CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say

New York Times ^ | 9/20/04 | Jim Rutenberg

[Leroy S. Mort]

Mr. Rather and a top network executive, Betsy West, met in Texas with a man who was said to have helped the news division obtain the memos, a former Guard officer named Bill Burkett.

Betsy West appears to be pretty high up the food chain:

"Betsy West became Senior Vice President, Prime Time, CBS News, in June 2001. Before that, she was Vice President, Prime Time, CBS News (1998-2001). In that capacity, she oversees CBS News primetime broadcasts, including 60 Minutes Sunday and weekday and 48 Hours Mystery."

She was also apparantly involved in "sugar-coating" Private Jessica Lynch's interview deal:

"Attached you will find the outlines of a proposal that includes ideas from CBS News, CBS Entertainment, MTV Networks and Simon & Schuster publishers," wrote CBS News senior vice president Betsy West. "From the distinguished reporting of CBS News to the youthful reach of MTV, we do believe this is a unique combination of projects that will do justice to Jessica's inspiring story."

[Mo1]

While it can be argued that the government has no role in the Rathergate National Guard memo fiasco,

What about them being faxed from Kinko's .. would that not fall under the category of wire fraud?

[devolve]

DS was an amateur

He should have worn PJs

I'm in dark blue sweats now myself; never be unable to make your move instantly

[Bonaparte]

Sandy Genelius, a network spokeswoman, said last week, "We are confident about the chain of custody; we're confident in how we secured the documents."

Yeah, Sandy, we want to know about that "chain of custody" you're confident about. Let's start with the first in the "chain of custody" and how he or she obtained these "memos."

[GATOR NAVY]

It burns me that I won't be watching the season premieres this week of Everybody Love Raymond, King of Queens, etc.

Be sure that the sponsors of those shows know what you're doing and why. Otherwise, unless you're a Nielsen household, your not watching CBS won't have the slightest effect except to make you feel better (not that that's a bad thing).

[bt_dooftlook]

Great - then we can reexamine Mary's evidence and test it again for fraud...BTW, aren't Abu Ghraib trials starting soon?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

What a farce, they are trying to hide the obvious......

[Graymatter]

By all means let's mention this now before the market opens in New York.

[bt_dooftlook]

Um - come to Buckhead!

[Bonaparte]

Mr. Rather and others at the network are said to still believe that the sentiment in the memos accurately reflected Mr. Killian's feelings...

These whackos at CBS still believe they can read the mind of a dead man they never even met? And they persist in this delusion despite the statements of killian's wife and son that they are dead wrong about the "personal file" and everything else?

[fish hawk]

Hey maybe 60 minutes will pick up on this Rathergate story and do a show on it. Dan will be out on assignment (unemployment line) and one of the other chaps can do it. Then Andy Rooney can say something clever about it too.

[tallhappy]

Their defense is stupidity?

Only honest thing they've said.

[L.N. Smithee]

"Grima Rathertongue?"

[ApplegateRanch]

I can't wait to hear CBS & Dan Rather reveal their "unimpeachable" source.

Anybody not holding high public office is "unimpeachable".

An "absolutely credible, scrupulously honest" source is something else altogether.

[Bonaparte]

CBS News officials have disputed her contention that she warned the network the night before the initial "60 Minutes" report that it would face questions from documents experts.

So now CBS is calling its own documents consultant a liar. Everybody's lying but them, right?

[bt_dooftlook]

It seems like we will have to have every Mapes story reviewed to see if she has consistently lied to smear GWB...

[Bonaparte]

One person close to the situation said the critical question would be, "Where was everybody's judgment on that last day?"

Yeah, everybody at CBS lost their minds on the same day. What are the odds?

[Bonaparte]

Excellent idea! In fact, I think all Bush and kerry stories from CBS should now undergo rigorous review for factual accuracy and bias. Oops, what am I saying. Bozell has already done this over at MRC and CBS flunked.

[hosepipe]

CBS News is a criminal enterprise and should be disenfranchised, NEXT... ABS and NBS....PBS is the worst offender of all...

[rolling_stone]

The main problem with this report is they started with a premise or story that they wanted to present and only used evidence that supported their theory. Any good investigator knows you get as many facts as possible and then arrive at a conclusion, (if possible) not start with a conclusion and try and get facts to match it.

They are not alone, it is a mindset of most of the MSM with a bias...That's what their internal investigation should show including every red flag they ignored and every opposing fact they ignored or refused to interview. Not rather biased, but very biased.

Had they honestly looked at both sides the story would have gone the other way, President Bush did serve honorably and complete his service.