Who Are CBS's Sources?

RatherBiased.com ^

[RatherBiased.com]

Who Are CBS's Sources?

In a new attack book to be released Tuesday by Doubleday entitled The Family : The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, author Kitty Kelley launches a broadside against the President George W. Bush, his wife, and his family. The book, which the White House has denounced as "garbage," features allegations such as a younger George W. Bush snorting cocaine at Camp David while his father was president.

Over at the liberal grassroots site IndyMedia, Pablo Kristophoros says that the disputed memos cited by CBS are in the book.

"The full details of George Bush's military service are in the new book by Kitty Kelley by the good offices of the Texas Veterans for Truth. This group has offered a large monetary reward for anyone who served in the Alabama Air National Guard with George W. Bush, but there have been no takers. There is a wealth of details in the 736-page book, and one of the over 800 sources is the Texas Veterans for Truth. Killian's memos and other information are there. The CBS memos are real and the proof is in the details."

In a memo to CBS affiliates last week which RatherBiased.com has obtained, the network said the disputed documents "were provided by unimpeachable sources."

In a report last week, the conservative magazine The American Spectator said that CBS's documents were possibly given to it by the Democratic National Committee.

Meanwhile in the most recent edition of Newsweek, reporters Howard Fineman and Michael Isikoff claim that one of CBS's main sources is a former TANG officer:

"Where did the documents come from? CBS won't say. But the trail pieced together by Newsweek shows that in a sulfurous season like this one, the difference between obscurity and power is small, and anyone can get a hearing. A principal source for CBS's story was Bill Burkett, a disgruntled former Guard officer who lives in Baird, Texas, who says he was present at Guard headquarters in Austin in 1997, when a top aide to the then Governor Bush ordered records sanitized to protect the Boss. Other Guard officials disputed Burkett's account, and the Bush aide involved, Joe Allbaugh, called it 'absolute garbage.' Burkett may have a motive to make trouble for the powers that be. In 1998, he grew gravely ill on a Guard mission to Panama, causing him to be hospitalized, and he suffered two nervous breakdowns. He unsuccessfully sued for medical expenses.

"Still, in theory, Burkett may have had access to any Guard records that, in a friend's words, 'didn't make it to the shredder.' Fellow officers say he wasn't a crank, but rather a stickler for proper procedure--a classic whistle-blower type. Burkett was impressive enough to cause CBS producer Mary Mapes to fly to Texas to interview him. "

Some Democrats are saying that the whole thing is a Republican setup. The Kerry campaign says it did not have anything to do with the documents.

Of course, with the book coming out on Tuesday and CBS remaining mum (for now) on who its sources were, only time will tell who is correct.

Hat tip: Templar Pundit

[Keith in Iowa]

One would need a Rather large litter box to catch all of Kitty's scat...perhaps she & GungaDan can get political asylum in Cuba.

[Howlin]

The full details of George Bush's military service are in the new book by Kitty Kelley by the good offices of the Texas Veterans for Truth

and says that the disputed Killian memos, cited by Dan Rather, are also in the book.

Connecting some dots here;

[Howlin]

A dot.

[MadIvan]

It's all turning to ashes before them. The mainstream media is exposed as a bunch of frauds and liberal propagandists, the wheels have come off the Kerry campaign, the New Media is ascendant.

Much of it thanks to FR. ;)

Regards, Ivan

[Jet Jaguar]

Keep it up! Kudos.

[Mo1]

and says that the disputed Killian memos, cited by Dan Rather, are also in the book.

Yea .. I see the dots

BTW ... this is the same book that NBC and Katie will be doing interviews about for 3 straight days??

[CyberAnt]

The DNC is reported to have received the forged documents about 6 weeks before they were given to the Kerry campaign .. who then gave them to CBS.

CBS would consider stuff from Kitty Kelly to be valid ..??

This is very interesting .. very interesting indeed.

[claudiustg]

Another one bites the dust. Remember all roads lead to the DNC. These documents passed hand to hand with everyone complicit in using them to influence the election. They weren't duped. They knew they were forgeries. McAwful showed consciousness of their nature as soon as the truth started to break. He stupidly accused Carl Rove "of planting" them. I think Rather was just forced to jump the gun by Kerry himself in panic over the SBVT and his drop in the polls. These weren't supposed to come out so soon and they shouldn't have been posted as PDF's! No one should be that dumb!

[LibWhacker]

Did Anti-Bush Author, CBS Share Same Source?

They must have. Unless I've missed something, no one but a coterie of rats knew about the memos before the 60 Minutes hit piece.

[RatherBiased.com]

Does someone have a link about the documents having been on tompaine.com?

[igoramus987]

Liberal blogger Pablo Kristophoros of IndyMedia was given a preview copy of the book by the publisher, and says that the disputed Killian memos, cited by Dan Rather, are also in the book.

How good is this. Before it is even released, it has already two sources that discredit it:
1. The fake Killiam memos
2. Sharon Bush saying that Kitty Kelly is making things up.

[Mo1]

BTW ...

Liberal blogger Pablo Kristophoros of IndyMedia was given a preview copy of the book by the publisher,

[LegendHasIt]

And who runs "Texans for Truth" ?

None other than Nathan Wilcox, a professional campaigner for exclusively partisan Democrat causes. Check him out here!!

[rotstan]

Dan Rather - the gift that keeps on giving

[NYCVirago]

This is not a credible source -- nowhere in the indymedia post does "Pablo Kristophoros" actually state that he has a review copy of the book. His post is simply a regurgitation of supposed content of the book that's been floating around for weeks. And this indymedia author quotes John Boutillier of Newsmax as a credible source, which he most assuredly is not.

Also, the New York Daily News actually got a review copy of the book, and described the book like this:

The new Kitty Kelley book that has the Bush campaign's underwear in a bunch is more catty than explosive.

It does claim that President Bush snorted cocaine at Camp David. It does repeat rumors that he arranged an illegal abortion for an ex-girlfriend. And it does accuse First Lady Laura Bush of once being a pothead.

But the sourcing for these accusations is thin and there are no other big surprises in Kelley's much anticipated "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty."

Also, the Daily News adds this:

Kelley offers no new insights into Bush's controversial stint in the Texas Air National Guard.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/230975p-198371c.html

Anyhow, forgive me if I'm overstepping my bounds, but I think you should take your story down. The blogger you're quoting is simply not credible, for many reasons. For one thing, if the book contained anything close to the other stuff he's claiming, it would be in this article. But it's not, and the Daily News article specifically mentions that "Kelley offers no new insights into Bush's controversial stint in the Texas Air National Guard." So this is a dot I don't think can be connected.

[CyberAnt]

Actually, I've heard they have cancelled everything except Tuesday. IIRC somebody said they had seen the new TV guide and Kelly is only scheduled for one day.

He he he he!!

[fuzzy122]

OH MY GOD! DO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-TS!

[RatherBiased.com]

IndyMedia has been a pretty reliable source of information for this book. They seem to have some fairly good connections within the publishing business.

It's a liberal site, of course.

[maryz]

BTW ... this is the same book that NBC and Katie will be doing interviews about for 3 straight days??

On a thread yesterday, several posters researched TV listings for next week. One listing showed Kitty Kelly on Today only on Tuesday (which another poster said was the day Ivan was expected to make landfall in the US). Another listing didn't show her at all.

I guess we'll have to wait and see!