Mary Mapes: In Defense Of Dan Rather

Yahoo ^ | Mary Mapes

[MindBender26]

(NOTE TO FReaders. I would not normally alter the basic article, but it so full of delusional thoughts and outright lines that direct attribution is needed so FReader will see what is being references, much like DUmmie Funnies from PJ Comix)

STORY FOLLOWS

By Mary Mapes

My first thought when I read the NY Post's latest Page Six item on Dan Rather was that Dan must have missed a hush money payment or something. Reading on, I realized this was actually an opening publicity volley for a new book, one that is probably guaranteed a small but ready readership. (IT WILL PROBABLY BE A BEST SELLER)

Hardcore conservatives will rush to buy it (YOU BETCHA!)since it apparently echoes their deeply held biases (NOW HISTORY AND REALITY ARE "BIASES"?) about Dan. CBS employees will buy it, as well, just to see who is mad at whom. Of course, that is not necessarily great news for the author since so few people are still working at CBS News.

I know. I used to be one of them.

For 16 years, I produced reports for the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes II. I was the producer on Dan's team when we broke the story of prison abuse at Abu Ghraib, an investigative piece that won the Peabody last year. A few months earlier, I had been fired for my work on a report about George W. Bush's military record. (NO, ACTUALLY YOU WERE FIRED FOR LYING TO THE TASK FORCE SET UP BY CBS TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORT AND YOUR INCREDIBLY SLOPPY WORK ON THAT REPORT, OR IN THE ABSENCE OF SLOPPY WORK, A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO LIE ABOUT W AND ELECT JOHN KERRY)

Page Six restates the conservative canard that our report "was found to be based on forged documents." That is just not true, no matter how many times Page Six or the Washington Times or some bitter conservative blogger repeats it. (WELL, IT SEEMS THAT CBS AND EVERYONE ELSE AGREES THAT THEY WERE FORGERIES.... BUT OF COURSE, YOU ARE RIGHT, MARY)

The Bush National Guard story is a fascinating and terribly under-covered topic, full of Texas-style intrigue, privilege and political skullduggery. I mean, talk about selective service. At the height of the Vietnam War, the future president was able to select where he served, how he served and when he served. He even got to select his departure date. (THAT OPTION WAS AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE. IT WAS CALLED THE ENLISTMENT OPTION)

When our story aired on September 8, 2004, it was savaged in an unprecedented outpouring of political vitriol. (ACTUALLY, IT WAS SAVAGED BY AN UNPRECEDENTED OUTPOURING OF TRUTH FROM PEOPLE WHO DID THE HOMEWORK YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE) The Bush administration was then at the height of its ability to summon a terrifying whirlwind of criticism from right wing bloggers, hate talk radio yackers, FOX News "reporters," conservative columnists, and those hollering people whose heads always appear in little boxes on cable discussion shows. (AH, YES.... IT'S ALL SO ROVIAN) None of these critics cared anything about the facts of the story, (FACTS? DO THE TERMS "FORGERY" AND "TRUTH" RING A BELL?) only about their politics.

They (AND THE REST OF AMERICA) claimed that CBS used forged documents and they repeated that lie (TRUTH) so often that it stuck. The mainstream media picked it up, repeating bloggers' criticisms without making any serious effort to investigate the story. (IT WAS INVESTIGATED BY HUNDREDS OF "QUESTIONABLE DOCUMENT" EXPERTS, ALL OF WHOM ADREED THEY WERE BS. WHY DIDN'T YOU GO BEYIND THE FEW YOU USED, AND EVEN THEN, THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT CONFIRM THE DOCUMENTS)) But then that would have required real legwork, something that very few were willing to do on this subject. (SO HOW COME "THEY" GOT IT RIGHT, AND YOU GOT IT ALL SO WRONG... AND MARY, I'VE SEEN YOUR LEGS. NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO BRING UP HERE.)

