Ain't It Funny!!! Dan Rather Drags CBS Thru Pasture Patties Using Forged Anti-Bush Documents
By Dennis M. Becklin
Publisher / SouthernOregonNews.com
Medford, Oregon - The BIG media in America was all atwitter last week. We've got the goods on Bush now, they thought. Yessiree... That rich boy George W left a trail of 1960's documents behind at the Texas Air National Guard...documents that will insure that John Kerry is elected President of the United States. Yippeeeee!!!
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Guess who is going to eat those pasture patties now. They'll surely taste a lot worse than those old fashioned crow pies as CBS and Dan Rather sit down at the ole chuck wagon diner.
As the forgery evidence mounts, the Bush campaign has remained unfazed.
I've been fascinated by the silence of the Bush campaign as Dan Rather's forgery story unfolded. That ole fox... You can be sure that President George W. Bush has known all along that those documents were phonies. After all, Bush lived the true story of his service in the Air National Guard and in the US Air Force. If anyone knows the truth, it's him, and he wasn't about to dangle a safety net out for Mr. Rather...maybe a rope, but not a net.
For those of you who are interested in this unfolding hoax, here are a few references that are available on the internet.
September 8, 2004 - FrontPage Magazine - Ben Barnes: John Kerry's Unbelievable Last-Ditch Weapon - frontpagemag.com
"THE LAST SMEAR," THE DOOMSDAY WEAPON that John F. Kerry's sinking campaign desperately hopes can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, is ready and is scheduled to be launched against President George W. Bush on Wednesday night, September 8, on CBS' weeknight version of "60 Minutes."
September 9, 2004 - CNSNews - '60 Minutes' Documents on Bush Might Be Fake - cnsnews.com\Politics\arch...
"(CNSNews.com) - The 32-year-old documents produced Wednesday by the CBS News program "60 Minutes," shedding a negative light on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, may have been forged using a current word processing program, according to typography experts."
September 9, 2004 - San Francisco Chronicle - Democrats taking a chance on ``Fortunate Son'' criticism of Bush Guard records - sfgate.com.
"An AP News Analysis - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seizing on 30-year-old memos and memories, Sen. John Kerry's operatives are painting an unflattering portrait of President Bush as the "fortunate son" who used family connections to dodge the Vietnam War and then lied about it."
September 9, 2004 - The Weekly Standard - Is It a Hoax? - weeklystandard.com.
"DOCUMENTS CITED Wednesday by 60 Minutes in a widely-publicized expose of George W. Bush's National Guard Service are very likely forgeries, according to several experts on document authenticity and typography. The documents--four memos from Killian to himself or his files written in 1972 and 1973--appear to indicate that Bush refused or ignored orders to have a physical exam required to continue flying. CBS News anchor Dan Rather reported the segment and sourced the documents this way: "60 Minutes has obtained a number of documents we are told were taken from Col. Killian's personal file," he said. The 60 Minutes story served as the basis for follow-up news reports for dozens of news organizations across the country. The memos were almost immediately questioned in the blog world, with blog Power Line leading the charge."
On September 10, 2004, The Portland Oregonian chimed in with an editorial that pretended to take that high road on such political dueling, but went out of its way to agree with the findings of the 60 Minutes forged documents about Bush's Air National Guard duty, or lack thereof. It's so cute to see how the Oregonian editorialist slipped in his/her support for Kerry's record while using a sharp blade on Bush's record...like we're all too stupid to see the bias in this editorial. - Dueling sidetracks - oregonlive.com.
"The allegations regarding Bush's National Guard service do seem to have one distinct edge on the Swift Boat Veterans' complaints about Kerry. The Kerry allegations appear to contradict a fairly complete official record. The allegations that Bush failed to meet the requirements of his National Guard duties appear to be backed by the official, if incomplete, record. The only certain truth is that none of this has much to do with the issues facing Americans this turbulent fall."
Then on September 11, 2004, the roof starts to fall in on the 60 Minutes hoax. - The Dallas Morning News - More challenges about whether Bush documents are authentic - seattletimes.nwsource.com.
"AUSTIN, Texas ¿ The man named in a disputed memo as exerting pressure to "sugarcoat" George W. Bush's military record left the Texas Air National Guard a year and a half before the memo supposedly was written, his service record shows.
An order obtained by The Dallas Morning News shows that Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt was honorably discharged March 1, 1972. CBS News reported this week that a memo in which Staudt was described as interfering with officers' negative evaluations of the future president's service was dated Aug. 18, 1973."
