Rathergate: much more than meets the EYE

[kpete]

Rathergate: much more than meets the EYE
by markthshark
Sun Nov 25, 2007 at 11:20:27 AM PST

................

Earlier this month (Nov. 20) the New York Observer ran a story highlighting Rather’s travails in redeeming his good name, and proving once and for all that the story that got him fired was indeed true after all.

More than two years earlier, in the aftermath of what would become known as Rathergate, CBS had hired Mr. Rigler, a former Navy aviator and F.B.I. agent, in part to get to the bottom of the controversial documents at the heart of the affair. Where had the documents come from? Was the content accurate if not authentic? Who was the source?

For reasons that remain unclear, CBS eventually curtailed Mr. Rigler’s investigation. His findings were never made public. Nor, as it turns out, were they made available to Mr. Rather—a fact that years later, continued to stick in the anchorman’s craw.

According to Mr. Gold, this past summer when he reached Mr. Rigler, the investigator said he would be happy to talk but first had to run it by CBS. Weeks later, Mr. Gold hadn’t heard back. He called again. Shortly thereafter, according to Mr. Gold, he received a letter from the legal department at CBS telling him to stop harassing their client. A volley of contentious communications ensued and on Sept. 19, Mr. Rather officially gave up on phone calls and letters—he filed a $70 million civil lawsuit against his former bosses at CBS and Viacom, including Les Moonves, Sumner Redstone and Andrew Heyward.

"I tried to talk to Rigler and CBS shut me down," said Mr. Gold.

much more here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/25/133550/27

[inthebrain]

1. The problem with Rathergate is in the details

Bush did not serve "honorably" in the National Guard.

I think everyone knows that.

Rather's story being true or untrue does nothing to take away from that fact.

OTOH, the documents presented were not forgeries either. Nobody really knows the truth of the matter. The problem is that because they were faxed copies nobody can verify them. Photocopying tends to blow up type and you can't assess the strees marks in a signature without an original.

In the end, this is an example of partisans having a strangle hold on what's "true". Because one person gets it wrong people let their guard down and assume the other side is correct.

[Flabbergasted]

9. The documents were forgeries IMO.

I actually printed them out and there were some obvious problems with the documents. That was why had no case. He couldn't verify them because they were indeed fake.

[inthebrain]

11. You can't verify a forgery off of a photocopy n/t

[Flabbergasted]

17. The documents should not have been in his show if they were unauthenticated faxes.

It proves Rather's negligence.

[Mnemosyne]

13. Forgeries of original documents as I understand it. n/t

[Flabbergasted]

18. That's how it looks.

[karynnj]

15. He did have support for the CONTENT of the document

The secretary, who was the person who said that the document did not look like the type from their typewriters also said that she did type similar information. More important, the supervisor also verified that Bush was a problem.

As others said the document was a FAX and it was distorted OR it was an intentional fake that could be called such - even as the content was true. But, it was clear that among Bush supporters, it didn't matter if it were true or false. (The truly sickening thing is that there still are some who question Kerry's good name because the media played with the obviously false SBVT charges while they declare case closed on Bush's.)

[Flabbergasted]

19. Rather made a bad decision. So did CBS. nt

[blm]

31. If they were fake they could EASILY be determined fake. That they could not be

proven fake matters.

If they HAD been proven fake, we would have heard about it 24/7 on every news network for months.

[Flabbergasted]

32. That was part of the deal given to CBS. The WH dropped proving the documents fake

for CBS firing a "rogue" journalist, Rather.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. The secretary of the TANG commander who generated the original memo said...

..UNEQUIVOCALLY that the contents of the memo were TRUE, but the memo appeared to be a reproduction.

K&R - Dan Rather deserved better than what the corporate stooges did to him.

[wildbilln864]

4. absolutely he did! n/t

[creeksneakers2]

20. She didn't say the details were true

She just said that type of thing went on and Bush was there because of his father's pull.

[Cooley Hurd]

24. No, she said the contents of the memo were true...

Look it up...

[creeksneakers2]

29. I have

Pages 194 - 199 http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/CBS_Report.pdf

[Cha]

27. Desperate corporatestooges

do desperate things.