As for document analysis, it is a mind-numbing and arcane discipline, an imperfect undertaking reserved for courtroom use, not for headlines (YOU WERE THE ONES WHO HEADLINED IT!) or Internet political battles. Document analysis is certainly not meant to be done at 11 o'clock at night by someone with no training or experience sitting in front of a glowing computer nursing a grudge and spoiling for a fight. But that's precisely how the right's attack against Dan Rather and CBS News was launched. (ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING. TOO BAD FR'S "BUCKHEAD" WAS 100% RIGHT)

That first anonymous analyst (who turned out to be a Republican activist lawyer) raised questions about the memo using only a single shot of a faxed document digitally transmitted to his computer screen. (TOO BAD, WHEN YOU HAD THE ORIGINALS, THAT YOU COULDN'T SEE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WHO HAS SEEN THE ORIGINALS HAS SEEN..... THAT THEY ARE FORGERIES!) Those kinds of transmissions radically change the way a document looks. His analysis was worthless (IT WAS CORRECT, THOUGH, WASN'T IT? DOES ACCURACY MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?)

The laundry list of problems that critics claimed they saw in the memos has turned out to be bunk. (GEE, MARY, ALL THE EXPERTS SAY THEY ARE FORGERIES... IS THAT "BUNK?") There never has been any definitive proof that they were forged or falsified in any way, despite a multi-million dollar investigation into the story by Viacom. (MARY, YOU ARE DELUSIONAL)

The reasons we put them on the air remain valid: (TO TRY TO DESTROY THE PRESIDENT) the content of the memos was corroborated by people familiar with Bush, his unit and his commander; the dates, times and details intricately matched what we know of the record; and two experienced and respected document analysts, who examined copies that had not been faxed or digitally recreated, concluded that the papers showed every indication of being real. (YOU ARE DELUSIONAL.... AND LYING)

I don't believe we will know the truth about the memos until after the Bush team is out of office and people with information are no longer afraid to come forward. (AH, THE ROVIANS AGAIN... OR IT THE JEWS AND THE BICYCLE RIDERS?)

Viacom, CBS's parent company, (ACTUALLY, YOU, MARY)never did care whether the story was true or not. They just wanted rid of it. Among other things, they had multiple issues pending before the FCC and various other arms of the administration and our story was no help to the company in its quest to squeeze every last dime out of what used to be the public airwaves. Firing longtime employees (LIARS LIKE YOU) in an attempt to get back into the administration's good graces was simply a business decision. (AH YES... THE ROVIANS AGAIN) It had nothing to do with journalism or the crucial role that critical reporting is supposed to play in American democracy. (sT. MARY SPEAKS)

The whole incident also opened the floodgates on criticism of Dan Rather, inside and outside of CBS. (LONG OVERDUE)

In this upcoming book, Morley Safer recounts a 40-year-old anecdote in which Dan reportedly told a group of Marines that Morley "should have been shot dead" for his controversial reporting on the burning of a Vietnamese village. I have no idea if the story is true, but it doesn't sound right to me. Of course, I have no real insight because I was in grade school at the time. What amazes me is that apparently Morley doesn't know whether it is true, either. He says he has never talked to Dan about it. (CAN'T YOU SEE THAT CONVERSATION; "HEY DAN, DID YOU TRY TO GET MARINES TO KILL ME?) But he has been steaming over this since the days when women wore go-go boots. Still, he describes his relationship with Dan as "polite". Apparently this kind of public sniping is what passes for "polite" in certain corners at CBS News.

This is what I know. There are decades-long blood feuds still going strong there, ancient hatreds triggered by big egos, big salaries and sometimes, big emotional problems. 60 Minutes Sunday is not only an important news broadcast, it is also something of a comedic cross between a retirement home and a small town high school cheerleading squad. There is a lot of hair tossing and skirt flipping, along with brutal competition and vicious gossiping. (TRANSLATION: YOUNG WOMEN AT 60 MINUTES TRIED TO GET AHEAD BY SLEEPING WITH THE BIG NAME REPORTERS AND PRODUCERS0 The squad members are self-absorbed and self-obsessed. When one girl falls or trips, the others snicker with delight. There have been resentments left simmering for so long in the CBS News offices that they have become part of the furniture.

