Rather Files $70 Million Suit Against CBS

yenttia001 11:23:48 PM Sep 22 2007

Unfortunately, for those of us interested in the truth, the Bush-Guard story has taken on the cultural manifestations of the Kennedy assassination. The facts, even if spoken now by those directly involved, will be disputed. Political disinformation entered the process along with too much zeal to break the big story. Rather and Mapes, however, seem unfairly condemned to me. The report by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh's investigative committee seemed cursory and inconclusive. I was among a number of people directly involved who were never contacted, which leads to the inevitable suggestion other pieces of evidence were ignored to fit a preferred conclusion.

Ultimately, though, we have to rely on perception of this matter because we'll never get the facts from the Bush administration. They do, however, exist. Every document relevant to the Bush time in the Guard should be included on a microfiche filed at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Any hist

yenttia001 10:10:00 PM Sep 22 2007

I have always considered this episode to be a GOP dirty trick.

The bottom line...the right-wing blogosphere was instantaneous in their orchestrated assault, as if this was planned. And, sure enough, after the attack on the alleged 'forgery,' the Bush service record was off-the-table for media discussion. Doesn't anybody find that curious?

Bravo to Dan Rather. May he cause many to squirm with his lawsuit.

yenttia001 10:06:48 PM Sep 22 2007

jsteel57 09:54:19 PM Sep 22 2007

you're a joke dan, just like your big ears
__________________________________
And Your a joke, with your big mouth!!!!

yenttia001 10:05:52 PM Sep 22 2007

I applaud Rather's decision to file this lawsuit. The issue will be, whether he can stand up to whatever bribe money Viacom throws at him (under the guise of a "settlement for an undisclosed amount without admitting wrongdoing"). The man is in his seventies, after all; can he stand up to the pounding of a protracted suit? The greatest joy of all this would be to subpoena Bush himself and get him on the stand - highly doubtful at best, but we can dream.

jsteel57 09:54:19 PM Sep 22 2007

you're a joke dan, just like your big ears
get a life you old dweeb

yenttia001 09:13:05 PM Sep 22 2007

In retrospect, I think the real problem with this story is that it ran three years too early. Imagine that a report emerged today saying that President Bush and his enablers had unusual problems finding the most basic records, that key documents had disappeared from official files, that he and his supporters dissembled when asked direct questions. Yawn. The country wouldn't bat a collective eye. No one would be attacked for reporting that. That stuff is old hat now.

But back then in the face of an orchestrated attack, Viacom blinked. The company insisted that Dan Rather issue an on-air apology. We were investigated by a so-called independent panel that wasn't independent and wasn't really a panel. It was a cluster of securities fraud attorneys with no journalistic experience fronted by a couple of figureheads with strong ties to the Bush family.

yenttia001 09:12:20 PM Sep 22 2007

Far Right Wingers have betrayed the U.S.

yenttia001 09:11:12 PM Sep 22 2007

But the truly chilling part of this entire saga is what happened next. Though our story had raised entirely appropriate questions about the president's military record, though there had been substantiation for everything we reported, though this was an issue certainly worth discussing in wartime, all that was lost in the melee that followed.

Because of the angry conservative outcry, the corporation we worked for chose to walk away from an uncomfortable controversy rather than stick up for its reporters.

This is not a new fight. Journalism has always pissed people off. It is supposed to. It should be provocative. It should ask hard questions of everyone on every side. It shouldn't play favorites and it shouldn't fear honest criticism.

In a democracy, journalism cannot fear bullies or pull its punches because somebody powerful might get uncomfortable. That's when we all lose.

yenttia001 09:10:38 PM Sep 22 2007

Soon, traditional media began repeating some of the claims and joining in the attack on the story. They didn't do any real work on the substance of the story; they just wanted to talk about typeface. And that was an empty, unsolvable argument that did nothing but serve the purposes of the Bush administration, which had been fanning the flames of the controversy and hoping to avoid any hard questions.

The fracas scared the bejeezus out of the CBS corporate types who were completely unaccustomed to the rough and tumble interaction of the blog world. Frankly, the foaming-at-the-mouth response scared me, too. These people WERE scary. Who wants to see her picture online accompanied by digital catcalls demanding that she be "taken out"? And that was one of the milder posts.

yenttia001 09:09:31 PM Sep 22 2007

These critics blathered on about everything but the content. They knew they would lose that argument, so they didn't raise it. They focused on the most obscure, most difficult to decipher element of the story and dove in, attacking CBS, Dan Rather, me, the story and the horse we rode in on -- without respite, relentlessly, for days.