[NYCVirago]

By the way, how can CBS claim to have had "absolute confidence" from "very reliable sources" that the memos were real, just based on Burkett throwing out a name, whom CBS obviously didn't speak to? Just who would CBS think a Bush hater with a nutter background should be trusted about anything? It is one thing to use the guy as a lead, another to rely on him. Crazy.

And both a reporter at the Boston Globe and one from Newsweek said publicly on TV last week that Burkett was *not* a reliable source. When even the rest of the media knows the guy's a loon, why did Dan Rather think he had the goods?

[wildbill]

The Boston Globe guy may have said that Burkette wasn't a reliable source--BUT how do they explain this:
( Boston Globe Archives, 2004-09-10 )
THE GLOBE SPOTLIGHT TEAM HAS SCORED ANOTHER BULL'S-EYE WITH ITS REPORT ON GEORGE W. BUSH'S VIOLATION OF HIS CONTRACT WITH THE GOVERNMENT FOR SERVICE IN THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD, AND HIS STAFF'S SUBSEQUENT EGREGIOUS DENIAL AND MISREPRESENTATION OF THE FACTS (PAGE A1, SEPT. 8).

The Globe article was timed to coincide with CBS and USA Today. Mapes wouldn't have given her "scoop" to rival media so it had to be the Kerry campaign or DNC.