CLUELESS: O'REILLY AND PODHORETZ ON RATHERGATE

The O'Reilly Factor | 9.15.04 | Mia T

[Mia T]

CLUELESS: O'REILLY AND PODHORETZ ON RATHERGATE

THE KERRY-RATHER-BARNES FORGERIES DECONSTRUCTED
WHY JOHN KERRY IS DANGEROUS FOR AMERICA

9.14.04

Dear Mr. O'Reilly,

Contrary to your discussion tonight with John Podhoretz ("The O'Reilly Factor"-FoxNew), the authenticity of the Dan Rather memos is no longer open to debate.

Irrefutable proof on multiple levels now exists that the memos are forgeries.

Your problem seems to be that either you lack the technical expertise to evaluate the material... or you never examined the material in the first instance.

Additionally, both you and Podhoretz seem to approach this story with a pro-media bias, and you, in particular, seem to confuse proof in a court of law with reasoned analysis of the facts.

The author of THE PROOF is JOSEPH M. NEWCOMER, Ph.D., an acknowledged expert in the field and one of the pioneers/developers of electronic typesetting.

He proves definitively that the CBS memos are modern (and laughably inept) forgeries. (He states up front, BTW, that he is no fan of Bush, but that he is even less a fan of fraud.)

Both you and Podhoretz engaged in a bit of circular reasoning tonight. Your premise, that Rather wouldn't knowingly engage in the fraud, is something more suitably left for a possible conclusion.

That Rather used only a purported "handwriting expert" -- who now, BTW, turns out to be not even that -- exposes his less than honest motivation. If you know anything about computer graphics (think 'copy and paste'), you would know that a signature cannot be validated from a photocopy.

Signature and type analyses constitute the Newcomer treatise. I strongly urge you to study it.

 

Sincerely,

Mia T

cc. John Podhoretz

 

COPYRIGHT MIA T 2004

THE KERRY-RATHER-BARNES FORGERIES DECONSTRUCTED
WHY JOHN KERRY IS DANGEROUS FOR AMERICA

by Mia T, 9.14.04

 

(viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE)
Q ERTY SERIES Thanx to Calpernia

The Kerry-Rather-Barnes forgeries and flip-flops aside, the attempted analogy is risible...
No sense of proportion on the Left, fontwise or otherwise.

A PRESIDENT KERRY MAY BE ABHORRENT
...BUT IS IT EVEN CONSTITUTIONAL?

WHY JOHN KERRY IS DANGEROUS FOR AMERICA

 

 

by Mia T, 8.21.04

"John Kerry gave the enemy for free what I, and many of my comrades in North Vietnam, in the prison camps, took torture to avoid saying. It demoralized us," says former Vietnam POW Paul Galanti, a highly decorated Navy combat pilot.

Galanti flew 97 combat missions over Vietnam before being shot down and held at the notorious Hanoi Hilton for seven years -- including while Kerry testified.

"SELLOUT"
(click to see Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Ad #2)

 

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The United States Constitution
Amendment 14, Section 3

 

UNFIT #9-JOHN KERRY: DEADLY OPPORTUNIST
SELF-CONFESSED WAR CRIMlNAL MORPHS INTO SELF-PROMOTER WAR HERO

(viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE)
NEW! compleatjohnkerry.blogspot.com

NEW! unfitforcommand.blogspot.com

johnkerryisdangerousforamerica.blogspot.com

 

 

 

THE KERRY-RATHER-BARNES FORGERIES DECONSTRUCTED

HEAR THE FIRST VEEP DEBATE NOW! (the whole ball of wax)
CHENEY WARNS AMERICA: THIS ELECTION IS ABOUT OUR SURVIVAL
KERRY-EDWARDS TRIES TO SHUT DOWN DEBATE

KERRY'S VIETNAM FIXATION
PART 1: advice from bill

Kerry's new W offensive

YOO-HOO! UNDECIDEDS + "PERSUADABLES"
HEAR THE SPEECH JOHN KERRY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO HEAR

(WHY INFORMED, RATIONAL DEMOCRATS WILL VOTE FOR BUSH)

DECONSTRUCTING ZELL MILLER

EXPLOITING MAX CLELAND

Kerry is UNFIT #21: THUMBSUCKER SERIES
BOARDHEAD TO THE RESCUE

The Left's Fatally Flawed "Animal Farm" Mentality
(Why America Must NEVER AGAIN Elect a Democrat President)

Kerry is UNFIT #20: THUMBSUCKER SERIES
PREEMPTION-(the whole ball of wax)

CONTEMPLATING KERRY'S "GUT"

A PRESIDENT KERRY MAY BE ABHORRENT
...BUT IS IT EVEN CONSTITUTIONAL?

getting kerry's goat
john kerry lacks presidential temperament

Two Psychologists on Kerry: Dangerous on National Security

YOO-HOO! followthemoney.org. . .
OVER HERE!