Frankly, I loved working there. It was entertaining as hell. But I don't miss it.

My own theory about why Dan seems to drive some of his colleagues so crazy is pretty mundane. I think he is a hard-working, ambitious, driven individual who committed the great sin of reaching the peak of his profession. Dan wielded his influence and made decisions in ways that some didn't like, but then that happens in every workplace in America. Only at CBS do high profile employees turn up constantly in public openly attacking someone who has for years had the grace to keep from answering in kind. You never see this kind of internal fighting explode at ABC or NBC or even FOX. It's a shame that no one in leadership at CBS has ever had the guts to tell these guys to grow up and shut up. (ACTUALLY, IT IS OTHER EMPLOYEES FED UP WITH YOUR USING AIR TIME TO LIE AND PROMOTE YOUR PERSONAL LEFT-WING CAUSES)

Sadly, CBS has a tribal ritual of making a rough transition from one anchor to another.

Rough, that is, on the anchor being replaced. Even old Uncle Walter was "disappeared" for years after leaving the anchor chair. At least he didn't have to dodge spears as he left the village. (OH, POOR DAN!)

The political types who have treated Dan Rather as their own personal voodoo doll for decades are just as bad. To them, Dan is the personification of big media and they resent everything from his coverage of the civil rights movement to his work on Watergate. They still seethe about his attempt to get then-Vice President George H.W. Bush to answer a question during a live interview that dissolved into a shouting match in the late 1980s. (bs, RATHER LIED TO GET THE INTERVIEW THEN HAD A HISSY FIT ON THE AIR) To me, that was a fascinating face-off between a hardnosed reporter and an evasive politician. (YES, MARY, WE REALIZE THAT THAT WAS WHAT IT WAS TO YOU. THAT VERIFIES MANY THINGS!)

To his political enemies, the confrontation was further proof that Dan was a Communist. Good grief, he's from Texas. (SO WAS LEE HARVEY OSWALD)

For what it is worth, here is my take on Dan Rather, after years of dragging our tired selves through hurricanes, war zones, prisons and political battles.

I have never seen Dan Rather behave in a cruel way. I have never heard him trash a fellow reporter at CBS in anything approaching the way he has been talked about publicly. I have seen him work his butt off in terrible conditions, stay up all night to get the facts right, and help younger, greener reporters struggling with tough stories. (SAINT DAN!) I have seen him give away his coat in freezing weather to someone whose teeth were chattering. (SAINT DAN 2.0 TOO BAD HE DIDN'T CARE THE SAME ABOUT GETTING THE STORY RIGHT) He is a good guy and a great reporter, simply one of the best, as tireless and true blue as this country has ever seen. (MARY, OH MARY. BACK ON THE THORAZINE!)

To me and to many, many others at CBS News who have worked with him over the years, Dan Rather is a kind and honorable man. We are not the Morley Safers, Don Hewitts, or Mike Wallaces. We are just a bunch of producers and cameramen, associate producers and editors, researchers and soundmen, lighting directors and makeup people who worked with Dan rather than competing against him. Frankly, I would hate to compete with him. He's tough. (MARY, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW OBVIOUS IT HAS BECOME THAT YOU WERE ONE OF HIS MANY CONQUESTS, BUT DIDN'T KNOW A ONE NIGHT STAND WHEN YOU HAD IT?)

