[Paul Atreides]

What is so incredibly interesting is that all of this comes about after Susan Estrich demands that Dims sling mud and Kerry brings on the Clinton Good Fellas.

Also, it has been said that Rather was working on this story for four or five years. That is before 9-11, before Afghanistan and Iraq, and before W became President. The argument all along has been that they are examining a man who is leading this country in wartime. Bull! This was a planned character assassination from the get-go.

[crushelits]

They used to say that Texas was LBJ's Country, but now Texas is BUSH's Country. Rather is from Texas. He hates President 41, George H.W. Bush.

[MagnumRancid]

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This was a planned character assassination from the get-go.
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Sure seems that way. Burkett can't really be patsy or fall guy. That doesn't explain Rather and CBS. There is no way they could have been conned on this. I don't buy the argument that they so wanted the memos to be real they let it blind them. Too much information that would discredit the memos was readily available to CBS.

[Vinomori]

Also, it has been said that Rather was working on this story for four or five years.

I used to be a reporter for a newspaper, and I can assure you, even by my sloppy and incompetent standards, this story was not researched at ALL by CBS....they keep saying and even crowing about how much they put into it up front to guarantee their "unimpeachable" sources, but there wasn't even the most rudimentary accuracy or authenticity checking going on....my editor would have made me hunt down Staudt and the secretary for starters (not way later) and my editor would have insisted that I REPORT the Killian family's opiniuon that the docs were total fakes, and I could go on and on about very basic things I would have had to do in the name of fairness to the story itself....CBS believes we will all "accept" these statements about being their "thorough and fair" up front on this story simply because they are CBS. The poetic justice now is that people will no longer accept anything broadcast on that network simply because it is CBS.