"bombastic ass" is not the antidote to "boorish ass"
(or why Keith Olbermann Cannot Do Cleanup for Chris Matthews)

UNFIT #19:
JOHN KERRY'S "MORE SENSITIVE WAR ON TERROR"

THE COMPLEAT JOHN KERRY
WHY JOHN KERRY IS DANGEROUS FOR AMERICA

Kerry, NOT Bush, paralyzed by 9/11 attacks
Hear Kerry admit he could not think

THE DEMOCRATS ARE GONNA GET US KILLED (kerry, clinton + sandy berger's pants) SERlES ³
UNFIT #10: 9/10 mindset

THE DEMOCRATS ARE GONNA GET US KILLED (kerry, clinton + sandy berger's pants) SERlES ₂
KERRY-DEMOCRAT CONTEMPT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY[annotated]

THE DEMOCRATS-ARE-GONNA-GET-US-KILLED (kerry, clinton + sandy berger's pants) SERlES₁

dox in sox on lummox in box on fox

THE REAL "REAL DEAL"
(what Kerry's commanders and crewmates REALLY think of him--with transcripts)

Did John Kerry pick a running mate or hire a lawyer when he selected John Edwards?

THE MAN FROM HOPE: been there, done that

"Hope is on the way!" (the scoop)

THE TERRORISTS' USEFUL IDIOTS
all the usual suspects

A Vote for Kerry is a Vote for the Terrorists

ELECTION BOTTOM LINE:
TERRORIST SYMPATHIZER or TERRORIST ANNIHILATOR

JOHN KERRY IS UNFIT SERIES: 8/10/04 UPDATE!
taking the measure of a would-be commander-in-chief

JOHN KERRY IS UNFIT SERIES:
taking the measure of a would-be commander-in-chief

UNFIT #9-JOHN KERRY: DEADLY OPPORTUNIST
SELF-CONFESSED WAR CRIMlNAL MORPHS INTO SELF-PROMOTER WAR HERO

UNFIT #6: The Deadly Kerry-Hollywood Axis
HOW CAN YOU PUT YOUR CHILDREN'S LIVES IN ITS HANDS?

UNFIT: taking the measure of a would-be commander-in-chief
#1-making the tough choices in a post-9/11 world
UNFIT: taking the measure of a would-be commander-in-chief
#2-understanding the job description

UNFIT: taking the measure of a would-be commander-in-chief
#3-sang-froid and the "nuclear" button

UNFIT: taking the measure of a would-be commander-in-chief
#4 - Kerry champions tolerance for terrorists

sanitizing evil
Kerry Cabal Censors Nick Berg Decapitation

"Loose Cannon" Kerry's AWOL/PURPLE-HEART FRAUD

pro-islamofascist-terrorist radical chic

USEFUL IDIOTS

MOORE IS LESS--THE MOVIE

The Cycle of Violence:
NOW WITH HYPERLINKED INSTRUCTION MANUAL

JOHN KERRY'S RECKLESS TET-OFFENSIVE-GAMBIT REPLAY:
the left's jihad against America is killing our troops, aiding + abetting the terrorists and imperiling all Americans

bill clinton, boy "genius," unwittingly bares all on BBC

deconstructing clinton… "just because I could"

vetting missus clinton...

The Parallel Universe of Jamie Gorelick

nepotism + tokenism = a nancy pelosi
(or a hillary clinton)

Kerry's Belated Condemnation Focuses on Process
Kerry Lacks Moral Authority to Condemn Content

"CRY BUSH" + Iraqi-Prisoner "Abuse"
What are the Dems up to?

DON'T BELIEVE YOUR LYING EARS (The Perjurer Returns)
(Clinton: Claims I Turned Down Bin Laden are 'Bull')

The Mary Jo White Memo:
Documentation of clintons' and Gorelick's willful, seditious malfeasance

What is the REAL Reason for Gorelick's Wall?

giant sucking sound
KERRY MAKES DUKAKIS LOOK CONSERVATIVE, SMART + JUDICIOUS

Q ERTY6 ^{utter failure}_BUMP

Lib Author Regrets Voting (TWICE!) for clinton
"Sickened" by clinton's Failure to Protect America from Terrorism

MUST-READ BOOK FOR DEMOCRATS:
How clintons' Failures Unleashed Global Terror
(Who in his right mind would ever want the clintons back in the Oval Office?)