September 11, 2004 - NewsMax - '60 Minutes': Witness Who Contradicted Forged Docs Was Too 'Pro-Bush' - newsmax.com
"In its controversial report on President Bush's National Guard record, CBS "60 Minutes" anchorman Dan Rather failed to include accounts from witnesses who challenged the content of memos now believed to have been forged because they were deemed too "pro-Bush.""
September 12, 2004 - Chicago Sun Times - CBS falls for Kerry campaign's fake memo - suntimes.com
"Unfortunately for CBS, Dan Rather's hairdresser sucks up so much of the budget that there was nothing left for any fact-checking, so the ''60 Minutes'' crew rushed on air with a damning National Guard memo conveniently called ''CYA'' that Bush's commanding officer had written to himself 32 years ago. ''This was too hot not to push,'' one producer told the American Spectator. Hundreds of living Swiftvets who've signed affidavits and are prepared to testify on camera -- that's way too cold to push; we'd want to fact-check that one thoroughly, till, say, midway through John Kerry's second term. But a handful of memos by one dead guy slipped to us by a Kerry campaign operative -- that meets ''basic standards'' and we gotta get it out there right away."
Of course, The Medford, Oregon, Mail Tribune wanted to get in its licks (so to speak) on the CBS document hoax pasture patty...So it published an editorial on September 12, 2004. Notice how the anonymous editorialist managed to get in his/her dirty little sucker punches against President Bush in the last section of this editorial. - Medford Mail Tribune - Enough already about war records
Give voters something to help them make an informed choice Nov. 2 - mailtribune.com
"Then there's the president. The problems with his military record are obvious, but is anyone really surprised that he might have been a rich boy who did what he could to avoid military service? Is anyone surprised he doesn't want to replay the story for us now?
And how much does it matter? Can it under any scenario be considered as important as our understanding of the direction Bush is planning in the next four years?
He has covered incredible ground in the first four: launching the war with Iraq and on terrorism as a whole, allowing the federal deficit to climb to an unprecedented $422 billion, backing changes to a series of privacy rights for citizens and overturning a series of environmental limits on federal lands, for starters."
September 14, 2004 - National Review - Goodbye to All That - Dan Rather goes the way of the dinosaurs - nationalreview.com
"And, for Rather, this kind of draw is a loss. This could drag on for days or weeks or months. But even if it's days, the bleeding will be fatal. Already, the man looks like a sad buffoon, in denial that the quicksand is already up to his chest. His flailing about "partisan operatives" being behind the backlash makes him sound like the Norma Desmond of Big Journalism. Someone tell me when ABC News and the Washington Post become arms of the RNC, because I would love to see that memo. But before I believed it, I'd study the size of the "th"s a bit more closely than Dan did."
September 14, 2004 - The New York Post - CBS FORGES AHEAD - nypost.com
"If you've been following the story, you know this already. If you haven't been follow ing the story, then I'll cut to the chase: Four documents used by CBS News last week in a story about George W. Bush's National Guard service are forgeries.
When I first wrote about this on Thursday, in a column that appeared on Friday, it seemed likely but not certain they were phony. We called the column "CBS' Big Blunder?" with a question mark just to be careful.
There's no need to pull any punches now. I'm going to be blunt here: Anybody who spends an hour reviewing the evidence and the expert testimony knows they're forgeries."
September 14, 2004 - Washington Post - Expert Cited by CBS Says He Didn't Authenticate Papers - washingtonpost.com.
"The lead expert retained by CBS News to examine disputed memos from President Bush's former squadron commander in the National Guard said yesterday that he examined only the late officer's signature and made no attempt to authenticate the documents themselves.
"There's no way that I, as a document expert, can authenticate them," Marcel Matley said in a telephone interview from San Francisco. The main reason, he said, is that they are "copies" that are "far removed" from the originals."
This story isn't over yet, but it should be. Big media took the anti-Bush hoax bait and came up with a big ole pasture patty on the line.
Bon Appetit...
And, shame on the Oregonian and the Medford mail Tribune for their sneaky attacks on President Bush's record and on his records.
For those thousands of readers of www.SouthernOregonNews.com websites, I urge you to read the rest of Oregon's media with suspicion. There is no reason to believe that President Bush will get a fair shake in the media of this state.
