Posted on 09/14/2004 6:49:16 PM PDT by So Cal Rocket
Try to remember this... Democrats will always use any dirty trick they can think of, regardless of whether it has been used previously by Republicans. To refrain from an action because Democrats may later abuse the same action is suicidal.
Have there been instances of the Democrats closing newspapers or media outlets by revoking federally granted privileges, such as bandwidth?
Regardless, I still believe that we should rely on the market to punish CBS News. Having the gov't pick and chose what media outlets to reward/punish comes far too close to statism for my tastes.
regards...
teplukin
*** DING DING DING *** No more calls; we have a winner!
I seem to recall that one of the anti-Gore satires here a few years back was an image of a check from "The Chinese Communist Party" to "The Democratic National Committee" with a "For Nuclear Secrets" on the "memo" line.
Obviously, no such check ever existed in reality (though I don't recall any explicit disclaimer to that effect), and the creator of the image intended to influence the outcome of the 2000 election. Is this "fraud" as well?
This sort of fuzzy line is why these things should be left to the court of public opinion, not a court of law.
The really funny thing is watching the bar fights between the DUfuses who spout conspiracy theories that Karl Rove forged the documents to create a smoke screen and the DUpes who insist that the documents are genuine.
This is the heat that I hope is put on CBS.
The shareholders need to feel this threat.
Use of public airways is a priviledge, not a right.
Fox News does not use the public airways; they are a Cable Network and subject to different rules and standards.
AND
Kerry, Rather, CBS...they're all shills. They ain't players in this game. They're nothing more than pieces on a board game.
The only thing that could be this big would be if a foreign power were behind it.
France, aided by Soros ?
If Congress gets involved the media will be shouting that the White House is trying to censor the press and it will only energize the left, regardless of the merit. Remember, these are the people who still believe the last election was stolen.
The left is thoroughly demoralized and the press are doing a fine job at making CBS look like the patsies they are...let's don't make this political.
"A news organization's responsibility is to facts and truth, but the oversight of network news generally is a matter best sorted out by the viewing public and the news media," Barton said. "I do not personally believe these documents are legitimate, and it seems clear that the press and the two presidential campaigns are properly dealing with that issue."
It's good to see that cooler heads prevailed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1217586/posts <-- 8 para from bottom
Forgery in general is a crime. That does not make this forgery a crime.
I've done some research, and so far cannot find a single law or case that would indicte this forgery is a crime.
It is defamation of GWB, yes. But as a "crime of forgery," NOBODY on this board has backed up the assertion that the author of the Killian memos committed criminal forgery.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1216465/posts?page=132#132 <-- and following
Ok, so forging military documents for the purpose of slandering a sitting President in an attempt to effect the outcome an election is NOT A CRIME in your opinion.
OOOOOOkay!
It's not an opinion I come to lightly. I don't know of any similar pattern in US history, although there may well be one or more.
If somebody can point to a statute or case law on similar facts (forged documents are historical in nature, and have no legal effect even if they are authentic), I'd change my opinion.
The effect of the forgeries is to defame GWB's reputation, and that IS actionable. But it isn't in the President's political interests to sue, at least not before the election.
Turk(something) pointed out that Viacom shareholders will have a cause of action if the value of their stock is adversely affected by CBS News' obstinance and journalistic fraud. If CBS paid the forger, on the pretext that the documents were authentic, then there IS a cause of action for fraud. That one is similar to the cause of action if you or I were duped into buying a forged work of art, on the pretext that the art was authentic.
Isn't is possible that Karl Rove got the authentic documents and then forged a set for CBS? Or, perhaps, Karl Rove forged the authentic documents which are then an authentic forgery but may not be accurate? Yes, but it could also be that Karl Rove arranged to have accurate but inauthentic documents which are also forgeries sent to both CBS and USA Today? Matrices abound!
Note that an anagram of Karl Rove is 'Over Lark' which may well be Dan Brownesque code for 'eagle soars' which we know to be a patriotic password among the Bushies.
Fer sure, fer sure like you know that's awesome!
In the minds of the DU crowd, Karl Rove is Doctor Doom, Lex Luthor, Saruman, Dr. Fu Manchu, and Professor Moriarty, all rolled up into one package of pure eeeeevil genius.
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