Procrastinet

Dan Rather is Honked Off

filed under: Idle Chatter

Dan Rather, and by extension CBS, seems pretty honked off that their Air National Guard story is being derailed by suppositions about the authenticity of the memos.

Video is linked from this article - it's worth watching, as most of Rather's crotchety is in the inflections.

"The questions included in our report were: did a wealthy Texas oil man, friend of the Bush family, use his influence with the then-Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives to get George W. Bush a coveted slot in the Air National Guard, keeping him out of the draft and any probably service in Vietnam? Did Lieutenant Bush refuse a direct order from his commanding officer? Was Lieutenant Bush suspended for failure to perform up to Air Force standards? Did Lieutenant Bush ever take a physical he was required - and ordered - to take? If not, why not? And did Lieutenant Bush in fact complete his commitment to the Guard?

These questions grew out of new witnesses and new evidence, including documents written by Lieutenant Bush's squadron commander. Today, on the internet and elsewhere, some people - including many who are partisan political operatives - concentrated not on the key questions or the overall story, but on the documents that were part of the support of the story."

After gleefully debunking some of the allegations against the documents, Rather asks their on-air expert "Are you surprised that questions have come up about some of these? We're not..."

Next, Rather interviews Robert Strong, an administrative officer with the TANG who knew Col. Killian and specialized in Air National Guard paperwork.

Rather reports that "Strong says the highly charged political atmosphere of the Guard at the time was perfectly represented in the newly revealed documents."

"It verged on outright corruption," says Strong, establishing himself as an excellent candidate for the Order of the Shrill. "In terms of the favors that were done, the power that was traded, and it was unconscionable. From a moral and ethical standpoint it was unconscionable."

Rather wraps by saying that if compelling new evidence comes up, "then we will report it." But, he says pointedly, "So far... there is none."

It's nice to see someone in the mainstream broadcast media starting to get miffed when people try to hide the forest behind a pile of trees.

Posted by rjt at September 10, 2004 10:41 PM