Get ready for the October surprises (more on CBS Rathergate & Kerry campaign connection)

POLITICS: Staff shake-ups. Debate one-liners. Unsubstantiated rumors. Dirty tricks. Terrorism. It must be October, and this must be an election year.

"I called the guy,"(Burkett) Mr. Lockhart admitted to The Wall Street Journal. "We talked for three or four minutes about the swift-boat controversy. He believed our response was inadequate, that Kerry should push back about the Vietnam experience. I thanked him for his advice. End of the story."

But it wasn't quite the end. Mike McCurry, another Kerry adviser, later said Mr. Lockhart told campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill about the conversation, and she, in turn, relayed it to the candidate himself. That trail to the top provided fresh ammunition to the Bush campaign. "The fact that CBS News would coordinate with the most senior people in the Kerry campaign is troubling, and it is a stunning revelation that raises serious questions," said Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush campaign. "The Kerry campaign should come clean about their involvement."

Any proof of a coordinated effort to smear the president could turn the memo scandal into a Democratic version of Watergate, potentially dooming Mr. Kerry.

"Mary, you've GOT to get this to John...I just talked to some schmoe I never heard of, but who seems to have a rep as a real nutcase, and he said that we should fight this Swift Vet thing a little more strenuously."

"Wow, Joe! What a break!! This is exactly the advice we needed on what to do about the SwiftVets. It's 3 am, but hey, John needs to hear this NOW!"

In this day and age, cattle can be purchased by video conferencing. Another possibility is that someone else was present at the sale and purchased the cattle for him, either an Order Buyer or a friend/neighbor.

I am aware of at least 3 senarios where he could have purchased cattle at this sale without being present, and I know very little of the cattle business. My specialty is Pork.

You could be right, but nonetheless, it's worth sending to somebody in the media to have this checked out.

Something does not add up. The conversation, as related by Lockhart, was an inconsequential 3 minute conversation with a known lunatic. "I think you should hit 'em hard.' 'OK.'

That is not the kind of conversation that you bounce upstairs to the campaign manager and the candidate.

Here's what I think really happened. Burkett has been a prophet in the wilderness in his own mind. He has been writing up all these great conspiracy theories but noone in the Kerry camp wants to talk to him because he's crazy and has no money. He thinks he has a way to get them to listen to his advice.

Burkett and Mapes have been talking about the Bush's derilection of duty for a while. He figures he can get Mapes to connect him up to the Kerry folks. He tells her he has the documents but refuses to release the to Mapes unless he got to talk to a Kerry honcho.

Mapes called Lockhardt and said "I can get docs that'll bring down the president. But you have to talk to the guy before he'll cough 'em up." "Lockhardt says OK."

So Lockhart calls Burkett. Burkett gives his advice to Lockhart and Lockhart pretends to listen to it. Then Lockhart begs Burkett to release the documents to CBS. Burkett agrees.

Lockhart passes the info about the killer documents up the line to Cahill and Kerry.

The whole thing amounted to a ploy for attention by Burkett. Of course, Burkett forged the docs himself and thought he was protecting himself by telling CBS to be really careful and authenticate them. He figured CBS would figure out they were bogus and not use them--that's why they were such lame forgeries. What he got out of it was three minutes with a VIP listening to his advice.

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