CBS News is filled with wonderful and talented people who take their jobs rather than themselves seriously. Then there is this handful of boldface names quoted repeatedly in tabloids, always taking a swipe at someone. It is sad. (TOO BAD YOU YOU DIDN'T FIT INTO THE FIRST CATEGORY.... OR DON;T RECOGNISE THAT YOU HAVE DEVOTED YOUR CURRENT CAREER TO TAKING SWIPED AT THE PRESIDENT)

A quote many at CBS News attribute to Charles Osgood sums up the sometimes brutal atmosphere in the news division. Years ago, he supposedly described the tension there by saying that "things have gotten so bad, people are stabbing each other in the chests". (FELL FREE TO SELF INDULGE, MARY)

Reading the New York Post's snarky item from this new book, all I could think of was how little things have changed. Good luck, Katie. (WOMEN OF THE WORLD ARISE!)

[Jonah Johansen]

You always wonder who the audience is for these rants.

The universe of people who could be persuaded that the memos were not forgeries and that CBS tilts Republican is a subset of reliable Democratic voters. This isn't just preaching to the choir, it is preaching to the choir director because at least half the choir don't believe you.

If the purpose of this article is to give the Jonathan Alter's, Katrina Von Hugivesadamn's and other hard leftists debating points to use, great because they will make fools of themselves if they do.
The best I can tell is this kind of article falls in the category of myth patching. Since a myth requires no contradictions or holes, every fact that brings the myth in to question must have a story to explain the apparent hole or contradiction.

[Dont Mention the War]

That is just not true, no matter how many times Page Six or the Washington Times or some bitter conservative blogger repeats it.

How can we be bitter? We won the election Mapes and Rather tried to steal for Kerry, we got Rather retired, and we got Mapes fired. We're celebratory.

And Mapes is projecting.

[Restorer]

With all due respect for the lady's "arguments," those who present evidence, such as documents, must validate their accuracy. It is not up to the accused, or anybody else, to disprove them.

I thought it was funny how she attempts to seque from discussing the legitimacy of the documents back into a discussion of the story they were supposed to document. Never mind the fact that my evidence is obviously falsified, let's talk about the seriousness of the charges.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

[6SJ7]

As for document analysis, it is a mind-numbing and arcane discipline...

When you pull the string on the Mary Mapes doll it says, "Fonts are hard!".

[martin_fierro]

[Crawdad]

Dan Rather = Little Lord 'Font'leroy.

[white trash redneck]

What's the frequency, Mary?

[The Blitherer]

It is funny how awful it is that a 'activist Republican lawyer' should automatically be dismissed no matter how persuasive his arguments were

Ad Hominem arguements- its what the Liberals excel at.

[MindBender26]

>What's the frequency, Mary?

Well, now that Dan's not seeing her anymore, about once a month courtesy of two Energiser c-cells and a certain discrete device that came in a plain brown wrapper.

:~)

[frithguild]

Tagline says it.

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>This lady is obviously off her anti-depressants or she was drunk when she wrote this

Or she was on her antidepressants and drunk when she wrote this.

[Erasmus]

Or in this case,

"Pay no attention to the man behind the Iron Curtain."

[TankerKC]

A few months earlier, I had been fired for my work on a report about George W. Bush's military record.

A few months earlier, I had been fired for my work on a false report about George W. Bush's military record.

That's better.

[steve-b]

The best I can tell is this kind of article falls in the category of myth patching.

Note this sentence:

I don't believe we will know the truth about the memos until after the Bush team is out of office and people with information are no longer afraid to come forward.

Sounds to me like Mapes is hoping to try rewriting history later -- it may be too late to prevent Dubya from being reelected, but it might be possible to make at least a bit of the mud stick to his historical reputation.

[MindBender26]

> (The Freepers moved as a group, like a school of sharks sweeping toward an unaware and unarmed victim)

Yum-yum.

[TankerKC]

That first anonymous analyst (who turned out to be a Republican activist lawyer) raised questions about the memo using only a single shot of a faxed document digitally transmitted to his computer screen. Those kinds of transmissions radically change the way a document looks. His analysis was worthless.

Oh Mary! It was obvious that the memos were fake the moment they flashed on the screen during the report.

