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LA TIMES: No Disputing It: Blogs Are Major Players (FreeRepublic.Com & Buckhead Mentioned!)
The LA Times ^ | Sept. 12, 2004 | Peter Wallsten

Posted on 09/12/2004 2:43:11 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative

These days, CBS News anchor Dan Rather and his colleagues at the network's magazine program "60 Minutes II" are enduring an unusual wave of second-guessing by some of the public and fellow journalists.

For that, they can thank "Buckhead."

It was a late-night blog posting by this mystery Netizen that first questioned the validity of documents Rather cited Wednesday as proof that George W. Bush did not fulfill his National Guard duty more than 30 years ago.

Buckhead refuses to further identify himself, other than dropping hints that he is a male who lives on the East Coast — preferring to proclaim that the scramble to verify the contentions in his posting marks an extraordinary achievement for a medium that has operated more as an underground world of ideological venting than a source of legitimate news.

But Buckhead is vehement about one thing: He acted alone when he posted, to the conservative website FreeRepublic.com, what was widely believed to be the first allegation that the CBS report relied on documents that could have been forged.

"Absolutely, positively, on my own, sitting at my computer in my bedroom just before midnight — but not in my pajamas," he wrote in an e-mail exchange with The Times. "But once I posted the comment to Free Republic I was no longer working alone, and that is the real point of the story about the story about the story."

That story began Wednesday, 19 minutes after the "60 Minutes II" broadcast began, when another FreeRepublic poster, TankerKC, noted that the documents were "not in the style that we used when I came into the USAF…. Can we get a copy of those memos?"

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Free Republic; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cbsnews; forgery; killian; mediawingofthednc; msm; rathergate
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To: vbmoneyspender; All
"All hail 'Buckhead,' " wrote one posting to Free Republic. "Here, here," wrote another. "But how do we know Buckhead is really not Karl Rove…. "

Did this exchange actually occur on FreeRepublic, or is the LATimes making things up again just so they can put their own talking points into someone else's mouth?

141 posted on 09/12/2004 5:15:17 AM PDT by Ichneumon ("...she might as well have been a space alien." - Bill Clinton, on Hillary, "My Life", p. 182)
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To: Glenn
Read "The Wisdom of Crowds" by John James Surowiecki.

Sorry.

142 posted on 09/12/2004 5:17:24 AM PDT by Glenn (The two keys to character: 1) Learn how to keep a secret. 2) ...)
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To: beyond the sea; Howlin; Mo1; NYCVirago; TankerKC; Buckhead

Cake for everyone! :o)

143 posted on 09/12/2004 5:19:34 AM PDT by theophilusscribe ("America is too great for small dreams." —Ronald Wilson Reagan)
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To: snooker; IndyTiger
"When people collaborate on subjects you simply get the most reasoning power that can be brought to bear on a subject. A varied audience like FR is ideal because of the diversity of participants"

Too true!

no doubt the MSM would make a similar claim...but what they can't hope to claim is the fact that here in cyberland we get to see for ourselves just how the reasoning goes,warts and all!

FR goes a long way on sharpening 'how to think' skills.

144 posted on 09/12/2004 5:20:22 AM PDT by mitch5501 (by the grace of God,I am what I am)
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To: West Coast Conservative

Typical MSM garbage: even though there is absoultely no evidence Karl Rove is involved, that's the RAT's talking point, and that's the spin of the article.

Great FR comments. though!!!


145 posted on 09/12/2004 5:21:42 AM PDT by norwaypinesavage
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To: AnnaZ; Bob J; diotima; feinswinesuksass

LOL bump


146 posted on 09/12/2004 5:23:02 AM PDT by HangFire (Imagine a world with no hypothetical situations.)
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To: West Coast Conservative
This is my favorite line!:P

"It was amazing Thursday to watch the documents story go from FreeRepublic.com, a bastion of right-wing lunacy, to Drudge to the mainstream media in less than 12 hours," said Jim Jordan

147 posted on 09/12/2004 5:23:14 AM PDT by BunnySlippers ("F" Stands for FLIP-FLOP ...)
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To: Sal
Also, when the mailbox bomber was running around in the Midwest/plains states, a FReeper suggested the bomber was making a giant smiley face even before the perp completed the second eye---which the perp admitted to be true after he was caught.
148 posted on 09/12/2004 5:24:16 AM PDT by TomGuy (His VN crumbling, he says 'move on'. So now, John Kerry is running on Bob KerrEy's Senate record.)
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To: norwaypinesavage

From today's New York Times...

