WHAT IS BEHIND THE CBS STONEWALL?

Right about now there is only one legitimate news institution in this country that believes the documents produced by Dan Rather last week are real .. and that news institution is CBS.  We have former FBI document experts, typesetting experts, typewriter experts .. and experts on experts who all say that the documents are false.  Nobody not working for CBS news has come forward to say the documents are real.  Nobody.  Even the lady who did the typing for Lt. Col. Jerry Killian while he was Bush's National Guard Commander says that the documents are "most certainly" fakes. Yet Dan Rather continues to stand by the authenticity of the documents.  Why?

And what about CBS's "document expert?"  Marcel Matley, a primary CBS "expert"  is not certified by the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners.  Matley has no formal training in document examination, has never been trained in any document laboratory and has no law enforcement training.  Marcel Matley is the man CBS cites as the expert who verified Jerry Killian's signature on the questioned documents.  Where did this man get his experience?  He cast himself as an expert in "Spirituality in Handwriting."  In a New York Post interview years ago Matley said of one woman that her handwriting showed a "healthy, instinctual libidinal energy."  Well .. that certainly sounds quite yummy, and I might like getting a mash note from this woman, but is this the man CBS wants to rely on for expert analysis of their prized documents?  Another CBS "expert" turns out to have been a typewriter repairman in the 1970's.  I can change the oil in my airplane.  That doesn't make me a mechanic.

Is it possible that CBS placed too much trust in their experts?  Well, you might be able to say that if it weren't for the fact that some of CBS's experts warned CBS not to use those documents in their news story, that the documents might not be genuine.  Emily Will, a document examiner consulted by CBS, told ABC News "I told them that all the questions I was asking them on Tuesday night, they were going to be asked by hundreds of other document examiners on Thursday if they ran that story."   Rather didn't listen .. and the documents became the centerpiece of the story.  Emily Will becomes a psychic.

Let's face it ... we have now passed the test of "beyond a reasonable doubt."  The New York Times' William Safire says "It may be that CBS is the victim of a whopping journalistic hoax, besmearing a president to bring him down.  What should a responsible news organization do?"  What indeed?

Dan Rather and CBS News offered Americans a set of faked, forged documents to push the idea that George Bush was, in essence, a National Guard slacker.  The question now is why won't Rather and CBS news admit the error. 

What is the latest from Rather?  He says the complaints and criticisms are coming from "partisan political operatives."  Rather believes that the entirety of the national media, with the exception of CBS, are acting out of Republican partisanship?  Is he on the wrong frequency again?  And what about the person who fed him the forged documents?  He or she isn't a "partisan political operative?"

Herewith ... some theories as to why  Dan Rather (I say "Rather" rather than "CBS News" because Dan Rather IS CBS News)  seems to have chosen this particular hill to die on:

Rather's intense hatred for all things Bush

Where were you on January 25, 1988?  Were you watching Dan Rather interview Vice President George Bush on CBS?  This interview is so infamous that C-SPAN still sells tapes of the interview on its website. The interview was supposed to be a simple profile of candidates in the 1988 presidential election.  CBS saved Bush for last.  Rather had another agenda, however.  He was bound and determined to use that interview to somehow tie George Bush 41 to the Iran-Contral mess. Dan Rather's grilling of Vice President Bush was so over-the-top that Walter Cronkite said that he would have fired him.  Sam Donaldson said that "Rather went too far."  Mike Wallace, a CBS colleague, said that "Dan lost his cool."

At one point in that interview George Bush 41 finally reached the point where he had had quite enough, thank you very much.  Bush finally delivered the following zinger to Rather:

RATHER: I don't want to be argumentative, Mr. Vice President.

BUSH: You do, Dan.

RATHER: No...no, sir, I don't.

BUSH: This is not a great night, because I want to talk about why I want to be president, why those 41 percent of the people are supporting me. And I don't think it's fair...

RATHER: And Mr. Vice President, if these questions are --

BUSH: ...to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York? [Note: Rather actually was in Miami and he was off the set for six minutes.

There are those inside CBS who will tell you that Bush's reference to Rather's 7-minute walk-off created a blinding hatred in Rather that exists to this day.  Click here for a transcript of that interview.  Judge for yourself. And if you want to know more about Rather's famous walk-off just click here.

