Posted on 09/15/2004 8:21:02 PM PDT by Mr_Mary_Jo_Kopechne
1) Rather mentions Ben Barnes in the opening and fails to disclose Barnes' ties to the Kerry campaign, misleading people who did not see the original piece
2) Rather made no mention of Amy Barnes' (Ben's daughter) statements that her father's statements on the 60 Minutes piece are politically motivated
3) In Rather's introduction, he says: "The woman who describes herself as Colonel Killian's right hand during much of the 1970s, Marianne Carr Knox, Colonel Killian's secretary, flew to NY this afternoon to tell us she believes the documents we obtained are not authentic. But, there is yet another confusing twist to this story. She told us, she believes what the documents actually say, is exactly as we reported." I find this last sentence to be a ludicrous, nonsensical statement. To paraphrase "Knox tells us that we accurately reported the falsified documents".
4) Neither Rather nor Knox disclosed Knox's political affiliation, nor was there mention of Knox's earlier statements to the press that Bush was "selected not elected" and unfit for the Presidency. Rather calls her a "credible voice".
5) Rather neglected to question Knox on the fact that Staudt was long gone by the date of the memo referring to him
6) Knox put no dates on any of the statements she made, and Rather asked her from no timeline
7) Knox mentions twice that other pilots who knew Bush was not fulfilling his obligation Knox - "his time there, it seemed the other fellows were, I am going to say this, sort of resentful for his attitude." Rather - "and what was his attitude" Knox - "well, that he really didn't have to go by the rules" Rather - "he didn't really have to go by the rules?" Knox - "it seemed that way to me"
and then later
Knox - "it was sort of gossip around there... about what he was getting away with" Rather - "what Lt Bush was getting away with, they were snickering about that?" Knox - "well the other officers, and I guess there was even a resentment"
Why have none of the pilots or officers come forward? Her memory is apparently good enough to know that the content of each memo is "correct", she should be able to recollect at least one person who observed Bush's alleged behavior, and Rather should have asked her for names.
(As an aside, the left apparently thinks that 250+ swift vets who served with Kerry but not on Kerry's boat are not credible, but hearsay of pilots that served with Bush delivered by a secretary with a known partisan bias is credible?)
8) Killian's wife and son say he kept notes on scraps of paper, but Knox claims that the memos are part of some personal journal. Rather fails to challenge this discrepancy. Also, Knox says it is more or less a personal journal. How many people have secretaries type their personal journals, aren't these usually hand written, especially by someone like Killian as he is described by his family?
9) Knox says "For instance, with the physical. Every officer knew, that at his birthday, he was supposed to have that flying physical." However, the first two memos discussing the orders for Bush to get the physical are dated 2 months before Bush's July birthday. Is it common practice for commanding officers to be this proactive? Rather does not ask.
10) Rather asks her if Bush got in on the basis of preference, her unchallenged response is "I am going to say that he did. I feel that he did." Rather asks if she feels this way because there were other politically connected people in the Guard at the time, and Knox answers yes. Rather fails to ask if her opinion is based on anything more tangible she might have read, seen, or heard.
Rather's last statement speaks volumes to his complete loss of journalistic integrity - "those who have criticized aspects of our story have never criticized the heart of it, the major thrust of our report, that George Bush received preferential treatment to get into the National Guard and once accepted, failed to satisfy the requirements of his service." This statement should be added to Journalism 101 textbooks in a chapter called "how not to disgrace yourself as a journalist". This claim fails to recognize that the "heart" of the story is built on a foundation of forged documents and a Democrat politician who is involved in the Kerry campaign, and therefore it is just as faulty as the foundation on which it is built. Addressing the story built on faulty evidence gives credence to that story, which it does not deserve. Or as the old saying goes "I will not dignify that with a response".
There's no "who", "what", "when" and "where" in her statements. Sounds like just her "feelings". That's not evidence. It's Rather pathetic, don't you think?
But did they really serve with them? Because if they weren't in the plane with him; they must not telling the truth.
CBS should be heavily fined and cancelled for their pernicious and egregious actions. I despise CBS News and their advertisers.
And, furthermore, CBS will no longer be a station my family will view for anything they wish to broadcast. They are banned from my television viewing until they exterminate the vermin that resides within their bowels and flush it out.
Wouldn't be surprised to see her repudiate the interview soon.
What would you all think IF Rather/CBS had Ms. Knox scoped out ahead of time, but did know how to introduce her blather without any documentation? Soooo, they had someone come up with some docs knowing that they'd be ID'd as fakes, but didn't care. All they wanted was a means to introduce Ms. Knox's verbal confirmation into the scam with some credibility.
I would add that in an earlier article, Mrs. Knox said that she hardly knew Lt. Bush. It's amazing how quickly she remembered all these details. I wish I could find that link to the interview she gave to a Texas paper. Maybe someone here can recall it?
Rather never asked her about Bush's Honorable Discharge. She would have done the paperwork. Why did Bush get an Honorable Discharge? I also believe that Killian went out of his way to personally deliver the discharge. Why doesn't Dan discuss this? Also, Bush's request to work on a campaign in 1972. She would have done the paperwork on that, too!
Yesterday, her son told the press that Knox would have nothing more to say to the press. Hmmm...as the old saying goes...MONEY TALKS!
She says:
"it seemed the other fellows were, I am going to say this, sort of resentful for his attitude"
"he didn't really have to go by the rules?" Knox - "it seemed that way to me"
"it was sort of gossip around there... about what he was getting away with"
"I guess there was even a resentment"
"I am going to say that he did. I feel that he did."
This is reporting? Rather is a disgrace.
I wouldn't be too hard on the woman. She's 86 years old. But Rather's not asking her anything specific about the memos is unacceptable. We don't know what exactly she says was in the memos. Clearly they're not a word-for-word copy, are they? -- including the parts that don't make sense (date well before Bush's birthday for medical order, Staudt pressure 18 months after retirment).
Requires registration. The article does not have a direct quote, but it does say:
Last week, Knox said she had no firsthand knowledge of Bush's time with the Texas Air National Guard, although she did recall a culture of special treatment for the sons of prominent people, such as Bush and others.
Two questions from my wife, who actually watched the segments:
1) The woman didn't appear to her to be anywhere within twenty years of 86 years old -- has anyone verified that this is actually Killian's secretary?
2) She recalls Knox saying that Killian didn't believe that Bush was fit to be governor; wasn't Bush elected governor after both Killian and Knox were out of the TANG, and if so, how did they happen to have this conversation?
Actually, I think it was.
Rather - "Did you type ones like this?" Knox - "Yes" Rather - "Containing the same or identical information?" Knox - "The same information, yes"
I read somewhere that Killian's son says he remembers Knox working for his father, sorry no link (it was probably on Drudge somewhere)
Good point, unnamed indeed.
And thank you for the kind words.
Too bad it is kind of long for a bumper sticker,
I heard Killin Jr say that he has known Know since he was 6 years old!1 BUT she was NOT his father's Personal Secy!!
That was the first thing that stuck me about her as well.
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