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September 25, 2004
CBS shelves hit-piece, Danny-boy to the debates
From AssPress via Yahoo.
NEW YORK - CBS News has shelved a "60 Minutes" report on the rationale for war in Iraq (news - web sites) because it would be "inappropriate" to air it so close to the presidential election, the network said on Saturday.The report on weapons of mass destruction was set to air on Sept. 8 but was put off in favor of a story on President Bush (news - web sites)'s National Guard service. The Guard story was discredited because it relied on documents impugning Bush's service that were apparently fake.[ed. note: apparently fake? naw, no bias there. Nothing to see. Move along.]
CBS News spokeswoman Kelli Edwards would not elaborate on why the timing of the Iraq report was considered inappropriate.
Now, the "inappropriateness" couldn't be because their story is as bogus as The Killian Memo Affair now, could it? Or could it...
The new “scoop” purported to show that Bush relied on forged documents to “lead the country to war.”
Bear with me, please. Since the Forces of Idiocy so persistently try to pass off dead ducks as living, we have to reach into the freezer to show you again: this is a dead duck.
In his State of the Union speech, the President said these sixteen words:
The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.
The statement was true, and recently a British Commission confirmed that was so. Days afterward, however, the US received forged documents about uranium sales from Africa to Saddam. (Documents, I should add that an Italian inquiry established were forged by a man working for French intelligence - apparently to discredit the good information upon which Bush and Blair had relied, and thereby to embarrass them.)
And was this French farce forgery used for that purpose? Indeed it was. By Joseph A. Wilson (author of Politics of Truth), then an outspoken Kerry supporter and advisor. And where is Wilson today? Well, he has been thoroughly discredited by anyone who actually studied his testimony before the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee. That includes the Committee and the brilliant Christopher Hitchens.
Hmmm... ya think the cluebat has finally had an effect on CBS that their credibility is about nil and easy to discredit hit-pieces are just not going to pass the smell test anymore?
However, CBS still is allowing Rather to wax Nixonian:
Meanwhile, the network announced that Rather would anchor the network's coverage of all three presidential debates, starting Sept. 30.
Nice reward for a male who should be answering questions in front of a Congressional committee.
BTW... democraticunderground.com is going nutz (even more than their usual battiness, which says a lot) over this story.
Posted by Darleen at September 25, 2004 03:10 PM
Comments
Come on, Darleen, you're better than that. The story of Bush's guard service has not been discredited, only the documents. There was four years of work in that story before the documents, and I've known about it, and other evidence, for years. Bush has never been able to provide proof that he served during the disputed time. All known evidence is consistent with the content of the documents, whether they are genuine originals or not. This is all known and agreed upon fact.
The documents have not been proven forgeries. They are currently not verified, and there are suspicions that they may be forged. I'll await the definitive typewriter test results.
Just because conservatives say something over and over doesn't mean it's a fact.
Rather's fault was in getting duped by what he deemed a reliable source.
The Nigerian document was an obvious and admitted forgery, and the administration had it before the SOTU speech.
You wouldn't want to use misleading opinion and mistatements of fact to bolster your view, would you? Because that indicates you don't really have much of a case.
I admire a source which reveals the truth even at the expense of its own reputation. Thanks to CBS' honesty in revealing the problem, we know what the current facts are. That's more that you can say for the Bush administration. They never admit anything.
Posted by: Binacontenda at September 25, 2004 06:40 PM
Scott
The only reason CBS even deigned to withdraw their fraudulent memo story was because they were caught. It took them ten days, TEN DAYS, a dramatic drop in ratings AND CBS affiliates dropping them for them to stop the stonewalling.
Their credibiity was rightfully trashed because they have none.
As I've stated before, unless CBS can prove them "authentic" they are frauds. There is no question about the documents anymore, so any equivocation is an indication of bias.
Every record available supports GW's account of his service, from dental to pay stubbs to testimony from people who saw him in Alabama.
He even volunteered for "The Palace Guard" which, indeed, contradicts the weird claims that he was "draft dodging." Kerry's own words was that he went into Swift Boats in order to avoid combat.
Rather is up to his wattlely neck in this scandal, letting his personal animosity towards the Bush family and his own infamous grudgeholding induce a sense of hubris that he felt he'd be able to get away with this fraud.
He and Mapes should be in hearings before the FEC and the FCC.
The clearly disturbed Burkett may end up being the fall guy in this sordid affair, but Barnes, Rather, Lockhart and the DNC's hands are just as dirty.
Posted by: Darleen at September 25, 2004 08:51 PM
BTW Scott
Don't you find it just a tad interesting that Rather was just so anxious to pursue a story that hasn't found any traction (due to no evidence) any time GW has run for office, but not once has CBS even mention Kerry's Senate testimony about spending Christmas 1968 in Cambodia ("seared...seared into my memory")? Or his interview with a newspaper about his magic CIA hat?
No, no bias there.
Posted by: Darleen at September 25, 2004 09:07 PM