CBS execs asked to resign haven't done so

San Jose Mercury ^ | 1/19/2005 | Associated Press

[Happy Valley Dude]

LOS ANGELES - The three CBS News executives asked to resign for their roles in the network's discredited story about President Bush's National Guard service had not done so by Wednesday, more than a week later. It was unclear whether their lack of action foreshadows a legal battle between CBS and Josh Howard, executive producer of "60 Minutes Wednesday"; his top deputy, Mary Murphy; and CBS senior vice president Betsy West. "There are discussions going on with them," CBS chairman Leslie Moonves said. Moonves would not elaborate further, and network spokesman Gil Schwartz declined to say whether CBS had been contacted by lawyers representing the three executives. The producer of last September's story, Mary Mapes, was fired outright Jan. 10 after an independent panel found CBS rushed the story critical of Bush's military service on the air without ever proving that documents upon which it was based were real. Howard and Murphy were asked to resign for failing to fulfill their supervisory roles and letting the story air. The panel said Murphy did not follow an order from CBS News President Andrew Heyward to quickly investigate when questions were raised about the documents. West did not immediately return a telephone call Wednesday, and Howard declined comment. Attempts to find a telephone number for Murphy were unsuccessful.

[Happy Valley Dude]

So, it looks like that are looking for a payout before they go on their merry way.

[Brilliant]

These guys are unemployable. They will hold out as long as possible.

[Semper Paratus]

That Moonves didn't change the locks on their offices nor call secutiry to give them the bums rush shows how serious he is.

[HamiltonJay]

A payout, or CBS is just letting em sit there getting their paychecks while they basically try to find another job... not uncommon at all in situations where a person is asked to resign.

[b4its2late]

Liberals don't do anything they are asked to do unless it benefits them. So don't look for them to resign, it'll come down to getting the boot, and they'll then be able to collect unemployment and stay with the company's health insurance by paying it themselves. They know the ropes.

[Fixit]

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to ask you to move to storage room B."

[Rebelbase]

Here.

[Space Wrangler]

Yeah, they have SeeBS by the short hairs. A lawsuit would lay open what really happened, and the whitewashed investigation would be revealed as the joke that it is. It would also open up some SeeBS VIP's to criminal prosecution, because everyone involved knew from the word go that the memo's were fakes. It could also expose the coordination of SeeBS and the Kerry campaign, and we they can't have that. I have no idea how deep the conspiracy goes, but Rather, Mapes, and some Kerry folks worked together to get this story to air, evidence be damned. Burkett provided the docments, but he was nothing more than a dupe, used only to 'clean' the source of the documents. I'd lay a weeks pay that those memo's were typed on a computer that belonged either to the Kerry campaign or the DNC.

[Mfkmmof4]

I wonder if they will ever TRULY resign and was it just a smokescreen till the dust settled!!!

[FreedomPoster]

Excellent analysis. Very possible.

[wagglebee]

I don't think they are going everywhere. SeeBS probably just told them to lay low for a bit and then everything would be back to normal.

[Defender2]

CBS = Communists Bull Sh*t!
ABC = ALL Bullsh*t Communists!
NBC = Nothing But Communists!
CNN = Communists News Network!
MSNBC = Matthews S*cks Nothing But Communists!
CNBC = Communists, Nothing But Communists!
C-SPAN1=Communists-Socialists Pandering *sshole Network #1!
C-SPAN2=Communists-Socialists Pandering *sshole Network #2!
TBS = TASS Bull Sh*t!
PBS = Pravda Bull Sh*t!

Fairweather whichever way the wind blows FOX (including O'Reilly), sometimes Rocks!

The Mighty Maja Rushie, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity Rules the Airwaves!!!!:-)

AND (The Second Biggest AND EVER) FREE REPUBLIC IS BY FAR THE BEST NEWS NETWORK!!!!:-)

God Bless Our Troops, Free Republic, President George W. Bush AND (The First Biggest And Ever) Our Beloved United States Of America!!!!:-)

Defender2 D2 :-)

[kempo]

There are too many people that know all the details of what took place on the national guard investigation. Someone is going to do a tell all book deal. Lets see who wants to be first at making some big money.

[izzatzo]

Hopefully, this holdout portends more difficulty for SeeBS. What could be more appropriate than for these people to create resistance and help keep the "blackeye" on SeeBS, in the meantime causing more sordid facts to be exposed regards SeeBS' "highly professional" reportage?

[SittinYonder]

That'll be Mary Mapes. She's the only one with credibility among book publishers.

[Let's Roll]

Agree. The average American will just assume they are gone. Best remedy - don't watch cBS for any reason - well, maybe March Madness.

[Fido969]

Hmmmm...

Can you imagine the dirt these three have on Rather, Heyward and the rest of the sorry crowd at Tiffany's? What would you pay for a copy of their angry, bitter memoirs?

I predict a BIG payout "...described by all parties as a satisfactory settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed." I mean, they will have to at least match what the book advance would be, which, (based on the precedent set by Bernie G.,) might be about a million bucks per person.

And cheap hush money for CBS, at that.

Best - Fido

[schaketo]

It was unclear whether their lack of action foreshadows a legal battle

Please, please, pretty please. Make it very public and very ugly.

[dennisw]

Liberals duking it out with liberals. Make some popcorn.

[TheForceOfOne]

Are you kidding me? These people now have big time credentials et hem.. withing the Democratic Party. It is like a badge of honor or dishonor however you want to look at it. Al Franken will be banging down their doors to hire them. The down side is he can only afford to pay minimum wage considering his ratings and all. LOL