Rather doesn't want the the story to become the forged documents.

Normally a legitimate news operation would never disclose the identities of their sources for various news stories and tips.  That unwritten rule ceases to be operative when you discover that your source has knowingly fed you false or forged documents, possibly salve a grudge or in furtherance of some political agenda.  At the point where you realize that you've been had the story becomes the fact that you've been snookered, who the snookerer was, and why he chose you to be the snookeree. 

It it possible that CBS is stonewalling because they are afraid of the consequences that could follow a thorough investigation of their source?  If they admit they were conned, then it would be very difficult indeed for them to continue to protect the source.  If that source turned out to be an operative of or connected in any way to either the Kerry campaign or to the DNC it would be a complete disaster for the Democrats.  They could send all of the lawyers they have hired for post-election legal challenges home.  The vote wouldn't be close enough to raise any questions. 

Know this:  Dan Rather does not want George W. Bush to win reelection.  His continued stonewalling on this matter is a strong indication that revealing their source would have negative consequences for The Poodle.

Rather doesn't want to fall victim to some people sitting around in their pajamas.

Who are the people sitting around in their pajamas?  That's how a CBS executive described the Internet bloggers who started the ball rolling on Rather's precious documents.  How, after all, can CBS, the network of Cronkite and Murrow, be exposed and embarrassed by some Drudge wannabe in Dayton with a computer?  To admit that the documents are forgeries is to admit that some obscure Internet bloggers did a better job of researching this story than the great and powerful Rather did.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Now for something completely different.

You heard this one, didn't you?  It was a great  comment on Dan Rather's abilities as a news anchor.  This comment came from Don Imus in 1999:  "Watchin' Dan Rather do the news, he looks like he's making a hostage tape. They should have guys in ski masks and AK-47s just standing off to the side..."

Now it can be said that Rather is, in fact, a hostage .. a hostage to his unfailing bias, his hatred of the Bush family, his fear of damaging the Kerry campaign, and to his inability to admit an error.

THE FACTS ABOUT BUSH'S NATIONAL GUARD SERVICE

At the time of Bush's service National Guard regulations required a minimum of 50 service points to satisfy a yearly obligation.  Since Bush joined the Guard in May of 1968, his "year" ran from May to May.  Byron York writing in The Hill gives us the total number of points he earned for each year of service.

• May 1968 to May 1969        253 points
• May 1969 to May 1970        340 points
• May 1970 to May 1971        137 points
• May 1971 to May 1972        112 points
• May 1972 to May 1973          56 points
• May 1973 to May 1974          56 points

Uh oh. Looks like Bush made the grade every single year!  Don't look for this information on the front page of The New York Times or in one of Rather's broadcasts.

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

This hasn't been a great month for John Kerry so far.  But if you thoughts that things were going badly for The Poodle ... wait until you hear this.  Ted Kennedy is going to hit the campaign trail for Kerry.  Great!  Bring him on!  Fantastic!  What a wonderful reminder to the voters that John Kerry is the most liberal Senator in the U.S. Senate! Even more liberal than Kennedy?

I feel compelled to say something nice about Kerry ... so here goes.  He saved his daughter's hamster when it fell off a dock into the water. Kennedy wouldn't lift a finger to safe a young woman suffocating in his car in four feet of water.

Is there a skill in life any more useless than the ability to diagram a sentence? 

How to save the nation?  Get the subscription list for People Magazine.  Revoke the voter registration of any person on that list.

Northern Alabama is about to get a grand new tourist attraction.  The battleship USS Alabama, currently moored near Mobile, will be moving later this week to a spot near Birmingham.   Also, we hear that they're making plans to hitch up the governor's mansion and tow it to safety as Ivan approaches.

Sorry, Alabama.  You know I love you, but the hurricane isn't exactly headed for Nebraska. At least there would be something left of Alabama if Ivan makes a direct hit.  That's more than you can say for New Orleans.

No, I didn't watch "Boortzapalooza" on Channel 2 last night.  Sound asleep.  I did Tivo it though .. and one day will screw up the courage to take a peek.  We really need to put this thing on DVD and make it available to listeners across the country.

Hurricane Ivan is causing a huge production drop in oil from offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.  This may result in a price increase for gasoline.  Rest assured, The Poodle will blame Bush for the price increases.