It's time for them get to the Blowback they derserve in Spades.

[Bozita]

3. Howie Kurtz (WaPo) was ripping Rather today on Russert's MSNBC show. It was over AWOLgate.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Howard Kurtz - a background check:

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Kurtz
"he is married to Republican consultant and commentator Sheri Annis."

There ya go...:thumbsdown:

More:
http://www.fourthestatestrategies.com/html/biography.html

Sheri Annis is a political commentator and media consultant whose clients range from California to Washington DC. She was the spokeswoman for Arnold Schwarzenegger during his first political campaign in 2002. She was chief spokeswoman for California's Proposition 227, the successful measure to eliminate California's failed bilingual education programs. In addition, she played a major role in California's Proposition 209 campaign, which eliminated race and gender-based preferences in government hiring, contracting and education.

As president of Fourth Estate Strategies, she provides media training and communications strategy for high-level executives and works with prominent think tanks. Her professional interests also include free market advocacy, race and gender issues, tort reform and political analysis.

Ms. Annis has written for National Review and has been quoted by news outlets such as the Los Angeles Times , Wall Street Journal , New York Times and Washington Post . Her television appearances include The Today Show , Hardball with Chris Matthews , The O'Reilly Factor , Fox & Friends , Scarborough Country, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and the long-running ABC show Politically Incorrect , among others.

Sheri Annis received her B.A. in Law and Society from the University of California at Santa Barbara . She is a native of Los Angeles , California and now resides in Chevy Chase , Maryland.

[Bozita]

6. That's why I mentioned Kurtz. As long as Rather's breathing, he's a GOP target.

[Cooley Hurd]

14. He's also called Bill Burkett "severely mentally ill..."

Anyone with THIS haircut:

...ISN'T playing with a full deck, IMHO.:rofl:

[zbdent]

23. cessation of breathing didn't stop the attacks on JFK, RFK, FDR, etc. ...

[Captain Hilts]

7. Ah, she's interested in 'tort reform', Tobacco, PhRMA and the RNC's biggest racket. nt

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Bin...

...GO!:thumbsup:

[snot]

36. Great reply-post.

Refreshing -- actual info.

[MADem]

8. Rather is mad as hell, and he's not going away. And that's good. NT

[acmavm]

12. One reason this story just doesn't catch fire is that people will not face

the truth. They will not admit that they were had by this low IQ simian throwback, 'A guy you could sit down and have a beer with', and the Neos. They refuse to admit they were such stupid asswipes, that they were taken like a bunch of hicks at a carnival. They refuse to admit that they believed ALL the propaganda and NONE of the truth that came out daily about this fuckwit. So they stand by this drooling puppet and the criminals he fronts for.

[karynnj]

25. The truth may be worse

Many may well have known and believed,

- that Bush blew up frogs as a kid - as told as a funny story.
- that Bush branded kids at Yale
- that Bush likely didn't have a good record in the TANG
- that Bush started and destroyed companies
- that Bush was a mean drunk until he was 40

They knew all this and voted for him in 2000 and 2004 - against 2 men who had lived lives of honor and distinction. The one that is harder to understand is 2000, 2004 could have been that a traumatized nation intentionally chose a man with no conscience over a man who was known to have one. In 2000, there is no explanation.

[noiretextatique]

30. not to mention the DUI

and the cocaine.

[Wednesdays]

35. Explanation of 2000:

"Gore is a habitual liar" mixed with some hanging chads and a stacked Supreme Court.

[Mnemosyne]

34. * is still a mean drunk and there are videos of it since he was 40:

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=bush+drunk+&search=Search

* gave a speech in SA, Argentina in 2005 iirc, and he was completely and disgustingly smashed, holding onto the podium to remain upright. "Ish our anavershary". I have never been able to find the video online, but my nephews saw it so I know it absolutely was on tv.

Good beginning list!