The Man Who Warned America
(Why a Rapist is Not a Fit President)

UDAY: "The end is near… this time I think the… Americans are serious, Bush is not like Clinton."

 

 

MORE

[USA_Soccer]

Bill has developed a soft spot for Kerry lately.

Must be some kind of Irish-Catholic thing :(

[rhinohunter]

O'Reilly is just covering for his buddy Dan. It's a prime example of the rich and powerful protecting each other -- just like O'Reilly is always preaching at us about.

[Mia T]

ping

[EagleUSA]

I listened to this very interview last night. I was very suprised with Bill's sympathy for Rather...that was a shock given Rather's BLATANT, OBVIOUS complicity in this whole scam, along with his blind defense of the indefensible.

My hope is that CBS pays the price it MUST pay for their irresponsible reporting and perversion of journalism. Then we should get back to the real issues of this campaign, Kerry's historical record.

[Just mythoughts]

Nice, however, orielly stated that he is on a "crusade" and that being the case he like the Clintons will never never ever admit anything that slows down the plots and plans.

[Dave S]

As usual Mia you are going off half cocked. O'Reilly and Podhoretz are both as convinced as anyone else in the media including Britt Hume, etc that the documents are fakes.

You disagree with O'Reilly giving Rather the benefit of the doubt on whether he knowingly presented forgeries as true documents. Rather, given his bias, could easily have been snookered and wanted to believe that they were real. He still may believe that he is right. That doesnt mean that he was part of some grand conspiracy with the Kerry campaign. If you are want to persuade people you dont go for some off the wall conspiracy when its enough just to show that CBS and Rather's inherent bias was enough to cause them to get hoaxed.

[xzins]

Can you believe that O'Reilly was spouting this nonsense again last night?? I have no idea why BillO feels compelled to state what he CANNOT know, i.e., that Dan Rather wouldn't knowingly do this, but he continues to do so. If he's so fastidious about facts, then what FACT does he have to PROVE (documentary evidence) that DanBlather is meticulously cleared in MemoGate?

He has nothing. Nada. Zilch.

The other day when every expert that draws breath was saying the documents were fakes, BillO shrugs his shoulders and says, "I can't say if they're fakes or not." (or somesuch comment.)

A gazillion experts on record and BillO can't make up his mind????

It's time I watched more at 9 PM than at 8 PM. Hannity deserves to be Fox's flagship show. BillO is simply too wishy-washy.

[Thermalseeker]

O'Reilly is just covering for his buddy Dan. It's a prime example of the rich and powerful protecting each other -- just like O'Reilly is always preaching at us about.

You beat me to it. O'Reilly is always harping on how the rich and powerful protect each other and now he's doing the same. It's either that or he's intentionally "softballing" everything sKerry in hopes of getting an interview with him.

[nevergore]

Bill O'Reilly never changed....we just got to know him better....

O'Reilly has always been a pragmatist without an idealogical core value system. This approach can lead to some short term solutions for problems but ignores the long term consequences of those solutions.

When he first appeared on TV, he was a refreshing choice to the left wing idealogues spouting their daily DNC talking points...Instead of talking points, O'Reilly actually proposed solutions. Initially he tackled left wing issues that other media hacks kept off limits. We all squealed with delight watching countless Clinton hacks and demagouges have the O'Reilly knife put to their throat.

Eventually, Clinton left office and O'Reilly began to focus on politics in general and social issues and this is when our sweethart relationship ended.

I can't stand to watch him any longer, not because he pontificates, but because even when I agree with his initial assessment, his solution is almost always wrong.

Void of principal and ideaoligy, "The Factor" is a Cruise Ship adrift without a captain. Hopefully the passengers will notice before they run into the iceberg.

NeverGore :^)

[inconspicuous]

...great post!....

...boooiiiinnnnggg!......

;)

[over3Owithabrain]

From what I've seen of BOR over the last few days, he is not very concerned about the fake memos. Yes, he has implied that they are likely fake, but who doesn't know that? Most of his comments on the matter are dismissive of the opposition to the fake documents and blasting the internet, right-wingers, etc. Plus he as usual throws in his pious "both sides" line. BOR is looking out for himself, and Rather and Kerry to a lesser extent.

