In Rush to Air, CBS Quashed Memo Worries

Washington Post ^ | 09/20/2004 | Howard Kurtz, Michael Dobbs

[jhouston]

In the early-morning hours of Sept. 8, Dan Rather was preparing to fly to Washington for a crucial interview in the Old Executive Office Building, but torrential rain kept him in New York.

White House communications director Dan Bartlett had agreed to talk to "60 Minutes," but only on condition that the CBS program provide copies of what were being billed as newly unearthed memos indicating that President Bush had received preferential treatment in the National Guard. The papers were hand-delivered at 7:45 a.m. CBS correspondent John Roberts, filling in for Rather, sat down with Bartlett at 11:15.

[jhouston]

WP's latest contribution.

[jhouston]

Rather and CBS now blame the White House. If the White House had just called them liars and forgers they would have never...

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

Dan Rather: "It's raining harder than emails from angry conservatives to the CBS website."

[js1138]

Later, Bartlett would explain why he did not challenge the documents with a question: "How am I supposed to verify something that came from a dead man in three hours?"

As us. We did it.

[68skylark]

It's all Bush's fault!!

[hispanarepublicana]

bump

[vbmoneyspender]

Half an hour later, Roberts called "60 Minutes" producer Mary Mapes with word that Bartlett was not challenging the authenticity of the documents. Mapes told her bosses, who were so relieved that they cut from Rather's story an interview with a handwriting expert who had examined the memos.

If anything, this indicates that CBS knew there were problems with the memos and then acted like plaintiffs' trial lawyers when the White House did not object to the memos.

[EternalHope]

The article is basically an attempt to absolve CBS and Dan Rather from malicious intent. Nice try, but it won't fly.

The article also had a few accidental laugh lines:

Howard said he believed some of the outsiders' questions about superscript and proportionate spacing were "kind of silly."

[counterpunch]

Mary Mapes had been trying to get her hands on the rumored documents for five years.

Burkett started the rumor and Mapes has been chasing it for 5 years. Finally, he just manufactured the evidence she was looking for. So funny how it all comes full circle.

[AngrySpud]

Dan Rather: "Charges and insults are sticking to me tighter than ticks on a hound".

[counterpunch]

I found this blog: Blame Bush.
I'm not to up on the blogging scene, but when I came across this one.. well, it stood out in excellence. (I am not connected in any way, just think its worth sharing.) Your post reminded me of it.

[doug from upland]

Rather: This is going to stain my career like......well, you know.

[Howlin]

Half an hour later, Roberts called "60 Minutes" producer Mary Mapes with word that Bartlett was not challenging the authenticity of the documents.

I take it Roberts isn't a poker player.

[rocksblues]

LOL! Correctamundo!

[ajf0]

If the documents were hand-delivered, why did the CBS fax header appear on the documents that the White House distributed to the rest of the media?

[jhouston]

This story has a lot of new details. It's notable because it shows that WP and NYT now have people talking at CBS. It won't be long before they cultivate the same kind of sources at the Kerry campaign.

Of course Howie had to get in a dig in the last couple of sentences. Has to repeat the "but the story is true" line.

[Elvis van Foster]

This is great. Not only is Rather destroyed by this, his groomed lefty replacement Roberts has his hands dirty too. He was an anti-Bush hack out of the same mold as his boss.

[randita]

I take it Roberts isn't a poker player.

Good response! I thought the same thing. Bush knew these documents were coming. They were prepared to punt and trap CBS back on their own 1 yard line. How mean!

[holdonnow]

One of the revelations here in the middle of the story is that Rather has known Ben Barnes for 30 years. Many of us suspected Barnes and he were acquaintenances, if not more. And he never revealed this during the program.

[TexasNative2000]

I take it Roberts isn't a poker player.

He is pretty good, though, at walking through an open door and then complaining that someone tricked him by not closing it.