highsea
09-25-2004, 06:31 AM
I don't blame anyone who doesn't read this. This is as short as I could make it. Sorry.
When the CBS memo scandal hit the fan, the reaction from the DNC was predictable. Terry McAuliffe vehemently denied any knowledge of the memos, and even went as far as suggesting Karl Rove was the source. Of course we all know now that Rather's "unimpeachable" source was Bill Burkett, the formy Texas Army National Guardsman. (notice I said Army NG, not Air NG? The terminology in the memos was Army lingo, not Air Force.)
Now bear with me, there are some remarkable coincidences, particularly regarding the timing of the 60 Minutes story, the shift in Kerry's rhetoric after the GOP convention, a DNC ad campaign, and a certain 527 group called "Texans for Truth".
We'll start with CBS.
Mary Mapes, the producer of the story had been trying for 5 years to track down the rumored documents. In Mid-August, she went to her bosses and told them that she had finally tracked down a source who claimed to have access to the memos. source (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31727-2004Sep18?language=printer)
In an August 21 web posting on a Yahoo group for Texas Democrats, Burkett complained about the difficulty he had getting through to the Kerry campaign. He had some information he wanted to share, but in his words, he had to wade through ""seven layers of bureaucratic kids trying to get a job after the election" before he finally got on the phone with Max Cleland, who was Kerry's veterans coordinator. In his posting, Burkett also hinted that he spoke to other "seniors" in the campaign, but didn't give any names.
About his conversation with Cleland, Burkett wrote: "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground. . . . He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back." source (http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=5169)
So we have the coincidence of CBS learning about the documents about the same time as Burkett sent them to the Kerry Campaign.
Now, a couple days after the memos came under attack, Rather, defending the story, stated that CBS had been working on the story for "weeks" before it aired. That may be true, but they did not actually receive the memos from Burkett until September 2nd. by fax, and Mapes told her boss the next day. (Part of the deal was that Mapes would help Burkett get in contact with the Kerry Campaign, which she did. She arranged a phone call on Sept. 4th between Burkett and Joe Lockhart, a top Kerry aide and former press secretary for Clinton.) source (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31727-2004Sep18?language=printer)
If CBS first received the memos from the Kerry campaign, they couldn't use them in the story. They needed to find the original source. One of the experts hired by CBS said that Mapes had told her that CBS received the memos anonymously in the mail. source (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6039850/site/newsweek/)
Then there was Josh Marshall's comments about Ben Barnes on September 1, Six days before Rather had supposedly met with Barnes, and before CBS had received the memos from Burkett."...But apparently those threats haven't done the trick because he has already taped a lengthy interview slated to appear in the not-too-distant future on a major national news show in which he'll describe the strings he pulled to keep Bush out of Vietnam and apparently more.
(Between you and me, according to my three sources on this, Barnes told his story to Dan Rather -- remember, the Texas connection -- for 60 Minutes.)" source (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_08_29.php#003398)
You have to admire Rather's clairvoyance several days before Burkett gave the memos to CBS. Here's what he asked Laura Bush in the skybox during the Republican Convention: "Now that friends and supporters of the President have raised the issue of John Kerry's combat record in Vietnam, do you or do you not think it's fair now for the Kerry people to come back and dig anew into your husband's military service record?"
Then there was Kerry's reaction to Bush's Convention speech. On September 2nd., Kerry offered up a scathing attack on Bush's Guard service. After suffering through several weeks of ads criticizing Kerry's Vietnam days, this surprised the pundits, who thought Kerry would want to shift attention away from Vietnam.
On September 6th., Howard Wolfson, who was a former aide to Hillary Clinton, began a DNC PR campaign called "Operation Fortunate Son", that attacked Bush's Guard service. The campaign officially aired on September 9th., one day after the CBS episode. This included a 3 minute Internet ad portraying Bush as a shirker, and included footage from the 60 Minutes Episode.
