Stupid RatherFollow

I knew those documents were fake. Silly CBS.

CBS Says Was Misled About Bush Documents

NEW YORK - CBS apologized Monday and said it was misled about the authenticity of documents used to support a "60 Minutes" story that questioned President Bush's Vietnam War-era National Guard service, after several experts denounced them as fakes.

"We should not have used them," CBS News President Andrew Heyward said. "That was a mistake, which we deeply regret."

CBS also said it was commissioning an independent panel to review the incident, and would announce the name of the participants shortly.

The White House said the affair raises questions about the connections between CBS's source and Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign.

CBS's concession was a major blow to the credibility of the news organization and anchor Dan Rather, who reported the story and issued his own apology Monday.

"We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry," he said. "It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism."

Almost immediately after the Sept. 8 story aired, document experts questioned memos purportedly written by Bush's late squadron leader, saying they appeared to have been created on a computer and not a typewriter that was in use during the 1970s.

CBS strongly defended its story, and it wasn't until a week later _ after the military leader's former secretary said she believed the memos were fake _ did the news division admit they were questionable.

Even then, Rather said no one had disputed the story's premise: that the future president had pulled strings to get a relatively cushy National Guard assignment and failed to satisfy the requirements of his service.

Rather this weekend interviewed Bill Burkett, a retired Texas National Guard official who has been mentioned as a possible source for the documents. His interview was to be broadcast on "CBS Evening News" on Monday.

CBS said Burkett acknowledged he provided the documents and said he deliberately misled a CBS producer, giving her a false account of their origin to protect a promise of confidentiality to a source.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Burkett for comment.

Rather said he would not have gone ahead with the story Burkett admitted that the documents were not authentic.

"That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where _ if I knew then what I know now _ I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question," he said.

"Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully," he added.

The documents were said to have been written by Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, indicating he was being pressured to "sugarcoat" the performance ratings of a young Bush, then the son of a Texas congressman, and that Bush failed to follow orders to take a physical. Killian died in 1984.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush was told about the CBS statement as he flew to Derry, N.H.

"CBS is now for the first time publicly acknowledging that the documents were likely forged and they came from a discredited source," McClellan said. "There are a number of serious questions that remain unanswered and they need to be answered. Bill Burkett, who CBS now says is their source, in fact is not an unimpeachable source as was previously claimed. Bill Burkett is a source who has been discredited and so this raises a lot of questions. There were media reports about Mr. Burkett having senior level contacts with the Kerry campaign."

For "60 Minutes," it's the biggest ethical mess since the 1995 incident captured in the movie, "The Insider," which depicted the newsmagazine caving to pressure from CBS lawyers and not airing a whistleblowing report from an ex-tobacco executive.

The call for an independent review was also reminiscent of CNN's "Tailwind" scandal in 1998. The cable network retracted a story that the U.S. military had used nerve gas in Laos during the Vietnam war.


Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Yeah, thanks for the new flash. I KNEW that already.

How is what I said affected at all by that?

The preferential treatment, his failure to show....these things ARE true.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Bush team paid this weirdo to make the documents just to discredit them and ignore the fact that Bush is chicken-hearted piece o' ****.

Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you keep my "Prickledick" out of your mouth....ummkay?

So no response to the fact that though the memo is a fake, the information therein is not?

Elsahn and Ghana are working hard to be the new Varus's.

Ignore Elsahn and move on, he is a tool with a reading comprehension rate that speaks poorly for the American education system.

Oh and GFY Elsahn.

Well, now you're just not making any sense at all.

Do us a favor. Take a journey to the mountains, and meet with the wise man at the peak. Ask him to teach you the secret of trolling. Meditate on it for a few months, hone your skills, then come back and impress us with your newfound mastery of the art of trolling.

To which you reply




If you cannot see how this shows your poor comprehension abilities then you truly are slow.

CBS is backpeddling as fast as they can due to the fallout of lost credibility. Sadly, Dan Rather has a track record of this type of unsubstantiated crap and yet they keep him on as anchor. Firing him would be a major step in restoring their reputation as the network of Walter Cronkite and fair and responsible news reporting.

Totem

CBS is backpeddling as fast as they can due to the fallout of lost credibility. Sadly, Dan Rather has a track record of this type of unsubstantiated crap and yet they keep him on as anchor. Firing him would be a major step in restoring their reputation as the network of Walter Cronkite and fair and responsible news reporting.

Totem

CBS is backpeddling as fast as they can due to the fallout of lost credibility. Sadly, Dan Rather has a track record of this type of unsubstantiated crap and yet they keep him on as anchor. Firing him would be a major step in restoring their reputation as the network of Walter Cronkite and fair and responsible news reporting.

Totem

Jesus. You can rationalize anything, can't you?

The problem is that both sides are using circular arguments to try to back there side up.

The facts are most likely this. The documents were fake, CBS had a major ***** up and are gonna get nailed to the wall for it. Bush probably used family wealth and influence to keep out of 'Nam but who can blame him. It wasnt and is still is not a crime.

If he went AWOL and refused drug tests that might be a blow for him but so far there are no hard facts that can attest to that and not be argued against. Not that the Bush Administration hasnt talkedd there way over facts before but that is not the case right now.

What I find rather interesting is that Pickle is leading the charge on the Bush didnt do his requisite time in the guard and shirked responsibility. Now I obviously dont know you Pickle but you strike me as the kind of guy that were draft reinstated you would be at the head of the line lighter at the ready wanting to be the first to burn his draft card. Am I wrong about that? Am I totally off base? If I am correct then who the **** are you to criticise anyone else's service. No offense but if you are not willing to serve your country then how can you inturn criticise someone else who was at least willing to join the armed services. Regardless of how much preferential treatment he may or may not have received? He did more than you did he not?