An Ex-Officer Now Believes Guard Memo Isn't Genuine
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL and JIM RUTENBERG

Published: September 12, 2004


OUSTON, Sept. 11 - A former National Guard commander who CBS News said had helped convince it of the authenticity of documents raising new questions about President Bush's military service said on Saturday that he did not believe they were genuine.

Freepers (sorry for the obligatory)rock.


149 posted on 09/12/2004 5:24:32 AM PDT by andyandval (I actually thought my tagline was clever before I didn't think so.)
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To: All
One thing I've noticed....these phony documents have sure taken the Swift Vets off of the front page.....

Let's not forget that the Swifties have a meeting today...Sunday the 12th...on the Washington Memorial.
150 posted on 09/12/2004 5:24:34 AM PDT by Guilliamus (No Tags)
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To: mitch5501
It also helps if we've been working on a similar problem, namely the forgeries the French pushed off on the Italians about the Niger uranium.

Then there was Ambassador Wilson's trophy wife's involvement in this skulduggery, and to what degree she might have coordinated it with John Kerry.

Of course, there were even more bits of analysis we were into, but the wits were certainly sharpened!

No way CBS could peddle garbage past us; at least not this time!

151 posted on 09/12/2004 5:26:06 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: mitch5501

It's the warts that make the best pudding. Censoring posts is a sure way to fall into the MSM template land. Post readers need to decide for themselves if a post is worthy or should be tossed in the bit bucket. Diversity is the strength of FR, I HOPE WE NEVER FORGET THAT.


152 posted on 09/12/2004 5:28:40 AM PDT by snooker
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To: Howlin

Bump your timeline to the top


153 posted on 09/12/2004 5:29:58 AM PDT by Rightly Biased (I'm mad as Zell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!)
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To: WestVirginiaRebel
But it's still nice to see Buckhead given credit where credit is due. We have arrived, MSM! You will be assimilated! Reistance is futile!

8-)

154 posted on 09/12/2004 5:31:54 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: dawn53
They failed to point out that it was Free Republic that scooped the MSM on the Shuttle breakup.

There ought to be a "Threads of Fame" area where we can maintain them for posterity. Some are historic.

155 posted on 09/12/2004 5:32:04 AM PDT by BunnySlippers ("F" Stands for FLIP-FLOP ...)
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To: West Coast Conservative

It now appears FR watches the watchmen.


156 posted on 09/12/2004 5:34:17 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: dawn53

President Bush arriving in Baghdad for a turkey dinner?

You heard it here, first.


157 posted on 09/12/2004 5:35:14 AM PDT by Jonathan
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To: Jonathan

You're right!

Forgot about that, you've got a better memory than me!


158 posted on 09/12/2004 5:37:12 AM PDT by dawn53
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To: West Coast Conservative
A BLOG STAR IS BORN! ALL HAIL , BUCKHEAD!:=)

MODESTLY, AFTER BEING THRUST INTO GREATNESS AND HISTORY...BUCKHEAD EXCLAIMS

"But once I posted the comment to Free Republic I was no longer working alone, and that is the real point of the story about the story about the story."

Tis True...Buckhead...we are right behind you,LEAD ON!

159 posted on 09/12/2004 5:39:01 AM PDT by AmericanMade1776 ((John Kerry is now in full retreat))
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To: mhking
Even in talking us up, they still have to get a slam in.

The more they run our name down the more our price goes up!!!


(Celebrity by Brad Paisley)

160 posted on 09/12/2004 5:39:30 AM PDT by Eaker (Deer Camp North Gives a Whole New Meaning to Labor Day Weekend!!!)
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