[MistyCA]

This is great! Thanks!!

[mabelkitty]

bumpity-bump-bump

[keysguy]

O' Reilly has that "I wanna be a big shot complex" and it colors everything he does. Hannity/Colmes now gets more numbers on their t.v. show and hannity completely blows the "big O" away on radio that too must really piss him off. He will get over it one day when he is on midnights instead of prime time.

[Dave S]

From what I've seen of BOR over the last few days, he is not very concerned about the fake memos.

His opening segment two night in a row have been about CBS and the forged documents and how CBS is destroying its credibilty.

[Adder]

I saw the interview last night. I was surprised that Bill O didn't know about Littlegreenfootballs.
I doubt he has done his homework on this very much at all.
For him to try to suggest that seeBS was duped and is blameless flies in the face of the available evidence: were it true, they should be screaming their innocence and should have no problem exposing their source.
No....there is something else going on for them to be stubbornly clinging to this story and to even suggest that its not the memos but what they say that matters, as if people are so stupid that they will swallow that an acucsation that is forged still makes it true.
seeBS is up to their eyeballs in this.
we deserve to know why.

[nutmeg]

Great work, Mia! Will ping my FoxFan list here.

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.

[Mia T]

1- I have not here discussed "a conspiracy" involving Rather/CBS. And such "a conspiracy" is not the point of this post.

The point of this post is to expose O'Reilly's--and to a lesser extent, Podhoretz's--pro-media bias, lack of critical thinking skills, lack of technical expertise and lack of a vigorous examination of the facts.

2- O'Reilly, (unlike Podhoretz), is clearly technically clueless and believes the forgery issue is still open to debate.

3- O'Reilly's reasoning ability is always questionable.... and it is invariably colored by his own self-described personal trauma as victim of "personal attack."

4- Rather's bias, alone, cannot account for

• his lack of due diligence,
  
• his own pushing of the story to CBS for months,
  
• his use of an irrelevant--and as we now know, unqualified--"expert,"
  
• his use of a thoroughly discredited prime witness with multiple conflicts of interest, Ben Barnes,
  
• his use of himself as the reporter, given his bias and his close ties to said prime witness
  
• his spiking of exculpatory witnesses, etc, etc.
  

5- If Rather still believes the memos are genuine, then he lacks the minimal reasoning skills required of his job. If he knows they are fake, then he lacks the minimal ethics required of his job....

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[bmwcyle]

He works for the enemy on the radio.

[mc5cents]

Exactly Mia. Right on, as usual. Thanks.

[Christian4Bush]

bttt

[Mia T]

Yes, but O'Reilly's point is not that the memos are proven fakes, but, Rather (ouch!), that CBS is stonewalling... and refusing to initiate an investigation.

[Area51]

Mia I agree with what you say to a point.

But I think when you refer to Dan Rather and his ability to investigate a story you have to take his past actions into account, especially when referring to both the Bush Family and the Military/Viet Nam issues.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1216632/posts

and Also the interview Rather did of Bush 41 in 88, while running for President where Dan attempted to Smear him with the Iran Contra crap. Even his colleagues commented on the record that Dan went over the top.

Given that, I have no doubt in my mind that Rather knew this story stunk, that is why it took them 6 weeks to run with it. I also believe based on the "fortunate Son" Campaign release last week in conjunction with the CBS/Rather Smear job the evidence is overwhelming that Dan Rather was complicit at the least, willing participant more likely in the attempt to Subvert an National Election by fostering a Fraud on the American public that consisted of the commission of felonies.

I also believe that there was collusion between CBS/Dan Rather and the DNC/Kerry Campaign.

[Dave S]

Yes, but O'Reilly's point is not that the memos are proven fakes, but, Rather (ouch!), that CBS is stonewalling... and refusing to initiate an investigation.

Can you prove they are fakes to a moral certintude? That is 100.0000% true that they are fakes? I would say most people have it at 97.5% or better but that is not 100%. Give O'Reilly some kudos for discussing the story and helping to keep it going. Just because he doesnt foam at the mouth like some and scream conspiracy doesnt mean he's stupid or that he's not advancing the story. He's broadcasting to a wide audience and not all of them are firebreathing wing nuts who immediately believe everything is a Democrat/Socialist conspiracy.

