Posted on 09/18/2004 6:38:54 AM PDT by MindBender26
Exerpt: NYT article on Bill Burkett;
"In it, (a letter) Mr. Burkett complained of "severe retaliation" from General James for what he said was reporting "illegal acts" within the National Guard. He also complained about the government's failure to pay for his medical care after suffering from a tropical disease after a military assignment to Panama in 1997. Before finally winning medical benefits in July 1998, he said, he suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for depression."
ENDIT
In order to have been hospitalized, Burkett must have been certified by physicians as fitting into two categories:
1. Significantly mentallly ill and 2. A danger to himself or others.
A person is not hospitalized for mental illness unless they meet BOTH criteria.
This article was first published in the NY Times on Feb 12, 2004.
Rather's researchers had more than 7 months to check on their story source. They knew or should have known that had been certified as both severely mentally ill and a danger to himself or others.
.... and they still went with the story....
(sorry, link is pay only)
Sounds like the dam in about to break. bttt
Rather says unimpeachable
Bush said he would never take the word of a madman.
And Rather prefers to take the word of a madman.
To him experts don't matter.
Dam Blather is the one who is mentally ill and should be hospitalized.
Maybe Rather meant that his source was "unimpeachable" because if you tried to impeach his credibility, he may hurt you.
Doesn't that qualify him for a job at CBS News?
Rather and team always knew that all their sources were weak, either hacks, incompetant or both.
They trotted out Barnes, a certified liar, who they knew was on the Kerry payroll, but said essentially, don't worry about this man's credentials because we have documentation, now proven false.
(Barnes had previously testified under oath that he had not helped Bush get in the Guard)
Proving once again, pictures are worth a thousand words.
Bill Clinton?
IMO .. Burkett was just the fall guy
Personally, I think this is unfair. People do recover from illnesses.
Many other reasons to doubt this whole affair, but this would cast aspersions on millions of people who suffer from such ailments.
Don't forget all the recent flap about Prozac aggravating such conditions - might have been some bad meds.
Dear MindBender26,
A person cannot be hospitalized against his own will if he doesn't meet the two criteria you mention.
But a person can check himself into a mental hospital of his own accord.
I didn't see that the committal you mention was involuntary. If I missed it, I apologize - I'm still only on my second cup of coffee. But if it was voluntary, then it is possible that he wasn't sufficiently disturbed to be categorized as "mentally ill," or a danger to himself or others.
sitetest
Great line---is it yours, or "borrowed"???
Personally, I think this is unfair. People do recover from illnesses.
Many other reasons to doubt this whole affair, but this would cast aspersions on millions of people who suffer from such ailments.
Well then, that explains perfectly why Dan Rather has complete confidence in his source.
What's the Font, Dan?
the producer Mapes had 5 years into making this story
I'm not clear here. Who's insane, Burkett, Rather, or Mapes or all three? They all tell insane stories. If a sane person listens to an insane person, he knows the nut is a nut. If a supposedly sane person QUOTES the nutcake being nutty, is that a sane act? No, it's just as nutty as the nutcake. Rather and Mapes flunk this test. They are obviously psychotic too.
ROTFLOL!
I watch this guy on some show for about 5 minutes, he is on a mission. Some might even call it a "crusade", after all his father is a preacher.
D'OH!
Of course, you can pretty much say that about your average drooling knuckle-dragging DU denizen...
Bump!
I feel exactly the same way about the insanity defense in criminal cases, but I am in the tiny minority... Reality fails to trump PC in this case, presumably.
And Rather prefers to take the word of a madman.
Saddam, Osama, Kim-Jung-Il, Castro, Burkett, Barnes, Kerry, Dean, Kucinich, and who was that GA Congresswoman that said Pres Bush knew about 9/11.
To Rather the truth and reality doesn't matter.
All three works for me.
"Rather says [Memogate source] was 'unimpeachable'"
YOUR BIAS IS NOW OBVIOUS EVEN TO THE STUPID WHO STILL INSISTED YOU WERENT
So, for the past 6 years this nutbag has been on the dole, after a career of professional victimhood.
Fraud in one thing, fraud in many things.
For depression, hospitalization often follows significant suicidal ideation and/or a suicide attempt.
Cynthia McKinney
Dear Pharmboy,
"For depression, hospitalization often follows significant suicidal ideation and/or a suicide attempt."
I realize that, but I didn't see any reference to an involuntary committal, here, or to suicide attempts. It's speculation that Mr. Burkett's committal was involuntary. It may have been, but we ought to refrain from drawing conclusions as if it were an established fact, because it isn't.
I've known more than one person who committed themselves to mental hospitals when they knew that psychologically, things were too much for them.
That doesn't mean that they'd met the threshhold for "significantly mentally ill," as MindBender26 put it, or for being a danger to themselves or others.
sitetest
Bill Burkett continues to do and say the same wacked out, paranoid stuff he has for years. Recovered? I don't think so.
Who is Burkett protecting?
"Rather says [Memogate source] was 'unimpeachable'"
Bill Clinton? Remember, Rather said that Clinton was an honest man.
Recalling the FBI file scandal of Bill and Hillary Clinton, maybe the Clintons also accumulated military service records of political figures for future use?
Using some lower level political associate as a cut-out for deniability purposes, Clintons can leak military records to advance their purposes.
Since the files here are forged, I doubt that the Clintons were involved. However, I'll bet they do have military files as well as FBI/security clearance files on various political figures and will use them if needed. Remember that the Clintons had their man at the Pentagon leak info from Linda Trippe's DOD file.
Burkett's mental illness will eventually be his (and Rather's) legal defense.
And, I would speculate that depression is associated with a low rate of self-referral--just because of the nature of the disorder. They don't do much of anything.
I agree. They'll hang this whole mess around Burkett's neck, pat him on the back and say he's not responsible because he's mentally ill. And they're not reponsible because they took him at his word and thought he was credible. Voila. A little French lingo there for Kerry, who's probably reading FR and wetting his pants.
Yes, and it will also protect those down (up?) the line from Burkett. He's going to take the fall to protect others.
Donate to Swift Boat Vets for the Truth HERE.
Sign Petition against CBS & Dan Rather HERE.
My Campaign Button Page
and My Toons Page [Updated 9-15 / 10:45PM CST] 
Won't work though .. unless Max and some at the DNC are also mentally ill
Dear Pharmboy,
"I did not say that he WAS involuntarily committed..."
Well, then you weren't really responding to my initial post. MindBender26 took the fact of Mr. Burkett's hospitalization and started talking about the requirements of an involuntary commitment. I pointed out that that's something we can't assume (involuntary commitment), that his hospitalization may have been voluntary, and thus we can't draw the conclusion that 1.) Mr. Burkett was "significantly mentally ill," or 2.) "a danger to himself or others."
"And, I would speculate that depression is associated with a low rate of self-referral..."
I can't say, I don't recall statistics about it (which is pretty bad, in that I once studied in this field). However, anecdotally, I've known a number of folks who were severely depressed who checked themselves into the hospital. I've also known a few folks hospitalized involuntarily for actual suicide attempts. I can't recall anyone involuntarily committed for depression alone.
And depression alone is given as the reason for hospitalization.
It's possible that not everything is reported here, but to reiterate, we can't make the leap to Mr. Burkett's being "significantly mentally ill," or "a danger to himself or others" from what we know here.
If you re-read post #19, you'll see that was the point of the post.
sitetest
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.