Mapes
Posted on 09/14/2004 8:37:35 AM PDT by massadvj
Political intrigue, presidential campaign dirty tricks and carrying the DNC’s water are nothing new to CBS, Dan Rather and 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes. In 1999, during the build-up to the 2000 presidential campaign, Mapes, Rather and 60 Minutes produced an interview with Shawn Allen Berry, the white supremacist, who along with two others was convicted of chaining James Byrd Jr. to a pickup truck and dragging him along a remote road until his body was torn apart. Rather‘s clear purpose was to paint Berry as a crazed, right-wing fanatic who had been influenced by fundamentalist Christians into believing in white supremacy. Since the same fundamentalist Christians also supported George W. Bush, one could easily conclude that the then-Texas Governor himself was somehow culpable in this heinous crime.
Not coincidentally, the broad brush that CBS painted with was later picked up by the NAACP. The liberal black activist group, picking up on the CBS angle, produced an anti-Bush television advertisement for the 2000 campaign that all but accused George Bush of driving the pickup truck that did the dastardly deed. The tangled, leftist network of interconnected groups (CBS, NAACP, DNC) went into overdrive defending the NAACP, weaving a scurrilous, unbelievable attack against Governor Bush. The attack never resonated with the voting public, mostly because Bush had actually let two of the culprits in this crime fry for their crimes, a fact the left found inconvenient to their version of the story.
During the subsequent trial of Berry, the judge in the case ordered CBS to produce transcripts of the Rather interview. At first, CBS declined, citing its First Amendment rights. The judge twice ordered producer Mary Mapes jailed for failure to comply with the order. CBS ultimately handed over the transcripts.
Fast forward to 2004. CBS, Mapes and Rather again find themselves at the forefront of a presidential campaign dirty trick. The 60 Minutes team produced documents that purport to show that now-President Bush was a slacker in 1972 in failing to report for a Texas Air National Guard (TANG) physical, and that strings were being pulled to make sure his evaluations did not reflect his lack of attention to his duty. The only problem this time is that the documents turned out to be forged.
Rather’s reaction to this latest flap is very telling. He is conducting a political campaign, stonewalling in the hope that the story will disappear. What makes it interesting is that Rather has dropped nearly all pretense of journalistic objectivity, instead revealing himself to be nothing more than a Democrat shill who would rather embrace a lie than aid President Bush’s re-election effort. In short, he wants the documents to be true, and so they are.
In the earlier Berry trial, when Rather was forced to decide between his rights and the greater good of convicting a piece of trash like Berry, with prodding he chose to go ahead and do the right thing. Now, confronted with a conflict between his so-called rights and the greater good of exposing an obvious fraud and filling an information vacuum, he is relentless in his zeal to keep the public from knowing the truth. Why? Because this time the beneficiary of the truth is none other than Rather’s sworn enemy George W. Bush. Rather would sacrifice his reputation, legacy and honor in order to avoid helping GWB’s re-election effort. In his mind, it is far better to be remembered by your liberal buddies as a fumbling old man who stood by a lie than to be thought of as the guy who put the final nail in John Kerry’s coffin, handing omniscient power to the Republicans for a generation or more.
The former will at least get you a shuffleboard partner at an exclusive Palm Beach Retirement home.
Mapes
Maybe he get's to be remembered for both!
From your lips to God's ears. Thanks for the bump.
By George Conway
6 of 30 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 2004 Amalgamated Press
All Rights Reserved
Amalgamated Press Online
These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Amalgamated Press
September 25, 2004 Saturday
HEADLINE: CBS Stands By Claim of Bush National Guard Payoff
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Faced with the second major controversy this month about its reporting on President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News on Friday defended its report that President Bush had used $3 bills to bribe Texas Air National Guard officials in 1973.
The latest dispute erupted after the CBS News program "60 Minutes II" reported earlier this week that Bush had used several thousand $3 bills to buy the silence of National Guard officials who were questioning whether he had met his service obligations. The program featured color photocopies of some of the currency allegedly used to pay the bribes.
Conservative critics on the Internet immediately cried foul, claiming that there was no such thing as a $3 bill, and some news organizations later quoted "experts" as expressing doubt that such a denomination ever existed.
Claims were also made that the bills were "doctored" versions of recent $5 bills. Some of the bills, while containing 3's in each corner, bear the text "FIVE DOLLARS." The bills contain portraits of former President William Jefferson Clinton that appear roughly one centimeter left of center on the face of the bills.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/conway200409141022.asp
Dan Rather. Unfit to Report.
Does anyone have ties to JudicialWEatch? No one to my knowledge in the press, has mentioned that the forging of federal documents is a crime, and I am sure there are FEC crimes as well. With a lawsuit, JW can subpoena the source of the forgeries.
It's kind of small hearted of the libs not to forgive Dan. Of course he will have to come clean. But, the libs have to admit he put it on the line for THEM. Come on libs, let's see some magnanimity for dear Dan. He put his carreer, his network dnCBS, and his reputation on the line. Be generous and let the poor Saddam-like creature dig out of his filthy spider hole.
What a great book title!
I couldn't help but LOL (really did) when reading this!!
Dear Ms. Pallas, Thank you for taking the time to write. Your support is appreciated. As you can imagine, we've been inundated with negative emails. It's refreshing to hear from a viewer such as yourself. We strive for the highest level of journalistic integrity and will continue to do so, no matter what the cost. A free society demands free, unmuzzled media expression.
CBS Evening News
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 2:38 PM To: CND Evening News Subject: Dan Rather is Heroic
Dear Mr. Rather,
What you have done is not only brave but patriotic. It's time the media in this country stopped acting as a propaganda arm of the cabal in the White House and started telling truth and facts to the American people.
These facts about AWOL should have come out strongly while he was running before the election of 2000 instead of the media acting as cheerleaders for him and for the phony Iraq "imminent danger" war . It should be made clear that the Iraq war declared by this administration had nothing to do with the attack on the WTC.
Because of the propaganda of the WH which the media repeated, 60% of the American people who only get their news from tv, believe Iraq was responsible for the attack on the WTC.
Please continue to do real and honest reporting. You seem to be the only one.
Thank you again for your heroic bravery.
Anna Pallas Florida
"We report. We decide. So shut up and go away!"
Per the other thread...
CBS is responsible for deceiving the American public about those documents.
The issue now is... CBS is guilty in this conspiracy to deceive unless and until they name who deceived them... Until they give up the forger, they are guilty of the act...
As the Rev Al says... "No Justice - No peace!"
Yes. Toward that end, maybe we ought to start comparing this story to Watergate, how the public was stonewalled until after the election, etc. This time around, the public deserves to know the facts BEFORE they vote, and CBS is engaged in a conspiracy to prevent it from happening.
So what actions do WE take to make this happen?
Anna, if you were honest, and you're not, you'd know that more than 80% of the American people believe that Osama bin Laden and the 19 hijackers are responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
suggest a new title blurb... much like we say "vanity" or "humor" or "barf alert" .... New one to use is "Rathergate"
Rathergate
yes yes yes.... that's the one. =)
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