[CharacterCounts]

The point of this post is to expose O'Reilly's--and to a lesser extent, Podhoretz's--pro-media bias, lack of critical thinking skills, lack of technical expertise and lack of a vigorous examination of the facts.

I don't think we watched the same program. Podhoretz clearly said that he thought Rather would not make the forgeries himself because to do so would be far too risky. He never intimated that Rather has too much integrity to create the memos. He went on to say tat Rather was "conned" but as in any con game, the person being conned has to be willing.

The view Podhoretz expressed is no less damaging to Rather than the view you express, only different.

[Stakka Skynet]

Muchas gracias para el pingo!

[Mia T]

You make my point. Newcomer, the author of the proof, refuses to use the word "alleged" when discussing the forgery.

[Mia T]

Unlike O'Reilly, Podhoretz thinks critically.

However, both he and O'Reilly begged the question when they agreed on a single premise: that Rather wouldn't knowingly do fraud.

[Mia T]

Podhoretz's reason for the premise doesn't absolve him of begging the question.

[clyde260]

Thurs. & Fri. National FReep CBS Days! A Call To ARMS! FRee Republic ^ | 9/14/04 | Clyde260

[Mia T]

I actually agree with you. But the Kerry-Rather collusion wasn't the point of this post.

[johnny7]

...they agreed on a single premise: that Rather wouldn't knowingly do fraud.

O'Reilly is a pompous, stuffed shirt who honed his 'skills' on Hard Copy! He's more of a gameshow host than a newsman.

He belongs on MSNBC... he can be their 'conservative' voice! HA!

[Edit35]

Bill O'Reilly never changed....we just got to know him better....

Spot on!!!

I am esctatic that Oreilly is FINALLY being exposed for what he is, a charlitan opportunist (who gets good guests and conducts decent interviews) who no more believes what he says than the man on the moon.

I am even more esctatic that the public at large is finally seeing OReilly's true mindset.

The only thing that amazes me is that OReilly has allowed himself to be exposed like this. Normally, is shrewd enough to give himself some type of "out".

[Incorrigible]

Hooray Mia!

[JesseJane]

Awesome letter, great post !!

[Brian Allen]

<< Can you believe that O'Reilly was spouting this nonsense again last night?? >>

Only last night?

Mobbed-up-Mick-union-bred Bill Inside-Edition O'Reilly has been spewing nothing but cr*p for decades.

That's all he is and all he is.

For, as my old Grandpa mighta said, "You just cannot make strawberry jam oudda pig poop!"

[jla]

bump

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Must be some kind of Irish-Catholic thing :( 2 posted on 09/15/2004 6:54:28 AM PDT by USA_Soccer (Try

That might make sense if Kerry were either Irish or Catholic. He's neither.

[Graewoulf]

I disagree. CBS needed to generate some news to support their agenda. Reporting polls based on opinions as "facts" was not helping, as Kerry-Ketchup has lately slipped in "The Media" polls.

No, CBS needed to lie. Who better to do the lieing than their very own Dan "Rather" Socialist?

Will CBS be punished? Was NBC punished for installing explosive devices behind the running boards of Chevy pickups 10+/- years ago?

I wonder what the LA Times has to say about all this? Should be an interesting trial of the owners of the Court of Public Opinion: "The Media."

[Mia T]

CBS defense of Rather hints at bigger story (FR and Buckhead mentioned)

Chicago Sun-Times|
September 19, 2004


BY MARK STEYN



Of all the loopy statements made by Dan Rather in the 10 days since he decided to throw his career away, my favorite is this, from Dan's interview with the Washington Post on Thursday:

''If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story.''

Hel-looooo? Earth to the Lost Planet of Ratheria: You can't ''break that story.'' A guy called ''Buckhead'' did that, on the Free Republic Web site a couple of hours after you and your money-no-object resources-a-go-go ''60 Minutes'' crew attempted to pass off four obvious Microsoft Word documents as authentic 1972 typewritten memos about Bush's skipping latrine duty in the Spanish-American War, or whatever it was.

The following day Charles Johnson of the Little Green Footballs Web site drove a stake through your phony '70s memos by overlaying them with modern MS Word documents, whose automatic word wrap is amazingly an exact match with Lt. Col. Killian's ''typewriter.'' And every document expert agreed with Johnson your memos are junk, including your own analysts.

By now just about everybody on the planet also thinks they're junk, except for that dwindling number of misguided people who watch the ''CBS Evening News'' under the misapprehension that it's a news broadcast rather than a new unreality show in which a cocooned anchor, his floundering news division and some feeble executives are trapped on their own isle of delusion and can't figure out a way to vote themselves off it.

