Wednesday, September 22, 2004
CBS Blew It; Was the Network duped by Karl Rove?
It is an object lesson in how the Bush campaign and the news media have diverted attention from the allegations in the CBS “60 Minutes” broadcast about Bush’s National Guard service to the fraudulent nature of the documents that contained the allegations. The argument is that since the documents are phony, the allegations must be phony.
The allegations relate to Bush’s service in the Alabama National Guard. After serving in the Texas Air National Guard, he obtained a transfer to the Alabama National Guard. Some official documents of his service there are missing. It has been reported that he went to Alabama to help in the election campaign of a family friend. It is suspected that, although he was a capable airplane pilot, he gave up the privilege of flying when he avoided a routine physical examination. These and other allegations were known long before CBS aired its program. They have not been convincingly refuted by the Bush campaign.
An allegation in the CBS program was that Bush, a member of a wealthy and politically influential family, received preferential treatment in being admitted to the Texas Air National Guard. Well, duh! Is there anyone on the planet who doubts that such a thing happened? The former Speaker of the Texas Legislature admits that he helped young Bush get into the Guard.
Now the Bush campaign people are spreading the word that it was the Democrats, and particularly some operatives in the Kerry campaign, who put CBS up to it. That’s a plausible claim. Of course, Kerry’s campaign denies that it had anything to do with it. You, the uncommitted voter, can decide for yourself whether the CBS broadcast was a Democratic “dirty trick” that went sour. But, you should not underestimate the shrewdness of the Bush people. Knowing that their candidate is vulnerable to the charge of using special influence to escape the draft during the Viet Nam war, how better to diffuse the charge than to plant phony documents with CBS, then publicly deny the allegation on the ground that the documents are forgeries?
The allegations relate to Bush’s service in the Alabama National Guard. After serving in the Texas Air National Guard, he obtained a transfer to the Alabama National Guard. Some official documents of his service there are missing. It has been reported that he went to Alabama to help in the election campaign of a family friend. It is suspected that, although he was a capable airplane pilot, he gave up the privilege of flying when he avoided a routine physical examination. These and other allegations were known long before CBS aired its program. They have not been convincingly refuted by the Bush campaign.
An allegation in the CBS program was that Bush, a member of a wealthy and politically influential family, received preferential treatment in being admitted to the Texas Air National Guard. Well, duh! Is there anyone on the planet who doubts that such a thing happened? The former Speaker of the Texas Legislature admits that he helped young Bush get into the Guard.
Now the Bush campaign people are spreading the word that it was the Democrats, and particularly some operatives in the Kerry campaign, who put CBS up to it. That’s a plausible claim. Of course, Kerry’s campaign denies that it had anything to do with it. You, the uncommitted voter, can decide for yourself whether the CBS broadcast was a Democratic “dirty trick” that went sour. But, you should not underestimate the shrewdness of the Bush people. Knowing that their candidate is vulnerable to the charge of using special influence to escape the draft during the Viet Nam war, how better to diffuse the charge than to plant phony documents with CBS, then publicly deny the allegation on the ground that the documents are forgeries?
Comments:
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I don't know if CBS was duped by the likes of Karl Rove or a similar band of Republican dirty tricksters. But the situation brings to the fore an interesting comparison between Dan Rather and George Bush:
Dan Rather, CBS News Anchor:
1. given documents he thought were true
2. failed to thoroughly investigate the facts
3. reported documents to the American people as true to make his case
4. when confronted with the facts, apologized and launched an investigation
5. number of Americans dead: 0
6. should be fired as CBS News Anchor?
George W. Bush, President of the United States:
1. given documents he thought were true
2. failed to thoroughly investigate the facts
3. reported documents to the American people as true to make his case
4. when confronted with the facts, continued to report untruth and stonewalled an investigation
5. number of Americans dead: 1100
6. should be given four more years as President of the United States?
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Dan Rather, CBS News Anchor:
1. given documents he thought were true
2. failed to thoroughly investigate the facts
3. reported documents to the American people as true to make his case
4. when confronted with the facts, apologized and launched an investigation
5. number of Americans dead: 0
6. should be fired as CBS News Anchor?
George W. Bush, President of the United States:
1. given documents he thought were true
2. failed to thoroughly investigate the facts
3. reported documents to the American people as true to make his case
4. when confronted with the facts, continued to report untruth and stonewalled an investigation
5. number of Americans dead: 1100
6. should be given four more years as President of the United States?
# posted by 
: 7:48 PM
: 7:48 PM 
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