And on September 8th., the same day as the 60 minutes report, the 527 group "Texans for Truth" began airing their campaign attacking Bush's Guard service! source (http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=5169)
By Sept. 10th, other Dems like Tom Harkin and Terry McAuliffe had jumped in started hammering on Bush in the media to "tell the truth" about his guard service.
Now, you have to admit that is a lot of coincidences. /ccboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Call me cynical, but this is how I think things really went down.
Burkett contacted Cleland around Mid-August. Cleland passed him off to Lockhart and Burkett gave Lockhart the memos. A plan is hatched to exploit the memos, and try to draw attention away from the SBV ads. They decide to hit GW right after the GOP convention, just like the SBV's did to Kerry. Lockhart passes the memos to CBS. CBS goes back to the DNC and tells them they can't use the story without the source and corraboration. Lockhart gives them Burkett and Barnes.
Barnes agrees to go on the air again with his claims, provided he has some corraboration. He was discredited the first time he tried that, and doesn't want to get burned. CBS and Lockhart show him the memos, and Barnes agrees. Rather tapes the segment with Barnes during the GOP convention.
CBS goes to Burkett, and wants Burkett to send them the memos directly, so they can show they didn't come from the DNC. Burkett is reluctant to do this, and makes CBS arrange a conference with Lockhart. Lockhart assures Burkett that he will remain anonymous, so Burkett agrees, and faxes the memos to CBS from Abilene.
The stage is set. The CBS story is in the can, now all the DNC needs to do is crank up the volume. They get a copy of the video from CBS and Wolfson does the Operation Fortunate Son campaign. At the same time they get the "Texans for Truth" ad together, plan their speeches and reactions to the story, etc. Everyone's chomping at the bit. They're finally going to get even for the SBV ads.
But in CBS's eagerness to break the great story, they ignore the obvious problems with the memos. They have Barnes as a backup, and they are all so sure the story is true, they don't give the memos a decent vetting. Within hours after the story is aired, the bloggers latch on, and things start to come apart. The rest is history.
Wisely (and this is the first time the DNC has done something right), they immediately drop Guard story and start screaming at the top of their lungs about Iraq.
When the CBS memo scandal hit the fan, the reaction from the DNC was predictable. Terry McAuliffe vehemently denied any knowledge of the memos, and even went as far as suggesting Karl Rove was the source. Of course we all know now that Rather's "unimpeachable" source was Bill Burkett, the formy Texas Army National Guardsman. (notice I said Army NG, not Air NG? The terminology in the memos was Army lingo, not Air Force.)
Now bear with me, there are some remarkable coincidences, particularly regarding the timing of the 60 Minutes story, the shift in Kerry's rhetoric after the GOP convention, a DNC ad campaign, and a certain 527 group called "Texans for Truth".
We'll start with CBS.
Mary Mapes, the producer of the story had been trying for 5 years to track down the rumored documents. In Mid-August, she went to her bosses and told them that she had finally tracked down a source who claimed to have access to the memos. source (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31727-2004Sep18?language=printer)
In an August 21 web posting on a Yahoo group for Texas Democrats, Burkett complained about the difficulty he had getting through to the Kerry campaign. He had some information he wanted to share, but in his words, he had to wade through ""seven layers of bureaucratic kids trying to get a job after the election" before he finally got on the phone with Max Cleland, who was Kerry's veterans coordinator. In his posting, Burkett also hinted that he spoke to other "seniors" in the campaign, but didn't give any names.
About his conversation with Cleland, Burkett wrote: "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground. . . . He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back." source (http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=5169)
So we have the coincidence of CBS learning about the documents about the same time as Burkett sent them to the Kerry Campaign.