So the only story you're in a position to break right now is: ''Late-Breaking News. Veteran Newsman Announces He's Recovered His Marbles.'' And, if last week's anything to go by, you're in no hurry to do that.

Instead, Dan keeps demanding Bush respond to the ''serious questions'' raised by his fake memos. ''With respect, Mr. President,'' he droned the other day, ''answer the questions.'' The president would love to, but he's doubled up with laughter.

I was prepared to cut the poor old buffoon some slack a week ago. But Dan's performance has grown progressively more outrageous, to the point where it's hard not to conclude he's colluding in the perpetuation of a massive if ludicrous fraud. Dan's been play-acting at being a reporter for so many years now -- the suspenders, the loosened tie, and all the other stuff that would look great if he were auditioning for a cheesy dinner-theater revival of ''The Front Page''; the over-the-top intros: ''Bob Schieffer, one of the best hard-nosed reporters in the business, has been working his sources. What have you managed to uncover for us, Bob?'', after which Bob reads out a DNC press release. Dan's been doing all this so long he doesn't seem to realize the news isn't just a show.

Round about the middle of last week, he was reduced to shoring up his collapsing fantasy with Bill Glennon, a Cliff Claven figure who was a typewriter repairman in the '70s. But, because every other CBS expert had abandoned Dan's sunk ship, Bill suddenly found himself upgraded to ''document expert.'' This guy's been insisting that you could produce Dan's bogus memos on a 1972 IBM typewriter: ''The Model D had a lever that when pushed put a rubber stopper in front of the keys so they did not strike the paper. You centered the paper using the paper scale, put the carriage on the middle mark of the front index scale, typed your heading and then made note of the number it stopped on. You then moved the carriage back to the corresponding number on the left side of the index scale and retyped your heading and . . .''

Yeah, right. Every time I want to type a memo saying Bush is unfit to be president, that's what I do, too. Look, if Dan thinks this guy's theory is correct, let's put him and his IBM Model D and me and my computer in a room at CBS News for an hour and see which one of us emerges with the closest replicas of these four documents. I'll give him ten thousand bucks for every memo he reproduces exactly, and round it up to an even 50 grand if he gets all four right.

Any takers, CBS?

So the question now is why won't Dan and Co. just admit their docs are crocks and let it go? On Wednesday, CBS News head honcho Andrew Heyward, in a slippery statement, announced that ''we established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate.'' Note that word: not ''genuine'' but ''accurate'' -- i.e., if Lt. Col. Killian had had one of those IBM Model Ds and been willing to remove the carriage return and replace it with a rubber stopper on the front index scale while turning the crank, etc., these are the memos he would have written. Rather and Heyward are adopting the rogue-cop defense: The evidence is planted, but the guy's still guilty. Or as the New York Times' headline put it: ''Memos On Bush Are Fake But Accurate.''

Why has CBS News decided it would rather debauch its brand and treat its audience like morons than simply admit their hoax? For Dan Rather? I doubt it. Hurricane Dan looks like he's been hit by one. He's still standing, just about, but, like a battered double-wide, more and more panels are falling off every day. No one would destroy three-quarters of a century of audience trust and goodwill for one shattered anachronism of an anchorman, would they?

As the network put it last week, ''In accordance with longstanding journalistic ethics, CBS News is not prepared to reveal its confidential sources or the method by which '60 Minutes' Wednesday received the documents.'' But, once they admit the documents are fake, they can no longer claim ''journalistic ethics'' as an excuse to protect their source. There's no legal or First Amendment protection afforded to a man who peddles a fraud. You'd think CBS would be mad as hell to find whoever it was who stitched them up and made them look idiots.

So why aren't they? The only reasonable conclusion is that the source -- or trail of sources -- is even more incriminating than the fake documents. Why else would Heyward and Rather allow the CBS news division to commit slow, public suicide?

Whatever other lessons are drawn from this, we ought at least to acknowledge that the privileged position accorded to ''official'' media and the restrictions placed on the citizenry by McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform are wholly unwarranted.

As for Heyward and Rather, the other day I came across a rare memo from April 20, 1653, typed on a 17th century prototype of the IBM Selectric. It's Oliver Cromwell's words to England's Long Parliament:

''You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!''

RATHERGATE IS ANOTHER WATERGATE: The Nexus^{computer-generated superscriptPING}

[jla]

BUMP