[CaliGirlGodHelpMe]

Sounds like Mary is panicking. She must have heard about the "Do Not Resuscitate" order put on her career.

[lowbridge]

There never has been any definitive proof that they were forged or falsified in any way

-SNIP-

the content of the memos was corroborated by people familiar with Bush, his unit and his commander; the dates, times and details intricately matched what we know of the record; and two experienced and respected document analysts, who examined copies that had not been faxed or digitally recreated, concluded that the papers showed every indication of being real

Is that so Mary? Read:

_____________________________

The selected memo is that dated May 4, 1972, wherein the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian orders 1st Lt. Bush to report for a flight physical not later than May 14. This memo is the most expository of the memo forgeries for several reasons. First, while the other five memos may be considered Mr. Killian's memos to self, and thus personal musings never intended for distribution, this particular memo is posited as a direct order to 1st Lt. Bush, mailed to his (wrong) home address. It was used obsessively by CBS and Bush opponents in the campaign as evidence of his refusal to obey a direct order. If any criminal or civil liabilities for fraud or forgery of government documents obtain, they would be most applicable to this document.

So, putting aside the typos, the superscripts, the signatures, the wrong header and address, and all the previously dissected items susceptible to subjective interpretations, how do I prove this memo is a fake? Easy — for the weekend that 1st Lt. Bush was supposedly ordered to report for his physical, May 13-14, 1972, the Ellington Air Guard Base was closed. It was Mother's Day. Except for emergencies, Air Guard units never drilled on Mother's Day; the divorce lawyers would be waiting at the gate.

If George Bush showed up at the clinic that weekend, he would have had to get the key from the gate guard.

The drill weekend for May 1972 was the following weekend, May 20-21. A survey of the pay and flight records of several of the Texas Air Guard members of that period shows no activity for May 13-14, but drill pay vouchers and flights for May 20-21. Guard flight physicals were normally conducted on the drill weekends, because that is the only time all the required clinic personnel were on hand to complete lab work and flight surgeon consultations mandated for aircrew. Does anyone think that Jerry Killian, squadron commander and one of the drill-schedule planners would not know on May 4 that the clinic was closed the next weekend? While CBS, in its rush to judgment, might have missed this fatal flaw in the Burkett memo, its investigative law firm, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, cannot be excused. Why? Because one of their investigating lawyers was informed of this fact on Nov. 15 and given a list of seven witnesses who worked in the same offices with Jerry Killian every day in 1972. (Disclosure statement: I was the source.) The panel report makes no mention of this, and a canvass of most of the witness list reveals no contact attempt by Kirkpatrick & Lockhart.

CBS paid Kirkpatrick & Lockhart big bucks for this report. As brilliantly explained by Tony Blankley ("Damage Control at Black Rock," his Jan.12 column), if Kirkpatrick & Lockhart's aim was an attorney's protection of its client, intentional ignorance was a good strategy.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050117-100017-7792r.htm

_____________________________

Update 2: In my comments, Peter Nuss points to this LA Times story, which describes Brigadier General Staudt (then a colonel) as having retired in 1972. But the CBS memo dated "18 August 1973" says "Staudt has obviously pressured Hodges more about Bush".

How much pressure could a retiree bring to bear?

http://www.kloognome.com/archives/001112.php

[MindBender26]

I loved the part where she (in the past) claimed the TANG had proportional spacing carbon ribbon Selectric typewriters at squadron level in 1967.

When I cam back from 'Nam second time, had plastic parts in the knee, so ended up as a USAR "adviser" in 71-72.

We considered ourselves lucky to have chalk, slate and a McGuffey's Reader.

(We actually had one fabric ribbon manual typewriter for two battalions. It was an old Remington Rand and the capital "R" was broken off!)

[Cheburashka]

LOL, Mary Mapes is still on the rag about this?
---
Why not? It's not like she has a future in television, unless she becomes a worm-eater on Fear Factor.
The only was Mary can see her career is by looking in the rear-view mirror.