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Politics : Proof that John Kerry is Unfit for Command -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (11961)	9/23/2004 4:18:19 PM
From: Gersh Avery	Respond to of 27181

>Where was Bush in 1972? Why cant he tell us< I bet that it wasn't Iraq .. Isn't that supposed to be the topic?

To: American Spirit who wrote (11961)	9/23/2004 5:11:13 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 27181

A MS. MAPES MYSTERY September 22, 2004 -- nypost.com As we asked yesterday: What did Dan Rather know? And when did he know it? And that was even before it was disclosed that CBS News' dubious source for those phony National Guard memos insisted on being put in touch directly with John Kerry's campaign — apparently as a condition for turning over the documents. As USA Today reported in detail yesterday, CBS producer Mary Mapes arranged for Bill Burkett (who provided the forged documents) to speak with Joe Lockhart, the former Clinton press secretary who's now a top Kerry campaign adviser. CBS claims hooking Burkett up with Lockhart "was not part of any deal" to get the memos, which producer Mapes had spent five fruitless years in search of. Burkett, however, insists that the contact was indeed part of an "understanding" — without which he would not turn over the documents. At this point, neither Burkett nor the network have much standing in the credibility department. But even taking the network's claim at face value undercuts Rather's claim that using the documents — which he now says he regrets — was "an error that was made . . . in good faith." Not to mention his insistence that this story was part of the "CBS News tradition of investigate reporting without fear or favoritism." Simple common sense would have mandated that — faced with a demand by their source to involve the Kerry campaign — Rather and Mapes say flatly, "No way." But they were so eager to get their hands on what they believed were explosive memos — supposedly proving once and for all that George W. Bush received special treatment in getting into the Air National Guard and then avoiding his full service obligation — that they agreed to anything Burkett wanted. Burkett said he wanted to advise the Democrats on how to respond to the questions being raised about Kerry's own military record. To that end, he also was able to get former Sen. Max Cleland, a Kerry confidante, and ex-presidential candidate Howard Dean on the phone over the last 45 days. How did he manage that? And while Lockhart insists that the documents were never mentioned in their conversation, he conceded "it's possible" Mapes just happened to mention the memos when she asked him to give Burkett a call. Yesterday, he explained it this way: Mapes asked Lockhart to speak to "a guy who is being helpful on this story," adding that she just happened to mention that "there are some records that might move the story forward" without telling him what they said. Maybe CBS isn't the only one with a credibility problem. "The fact that CBS News would coordinate with the most senior levels of Sen. Kerry's campaign to attack the president is a stunning and deeply troubling revelation," said the White House. That's putting it mildly. Indeed, the more we learn about this whole sordid episode, the more disturbing it becomes. What else is CBS hiding?