As most who keep abreast of current events via the news or the web will be aware, on Wednesday September 8th, 60 Minutes II featured a breaking story purporting to be backed by memos from 1972 and 1973 that suggested both that George W. Bush had disobeyed a direct order to take a flight physical for the Texas National Guard and that there was pressure from higher-ups to "sugar coat" his disobedience.
Well, within hours of the broadcast hosted by Dan Rather, the conservative weblogs (www.littlegreenfootballs.com, www.hughhewitt.com) exploded as they examined the principal evidence laid out in the broadcast (the memos) as it was proven that these memos were not typed on a 1970s era typewriter but on a computer using Microsoft Word. In addition to matching the font type, proportional spacing, superscript capability, and line spacing of Word, the memos included suspect addresses and PO boxes, and excluded features typical of the time such as the typist's initials, filing indices, and appropriate military abbreviations.
Yet, Dan clings tentatively to the "fact" that even though the documents are fake (or inauthentic in his terminology) the represent a real truth. I don't want Mr. Rather to determine truthfulness based on his perception. I'm much more comfortable with "just the facts" and the memos don't add anything to our knowledge of the truth since they are forgeries.
Had similar forged documents been published by Fox News or Rush Limbaugh about John Kerry's military service in Vietnam, or his first marriage, which suggested some aspect of his character that was less than honest/forthcoming, wouldn't the rest of the media rise in unison to denounce the broadcaster? How long could they last without a quick and loud mea culpa? Not very.
It's been 9 days since the broadcast and Dan is relatively silent other than to say the underlying facts are truthful. So how long before Dan succumbs to the reality that he was at best had and at worst complicit?
Any bets on when Dan announces his retirement?
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Well, Dan offered a less than forceful apology today, saying they were deceived by their sources. Duh!!
As can be found here http://www.nationalreview.com/kerry/kerryspot.asp , CBS and Dan Rather in particular hasn't apologized to the President, bloggers who dissected the memos, the Lt. Colonel's wife and son who said their husband/dad thought highly of Lt. Bush, or to his audience. Dan was just plain arrogant and it's a tall horse to fall from.
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