Now, a couple days after the memos came under attack, Rather, defending the story, stated that CBS had been working on the story for "weeks" before it aired. That may be true, but they did not actually receive the memos from Burkett until September 2nd. by fax, and Mapes told her boss the next day. (Part of the deal was that Mapes would help Burkett get in contact with the Kerry Campaign, which she did. She arranged a phone call on Sept. 4th between Burkett and Joe Lockhart, a top Kerry aide and former press secretary for Clinton.) source (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31727-2004Sep18?language=printer)
If CBS first received the memos from the Kerry campaign, they couldn't use them in the story. They needed to find the original source. One of the experts hired by CBS said that Mapes had told her that CBS received the memos anonymously in the mail. source (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6039850/site/newsweek/)
Then there was Josh Marshall's comments about Ben Barnes on September 1, Six days before Rather had supposedly met with Barnes, and before CBS had received the memos from Burkett."...But apparently those threats haven't done the trick because he has already taped a lengthy interview slated to appear in the not-too-distant future on a major national news show in which he'll describe the strings he pulled to keep Bush out of Vietnam and apparently more.
(Between you and me, according to my three sources on this, Barnes told his story to Dan Rather -- remember, the Texas connection -- for 60 Minutes.)" source (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_08_29.php#003398)
You have to admire Rather's clairvoyance several days before Burkett gave the memos to CBS. Here's what he asked Laura Bush in the skybox during the Republican Convention: "Now that friends and supporters of the President have raised the issue of John Kerry's combat record in Vietnam, do you or do you not think it's fair now for the Kerry people to come back and dig anew into your husband's military service record?"
Then there was Kerry's reaction to Bush's Convention speech. On September 2nd., Kerry offered up a scathing attack on Bush's Guard service. After suffering through several weeks of ads criticizing Kerry's Vietnam days, this surprised the pundits, who thought Kerry would want to shift attention away from Vietnam.
On September 6th., Howard Wolfson, who was a former aide to Hillary Clinton, began a DNC PR campaign called "Operation Fortunate Son", that attacked Bush's Guard service. The campaign officially aired on September 9th., one day after the CBS episode. This included a 3 minute Internet ad portraying Bush as a shirker, and included footage from the 60 Minutes Episode.
And on September 8th., the same day as the 60 minutes report, the 527 group "Texans for Truth" began airing their campaign attacking Bush's Guard service! source (http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=5169)
By Sept. 10th, other Dems like Tom Harkin and Terry McAuliffe had jumped in started hammering on Bush in the media to "tell the truth" about his guard service.
Now, you have to admit that is a lot of coincidences. /ccboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Call me cynical, but this is how I think things really went down.
Burkett contacted Cleland around Mid-August. Cleland passed him off to Lockhart and Burkett gave Lockhart the memos. A plan is hatched to exploit the memos, and try to draw attention away from the SBV ads. They decide to hit GW right after the GOP convention, just like the SBV's did to Kerry. Lockhart passes the memos to CBS. CBS goes back to the DNC and tells them they can't use the story without the source and corraboration. Lockhart gives them Burkett and Barnes.
Barnes agrees to go on the air again with his claims, provided he has some corraboration. He was discredited the first time he tried that, and doesn't want to get burned. CBS and Lockhart show him the memos, and Barnes agrees. Rather tapes the segment with Barnes during the GOP convention.
CBS goes to Burkett, and wants Burkett to send them the memos directly, so they can show they didn't come from the DNC. Burkett is reluctant to do this, and makes CBS arrange a conference with Lockhart. Lockhart assures Burkett that he will remain anonymous, so Burkett agrees, and faxes the memos to CBS from Abilene.
The stage is set. The CBS story is in the can, now all the DNC needs to do is crank up the volume. They get a copy of the video from CBS and Wolfson does the Operation Fortunate Son campaign. At the same time they get the "Texans for Truth" ad together, plan their speeches and reactions to the story, etc. Everyone's chomping at the bit. They're finally going to get even for the SBV ads.
But in CBS's eagerness to break the great story, they ignore the obvious problems with the memos. They have Barnes as a backup, and they are all so sure the story is true, they don't give the memos a decent vetting. Within hours after the story is aired, the bloggers latch on, and things start to come apart. The rest is history.
Wisely (and this is the first time the DNC has done something right), they immediately drop Guard story and start screaming at the top of their lungs about Iraq.