[karynnj]

38. I quite agree that he is likely still drinking

The photos of his very frequent injuries on his face and areas of reddness would be sufficient to make me suspicious. But, in 2000, even if you took him at his own word he was a drunk until he was 40. The DC press corps obviously knew he was a mean drunk as they covered him (and his brother, Neil) as black sheep in the President's family. They knew, as they sold the country a fake veneer of sunny friendliness "fun to have beer" with, exactly what he was. They made Gore's seriousness, life of accomplishments etc a negative as they repeatedly said the US wants a President they are "comfortable with". I still fail to see how 50% of this country in 2000 thought that someone with all of that in his past could be a good President. The list seems more like the backup that would be used to recommend the higher rather than the lower sentence be imposed on someone found guilty of a crime.

In both 2000 and 2004, you had the media covering for Bush while creating negatives out of nothing for Gore and Kerry.

[Mnemosyne]

42. And here I always thought the injuries were

rug burns and love pats from Jeffy!

There is much that has been buried about these criminals, in a deep abyss, and will never see the light of day.

[tomp]

39. i think that footage is doctored.

purposely slowed down. just my humble opinion.

[Mnemosyne]

41. Doesn't matter. I watched him myself in that Argentina speech

a couple years ago, totally hammered.

Funny too, I have never been able to track it down online.

[McCamy Taylor]

16. Glad this story is still in the news. 60 Minutes was gutted, Rather crucified

so that the FCC would protect Viacon's TV media empire which was in violation of federal media ownership rules as far back as 2000.

In the new world of mega-media, always cherchez les dollars. It is easy to do, since all business news gets reported , so that people planning to invest know where to put their money. So, if Disney and the FCC's Martin shake their hands in Spring of 2005 and agree that A La Carte Cable is a bad idea (just weeks before ABC starts production on The Path to 9/11), the Washington Post will be sure to let the whole world know, so that Disney stockholders and potential investors will understand that Disney's prospects look extra good. Never mind that the deal was politically negative for Martin. Business trumps politics always in this country. You can almost always find the truth about anything in the business pages. There is too much demand for the info for it to ever be suppressed.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/McCamy%20Taylor/62

[creeksneakers2]

21. If the documents were forgeries, a White House plot emerges

When all the evidence is examined, its obvious Bill Burkett either forged the documents himself or knew they were forged. Nobody in big media said that because Burkett had lawyers and sued CBS. The left wing blogosphere disbelieved the forgery claims based on the lack of credibility of their right wing sources, rather than deciding whether the documents were forgeries or not based on an evaluation of the evidence.

The major outline of the Bush guard story, that Bush transferred to Alabama, never showed up for guard duty there, never took his flight physical and was suspended is true. Its also true that Bush didn't finish his requirements for discharge from the guard. The allegation based on the forged document, that Bush's commander was pressured by General Staudt to sugar coat an evaluation of Bush, has no factual evidence to back it up. In fact, Staudt retired over a year before the memo was purportedly written.


The big story,what really did happen, goes untold. CBS first checked the accuracy of the guard story and documents with White House adviser Dan Bartlett starting a day before air time. Bartlett later admitted that he in turn checked the accuracy of the documents with Bush himself at 11 AM the morning before the 60 II piece ran. Bartlett admits that Bush told him some of the information in the documents wasn't true.

Since Bartlett knew information in the documents wasn't true, he must have known they were forgeries. From there, the White House could have called CBS News and warned them off the story. Instead the White House let CBS swallow the hook. The White House knew they could probably destroy Dan Rather, burn up the short remaining campaign time Kerry had to catch up, rally the GOP base, and intimidate every other reporter who might be thinking of reporting facts that exposed Bush.

Further evidence that the White House knew all along that the documents were forgeries was the speed in which right wing insiders on the blogosphere, who were not documents experts, came forward. It looks as if information from the White House was fed to the blogosphere.

Most damning of all was that the White House faxed out 500 copies of the documents to reporters and put the documents up on the White House web site. The White House would never have spread a negative story about Bush if it were true. They had to be certain that the documents were forgeries.

Its a shame that Rather will not let go of the idea that the documents and the details of the 60 Minutes II report were all genuine. If from the start, the focus of the uproar turned back at the White House and asked how, if the documents contained falsehoods, the White House could not know the documents were forged, then the media could have demanded that the White House explain why they didn't warn NBC.

