Ra^ther Disgusting

The CBS Ra^therGate train wreck has gone completely off the rails. They have finally admitted that the documents were fakes; although, they were less than forthcoming about the whole incident, saying they were "misled" by Bill Burkett, a former Army National Guard officer who is known to hate President Bush. In their statement, CBS News does not acknowledge at all the degree to which they stonewalled, prevaricated, and tried to change the subject in their earlier defenses of the forged documents.

In my view, being "misled" by Burkett is no excuse for CBS. They knew that Burkett was the source. They knew his past history of trying to smear President Bush. They knew that he had lied in the past about having documents related to President Bush's Air National Guard service. Yet, they said that Burkett (before they had named him) was an "unimpeachable" source.

Dan Rather, in his half-hearted apology, says, "We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. 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."

What unadulterated horse puckey.

Theirs was not an error made "in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism." It was an error made because they lost all objectivity in their blind rush to smear President Bush. They thought they had a huge story that had the potential to sink President Bush's campaign, so they rushed through investigating the sources. They hired "experts" that told them what they wanted to hear, and other "experts" that weren't experts at all. When bloggers pointed out the obvious inconsistencies in the documents, they tried to smear them as shills for the Republicans. When the experts that they had hired refused to authenticate the documents, CBS called them bit players and liars.

The closing lines of their article recounting Rather's interview with Burkett say, "This was an error made in good faith as we tried to carry on the CBS News tradition of asking tough questions and investigating reports, but it was a mistake."

So, this is CBS's new spin: "Yes, we made a mistake, but it was an honest mistake because we're tough, but fair, investigative reporters."

Excuse me while I gag.

If they had actually asked some tough questions, if they had looked at the documents objectively, if they had believed their own experts, if they had been even a little skeptical of a known Bush hater and liar - they never would have run their original report!

CBS News and Dan Rather tried to influence a presidential election of the United States through forgery and lies.

To start, CBS should release formal apologies to the Killian family, to President Bush, and to the American public, taking full responsibility for their false and reprehensible report.

For an indiscretion of this magnitude, though, "I'm sorry" isn't enough. Andrew Heyward, Dan Rather, and Mary Mapes should all be fired, post haste. The mainstream news media need a lesson. They will not be allowed to commit fraud against the American people.

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