Dennis M. Becklin, Publisher
SouthernOregonNews LLC
GrantsPassNews.com
MedfordNews.com
NewsAshland.com
Contact info: Dennis M. Becklin may be reached at dennis@southernoregonnews.com.
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What's Your Opinion?
Here's what others are saying:
• Kerry and his sinking campaign
From: Bob Chase On: September 14, 2004 01:57 PM
Great job of reporting the facts surrounding the vitriolic attacks by the left wing venom spewing propaganda laced reports from CBS and their man on the street, Dan "The ol' Man" Blabber. Wish you had more political influence in the great state of Oregon, however, since the state seems to vote primarily democratic. Glad I moved to California's San Diego. But wait, I think politically I jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
•
From: Rebekah On: September 14, 2004 02:30 PM
You folks are absolutely hilarious. The news media you so violently eschew is the same one that has let George Bush off the hook from everything to the flagging economy to the total disastor that is the "war" in Iraq. The so called "liberal media" has become in my opinion, another place for sensationalism, shoddy news journalism, and right-wing filteration for big corporations.
I somehow doubt that all of you were this up in arms when the so called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" made heinous claims against Kerry. That was never regarded as "right wing venom". You swallowed that "truth" whole, gasping for more, not able to believe your good fortune. What were you going to do anyway? The same party that lambasted Clinton for not serving, that demanded former military combat service from every president, and put Bob Dole up on a podium for having said requirement, is stuck with a draft dodging National Guard non-attendee. So you pull out the rheoteric and say "who cares what a man did 30 years ago". "Kerry didn't really deserve his metals", etc. Honestly, I find that disgusting. That not only impugns Kerry's honor, it calls into question every medal ever rewarded in Vietnam. It devalues ever medal ever awarded, as though the military just hands them out for nothing. Shame!
So you think that this is all made up. You honestly believe that the "liberal media" is plotting underground to get rid of Bush. If that were the case, then every news station woudl have told the truth about Bush's inattentiveness and the real causes of 9/11, just like they would have if Al Gore was president. Every TV journalist would have made sure to pin every dip on the economy on him, just like they would have if Al Gore was president. Every minor set back, every war, every child injured would have been blamed on the president. Instead all we have had is four long years of silence and a very cowed news-media. I wish the media was liberal because than we might hear something that sounded like the truth.
• liberal media
From: J. Allen On: September 14, 2004 03:41 PM
Well, Rebekah, if you want liberal media, you should be reading the New York Times and almost every major newspaper in the US. Watch 60 Minutes! One reason the media have gotten a little more conservative is because they were losing their precious ratings. People were going over to Fox news in droves to get 'the truth'. I don't know where you've been but I've heard plenty on Bush's supposed faults on 9-11 on all the major TV networks and lots of newspapers. When you say the media is 'cowed' that's what's funny. I think the media is seeing which way the wind is blowing in this election and they don't want to be on the losing side.
"Four long years of silence?" Where have you been? Not listening the the rantings of the Hollywood crowd who hate Bush so much. The media reports faithfully on whatever they say as if it were gospel and as if we cared. Michael Moore's movie will probably win best picture for heaven sake. Watch the media frenzy over that one.
As far as Kerry's medals, I was in the military during Viet Nam and it is unheard of for people to get 3 purple hearts in a few months. As far as making medals seem cheap, yes, what Kerry does devalued every medal handed out for people who lost limbs and lives over there and in every war. I also know-having been involved with the government-that there are many ways to accomplish something, honest or not.
What's sad to me is that some people are in the ABB crowd-Anybody But Bush-they don't like Kerry that much and don't even think he will do a good job but they hate Bush so much it doesn't matter who the Democrat running is.
Every hear of a yellow dog Democrat? It's someone who would vote for a yellow dog before they'd vote for a Republican. I think there's lots of them out there right now.
• a British opinion
From: steve On: September 14, 2004 04:08 PM
Rebekah says you guys are hilarious. I have to disagree. The US news media would no doubt appear hilarious to us across the pond (I'm a Brit but have been to your country several times) if it wasn't so obviously in the pocket of the incredibly frightening Republican Party and its business associates.
Frightening? 'How So?', I hear some of you ask. This week's example: allowing the federal assault weapons ban to expire. Why isn't this dangerous and negligent act massive news in your country? It amazes me.
We are lucky enough to have independent, balanced news media in the UK. Why not check 'em out? You never know, you may learn something: guardian.co.uk or news.independent.co.uk or news.bbc.co.uk or channel4.com
Go on. What are you afraid of? The truth?
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