Is Max Cleland the Missing Link in the CBS Docudrama? [Nice take]

ChronWatch ^ | September 20, 2004 | Barbara Stock

[Truth Table]

About zero. Clintoon 08 may well be in danger if this goes nuclear. The American people will simply not trust the democrats for 16 or so years until they get their house cleaned.

Nope. This is a disaster.

[Always Right]

Kerry is just one step removed from Cleland.

Kerry is directly tied to Cleland. These two have campaigned together and are close allies in the Senate. If Cleland helped push this, there can be no doubt that Kerry knew and approved.

[wildbill]

The fact that the docs were either constructed at or copied at Kinkos in Abilene doesn't let the Dems off the hook.

There is no documentation that Burkette directly contacted CBS--and he surely would have bragged about it on his emails to the Dems websites.

However, he does brag about his contact with Max Cleland. What does that tell you?

[TerriHaute]

Besides, I would not buy CBS risking their reputation protecting Burkett. It had to be someone much bigger.

Maybe. Or maybe it was a bluff. I think CBS/Dan didn't want to show weakness or were in denial. It's kinda like arrogant Dan Rather was saying, "My sources are unimpeachable. Don't you know who I am!?? How dare you question my motives."

[hobbes1]

Or maybe Burkett faxed the memos while Burkett's information was simultaneously being spoon-fed to CBS through Democratic back channels

Correct. Cleland. The Senator is the "Unimpeachable source".

[Bob]

...after fragging himself in Nam during a drunken stupor,...

He was not drunk at the time of his accident. He was on his way to go get a beer and exiting a helicopter when he spotted the dropped grenade on the ground.

[libstripper]

I think yo're right. The crucial point is Burkett was in the Texas Army National Guard, not the Air National Guard. The forged memos contain a number of pieces of Army jargon, not AF jargon. That points to their creator as a formeer Army National Guard Officer, Burkett.

[schaketo]

Hunter Thompson once said that Nixon's idea of a good joke was a paraplegic who couldn't reach high enough to vote Democratic. But Max Cleland just made himself the joke and ensured many folks won’t be reaching for that demo-lever on 11/2. The post-op on this will be fascinating. It’s going to look a lot like an old “Fugitive” rerun. Who was that one-armed man?

[dano1]

dano1: ¨Or maybe Burkett faxed the memos while Burkett's information was simultaneously being spoon-fed to CBS through Democratic back channels¨

hobbes1: ¨Correct. Cleland. The Senator is the "Unimpeachable source".

Very possibly. Or Cleland could have employed an intermediary to forward the false accusations, (i.e. those also contained in the memos), back to Mapes to make her believe she had corroborating sources. It may have been someone who formerly knew with Killian like a secretary or coworker for example. The Dems may have been playing CBS like a drum.