The truth about how the White House plotted to destroy a network news anchor would have been one of the biggest stories of the year and would have really hurt Bush. I fault Rather for trying to save his own ass rather than going where the story took him. Perhaps Rather still cares more about his own reputation than the public learning the truth. Perhaps in anger Rather convinced himself that his own defenses were sound.

[snot]

37. Thank you. Scary that there are apparently still DU'er's who didn't know --

But the *-ies seem to have foreseen only too accurately that 90% of the audience can be relied upon not to actually think.

[MasonJar]

22. Since someone was totally on top of this from the unspeakable

right-wing, it was probably a set-up to diminsh the impact of the truant Bush. CBS folded to the cabal instead of standing behind their top journalist. As I recall the main story was a guest who had personal knowledge of the Bush AWOL incidences. They should have stuck to him and ignored these forgeries. The W crowd will stop at nothing. By the way, when does Kerry get his million for the vets?

[Cha]

26. I'll tell ya what's not "clear"..

"For reasons that remain unclear, CBS eventually curtailed Mr. Rigler’s investigation. His findings were never made public. Nor, as it turns out, were they made available to Mr. Rather—a fact that years later, continued to stick in the anchorman’s craw."

What exactly do the corporatemediawhores think they're going to accomplishment by suppressing facts? Do they think being a traitor to their country is going to make them enjoy their untold wealth and power in a Nation that is 3rd world because the bushites run by the bilderburgerhites have run it into the abyss?

[Peace Patriot]

28. The question here is who doctored the documents. It's been established that their

content was true. That is probably one of the main reasons that Rather wanted to contact the investigator (and that's when CBS got threatening). I don't believe that Rather would base a story on false documents. He's been in the business for decades. And he has investigators to back him up. So what went wrong?

To blame HIM--as someone upthread just did--is like blaming Kerry for being 'swift-boated' or blaming Max Cleland for being OBL-ed and Diebolded, or blaming Dean for being scream-taped, or blaming Joe Wilson for his wife getting outed....

Make your own list of the victims of BushWorld. ANYBODY under attack, or being dirty tricked, can make mistakes. Do you cast them into hell for THEIR mistakes--if there were any at all, or for what YOU perceive as their mistakes--or do you place the blame where it belongs--on the PERPETRATORS--and encourage investigation of THEIR evildoings, and cheer on those with the guts to fight back?

I guess this is the hazard of an open forum. You get all types, including innocent idiots, people with AP news tapes running through their heads where their brains should be, and interested parties with axes to grind, investigations to hamper and various fascist "talking points" to promulgate. I like the openness of it, but beware.

Personally, I want a thorough investigation of Rathergate, and I applaud Dan Rather for pursuing it. And do check out his great documentary on our rigged voting system, "The Trouble With Touchscreens" (Dan Rather, www.HD.net). It's a stunner.

[seafan]

33. More details here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1917238&mesg_id=1921232

Rather believed that the panel would conduct a fair-minded inquiry. But he learned that neither he nor Mapes would be allowed to cross-examine witnesses. They heard from some researchers on the "60 Minutes II" staff that before they had been questioned, a CBS executive had told them that they should feel free to pin all blame on Rather and Mapes. CBS had told Rather to cease investigating the story and had even hired a private investigator of its own, Erik Rigler. Rather and Mapes discovered that Rigler's investigation had uncovered corroboration for their story. Rather's complaint states that "after following all the leads given to him by Ms. Mapes, he (Rigler) was of the opinion that the Killian Documents were most likely authentic, and that the underlying story was certainly accurate." But rather than probing Rigler on his findings, the panel, to the extent its lawyers questioned him in a single telephone call, "appeared more interested whether Mr. Rigler had uncovered derogatory information concerning Mr. Rather or Ms. Mapes, as to which he had no information," according to the Rather complaint. Rigler's report was suppressed, never presented to the panel, and remains suppressed by CBS. Nor did the panel fully question James Pierce, the handwriting expert consulted by "60 Minutes" who insisted that the signature on the documents was surely Killian's.

[notanotherday]

40. I am glad Dan is not going down without a fight.

I think that the execs at CBS wanted to move Dan out of his job, and found an excuse.

IT IS THAT SIMPLE.