Idiotic laws on "price-gouging" are preventing the delivery of needed supplies and services to the beleaguered people of Florida.  Politicians can only get away with this nonsense because their subjects were educated in government schools.

I'm speaking to the Krystal Company convention in Florida next week.  They had better have some cheeseburgers on hand.

If you apply to the Commission on Presidential Debates for press credentials to cover a presidential debate you must reveal your race.  Why is that? Does one color of journalist report the facts differently than another color?  Is this what they mean by "coloring the news?"

Hey, Ritalin parents!  Did you know that there are medical experts out there who believe that there may turn out to be a connection between Ritalin use today and Alzheimer's disease later?  But what the hell ... it sure takes the parenting pressure off you, doesn't it?

The citizens of Washington DC want their representatives in Congress to have a vote in Congressional deliberations.  Yesterday they gave Marion Berry a seat on the Washington DC City council.  Yeah ... we want these people wielding a heavier influence on national affairs, don't we?

Over 17,000 passengers have filed official complaints about thefts from their baggage during the TSA screening process.  Many TSA employees have felony records.  As Tom Daschle said, you don't professionalize unless you federalize.

IMAGES SHOW MADRID TRAIN BLAST

Images have been released from closed-circuit cameras showing three explosions during the first seconds of the March 11th Al-Qaeda train bombing in Madrid.  The terrorist attack killed 191 people, wounded more than 2,000, and elected the appeasement Zapatero government.  In short, the terrorists won.  The innocent victims' lives will not be avenged, no one will be made to pay.  As Osama Bin Laden requested, the surrender monkeys pulled their troops out of Iraq.  So, what we see in these videos is Al Qaeda changing a government in a Western nation.

With 48 days left until the presidential election in this country, it's highly likely that Al-Qaeda will try the same thing here. Will they be successful?  Hopefully not, but they are now bolstered by their successes like the Spain bombing. 

Those horrible pictures that show the slaughter of innocents at the hands of Islamic terrorists could be repeated here unless we fight back and continue the War on Terror.  The Poodle will not continue the War on Terror as it stands now....he'd rather send subpoenas instead of troops.

Will America make the right choice?

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Will this be the year that the Democratic Socialist Party finally admits that they are no longer the majority party?  It's really hard to say "she doesn't love me anymore."

CBS News wants us to believe that they are they ordained purveyors of truth, the ultimate source of flawless news reporting.  Hardly, says Michelle Malkin.

Former Gore campaign manager Tony Coehlo has uncorked the rage on The Poodle's campaign operation.  Priceless. [Note, this links to a story from CBS News, but it looks authentic.]

A Vietnam veteran says John Kerry coerced him to lie about atrocities, just as The Poodle did himself.  As per the template, this is getting very little media coverage.

Proof that voters can be idiots, Washington D.C. has once again elected their former crack head former mayor, Marion Barry.  This time he is joining the city council.

Dan Rather has gone the way of the dinosaurs....and he's not coming back.  The big media empire is crumbling, as Jonah Goldberg explains.

CBS News' Bob Schieffer is scheduled to moderate one of the presidential debates, but now that the CBS document forgery scandal has happened, this editorial claims he is unfit for the job.

Despite the mounting evidence that their reporting including fraudulent documents, CBS forges ahead.  John Podhoretz takes a look at the controversy.

September 9, 2004 will be remembered as the day the blogosphere took down CBS News.  James Pinkerton reports.

Dan Rather's sad attempts at clinging to a lame explanation about the forged Bush documents gets worse by the day.  The Media Research Center has more.

Bloggers love to fact-check the media, and they're already having a major effect with the CBS story.  Kathleen Parker explains.

Now that the 1994 ban on certain weapons has expired, people will be able to buy Uzis and AK-47s!  Not so, says Professor Mike Adams, who explains that those guns are still banned.

There has been a revolution in this country in the way news is covered...and Dan Rather and CBS News are on the outside looking in.  Tony Blankley breaks it down.

President Bush is doing the same thing President Reagan is doing...removing people from the tax rolls.  Walter E. Williams says this is a bad idea, and explains why.

Girl went to school with a moldy lunch. Authorities found much worse at the home, which was then condemned.

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