Read the article. They are the first to connect this moron and his plot with the Kerry campaign and the DNC
I'm guessing o/a Nov 1. What a loon.
Dobbs has just obliterated any chance that CBS might have
thought they had to paint this as a Rove-inspired dirty trick.
Cool.
The story gets bigger.
WAPO has it and is actually pussuing the story with some journalistic integrity. Impressive.
Rather said Mary Mapes has been working on the story for four-plus years, yet Emily Will (document expert) said she received the documents over the Labor Day weekend.
The inference is that CBS was working on a story for a very long period of time without having their documentation verified until last week? Am I missing something?
Another retired Guard officer .........Robert Strong, said earlier this week that Rather showed him copies of new Guard records on Bush that bore markings showing that they had been faxed from a Kinko's .....
[Max]Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August.......Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said. "You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not."
Things seem to be falling into place...a bit slowly, but progress, just the same. I am surprised to see that Srong provided the Kinko lead.
Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said. "You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not."
One wonders if Burkett followed Cleland's advice. If Burkett actually sent copies of the docs to the Kerry campaign (which they haven't mentioned receiving up to now), look for staffers to start scrambling for cover.
Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said. "You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not."
Did the WaPo get Burkett's cell phone records, and link him to Cleland? Is Mr Dobbs fishing for a Pulitzer? Who will crack first? Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of "As the Dan Rather Twists."
"I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said.
Ping to this M. Dobbs piece in the Wash Post...he picked up on the similar wording of Burkett's writings & the CYA Memo, and he quotes "run interference" as did I
& FReeper Catphish FIRST.
There's a bombshell at the end of the article.
Burkett ties in the Kerry campaign via postings he made on the internet.
Cleland admits talking to a guy named Burkett when he was in Texas in mid August. Must have been when Rassmann and Cleland were trying to storm the ranch in Crawford.
"In an Aug. 21 posting, Burkett referred to a conversation with former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) about the need to counteract Republican tactics:
"I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money.
He said counterattack.
SO I GAVE THEM THE INFORMATION TO DO IT WITH.
But none of them have called me back."
Funny, I couldn't find any reference of the standard PR letter from the commander to Bush's father. I guess that wouldn't fit with what Dobbs was trying to insinuate. The correspondence was initiated by the commander -- standard letter that parents got while their sons were in pilot training.
USAFA sent PR releases to your hometown paper and the tradition continued in UPT as well.
Dobbs is either ignorant of the PR of the military or is relying on the general public's ignorance of SOP for the military.
"...he and other researchers...." Who else helped him?
Good article with some new information about Burkett using some of the same language found in the forged documents on his earlier posts on the web.
Burkett is the perp. He IS the future convicted forger/felon. I am just guessing but I think how he could have gotten to CBS is through Michael Moore. That would be a possible scenario cause if I am correct Burkett was a source for Michael Moore's film. Since Burkett can't get the DNC to pay attention to him he calls Michael Moore who he knows through the film. Moore who will believe anything about Bush, then calls Rather's office. They would certainly be willing to talk to a fellow Bush hater. Hence Rather's stonewalling. To admit the evidence is forgery means he must reveal his source for the documents which would include Michael Moore. This would discredit Moore and his film and hurt Kerry's campaign.
Just a little speculation. There has to be something Rather is hiding about his source. That's the next big angle in this story.
I last saw him about 25 years ago at an all nite dinner in a small East Texas town.
I stumbled in about 2 a.m. At the time he was a Houston Chronicle reporter. He waved me over to a back booth where he was huddled with a recently ousted J.P. who was spilling his guts about law enforcement involvement with marijuana growing and trafficking.
Maybe Glenn Smith did riffle the Guard files and does have some old documents. He might have passed the info to Burkett.
Further, would it be too much to ask that WAPO and the MSM note that Senator Kerry has not signed his form 180? This is the reason he still has hundreds of pages in his military files no one has seen. Actually, if Senator Kerry signed Form 180 he would put the Swifties out of business since the factual matter debate would soon resolve itself.
Finally, speaking as a physician I am absolutely shocked that Senator Kerry has not released his recent medical records. Remember, this man was treated for carcinoma of the prostate only about 18 months ago. Bob Dole's ca of the prostate was resolved by a radical prostatectomy about 5 years before he was a candidate for President. I note that Senator Kerry has been apparently dehydrated at times, is reported to be taking nutritional supplements to keep his weight up and surely looks flat and tired. Most likely, some of this is due to his flying so much since this can cause both pedal edema and dehydration.
When you add all the mysteries up including we really don't know about his financial status since unlike previous candidates he has not released his and Thresa's recent tax returns we really don't know much about the man. Truly shocking is that the MSM has not followed and demanded these records and findings.
It is impossible to be objective but it is possible to be fair. I appreciate the WAPO making the connection with the Kerry campaign. IMHO, Burkett is a troubled and troubling person who is probably doing better than some months ago.
*
This is NOT going to go away. LOL
"He said he had passed his ideas to the Democratic National Committee but that the DNC seemed "afraid to do what I suggest."
So they passed it onto C.B.S.