a beautiful thing!
I see that Dick Morris is gearing up to make this and next year a great expose on Hillary's misdeeds (as if we've forgotten...but clearly most Americans have forgotten). I hope he ends up "Swiftboating" the old hag next year.
Indeed. There's an old radio show called "Danger, Dr. Danfield". In the epi Death Tunes in at 790 Kilocycles, typewriter fonts are the key to the murder.
http://tech.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2661701
Better link to the same story. Their second scandal will pale in time. Monica-gate and Rather-gate, however, will remain top internet exposes for decades or longer.
...but here's the question to ask: why don't we see the old news media exposing left-wing scandals?
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