CBS SWEATS IT
NY Post opinion/editorial
September 16, 2004 --
<font size=4>Are Dan Rather and CBS News getting nervous?
Andrew Heyward, the network's news president, last night said that <font color=blue>"given all the questions"<font color=black> being raised about the authenticity of those purported National Guard documents about George W. Bush, <font color=blue>"we believe we should redouble our efforts to answer those questions, so that's what we are doing."<font color=black>
Yes, Rather and CBS remained defiant in a long statement and on "60 Minutes II" last night. But at least they finally admit legitimate doubts have been raised.
And, more importantly, that the network has an obligation to address them — not just to hang tough and claim that any objections are <font color=blue>"partisan politics."<font color=black>
The statement came just hours after Bob Schieffer, CBS' respected chief Washington correspondent and host of "Face the Nation," urged the network to <font color=blue>"find some way to show our viewers they [the documents] are not forgeries."<font color=black>
Indeed, only CBS still believes they're not. Which explains why Rather now (wish him luck) is pinning his credibility on the 86-year-old former secretary of the documents' alleged author, the late Jerry Killian, Bush's Air National Guard squadron commander. The secretary believes the documents are fake, but claims they reflect Killian's thinking.
Rather has tried to divert attention from the documents themselves, demanding that President Bush <font color=blue>"answer the questions"<font color=black> they raise.
But if the documents are forged, what is there for Bush to answer? In fact, all of Rather's charges in the past week about Bush's record have been raised before.
It's not clear how genuine CBS's in-house investigation will be — after all, even Heyward continues to insist that <font color=blue>"we have established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate."<font color=black> And CBS has yet to even characterize its source.
So this may be more an exercise in posterior-covering than in determining the truth. But at least CBS may now understand that the doubts are far more than just partisan political posturing. <font size=3>
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