Posted on 10/07/2007 10:27:39 PM PDT by kcvl
NEW HOWARD KURTZ BOOK STIRS CONTROVERSY... DEVELOPING...
WHITE HOUSE FROZE OUT COURIC FOR FIVE YEARS...
PRESIDENT MISTAKENLY SHARED CLASSIFIED INFO WITH NEWS ANCHORS...
DAN RATHER VOWED TO LEAK BUSH GUARD DOCS TO NEW YORK TIMES -- IF CBS SPIKED...
(Excerpt) Read more at drudgereport.com ...
**Exclusive**
Former CBSNEWS anchor Dan Rather pressured CBS to air the failed Bush/National Guard story in September 2004, Howard Kurtz reports in his new blockbuster book: REALITY SHOW: INSIDE THE LAST GREAT TELEVISION NEWS RACE. Rather claims in his lawsuit against CBS that he wasn't involved in the final decision to run the Memogate story.
After finishing nearly two years of research, Kurtz unleashes his book this week.
Excerpt:
The night before the story was tentatively scheduled to air, Rather was sitting at the anchor desk, with less than half an hour before the start of the Evening News. He called Josh Howard, who had recently been named as executive producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday, and asked what they were doing to promote his story.
“We’re not,” Howard said. “We haven’t gotten the lawyers to sign off. The script isn’t finished. We haven’t even talked to the White House. I’m not going to start promoting a story when we don’t know what we have.” That was not the answer Rather wanted to hear.
“Other people are chasing this story,” he said. “We’re going to lose our exclusive. We have to get our hooks into the story.”
When Howard again refused, Rather raised the stakes.
“I’m going to give one of the documents to The New York Times to run in Wednesday’s paper,” he said. “They’ll have to credit CBS News. That way we can put our stamp on it.”
“You can’t do that either,” Howard said. “We haven’t finished vetting this.” Rather grumbled and hung up. To raise the specter of giving away a scoop to a competing news outlet was practically unheard of.
Howard, who had once been an Evening News producer, had never been subjected to this kind of pressure. He did, however, have a backup plan. They were still in rerun season, so if the Guard story failed to get the green light, he had a previously aired program ready to go.
Developing...
No wonder these crooked presstitutes want a shield law to protect them from propaganda blowback....
....But if the "instructions" were to send his material to Mr. Rather, and there was CBS technical participation in the transmission, then it appears the network had a relationship with Mr. Idema and was viewing his material.
"While it’s true that some technician some place could have seen it," said the CBS spokesman, "that could have been their own unprofessional opinion of this stuff. It wouldn’t be the same as a bureau chief seeing it."
...One freelance journalist working in Afghanistan, who declined to be identified, said that CBS staffers had expressed concern that they might be implicated in Mr. Idema’s case because, in fact, they knew what they were looking at.
"Their satellite engineer came over: ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be arrested,’" recalled the journalist. "They had been feeding this material to CBS. They had been feeding into their London bureau footage of Jack’s detention center and of him capturing and interrogating people about 10 days to two weeks before he was arrested."...--------- "American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS," by Joe Hagan The New York Observer 9/27/2004 edition
Karl Rove was a real genius to have choreographed this comedy and to get all the players to sing and dance on cue.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2004 : (AFGHANISTAN : IDEMA SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS; CARABALLO IS SENTENCED TO 8; BENNETT IS SENTENCED TO 10— See CBS, DAN RATHER, BLEEDINGHEARTATTACK, AFGHANISTAN, TORTURE, PRIVATE PRISON ) In a week in which it was burnt by at least one high-profile source, CBS News is being accused by another of having used and abandoned him. The Observer has learned that CBS News and Dan Rather made use of Jonathan (Jack) Idema, a former Green Beret, mercenary and rogue soldier, who was tried and sentenced on Sept. 15 to 10 years in an Afghan prison for operating a private jail and torturing civilians he claimed were Al Qaeda operatives.
Mr. Idema is now accusing CBS News of abandoning him after having what appears to have been an ad hoc arrangement with the mercenary soldier in which he used CBS equipment and personnel to transmit information to Mr. Rather for possible use in CBS broadcasts. Mr. Idema is also accusing the U.S. Department of Defense, which he claims to have had a working relationship with, of abandoning him..........Mr. Caraballo, who was apparently making a film about Mr. Idema, was sentenced to eight years in prison; Mr. Bennett, an Army veteran working with Mr. Idema, received 10 years. Their 15-year-old Afghan translator was also imprisoned.-———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan
Thanks.
Oh lainie, over here
Rather has always come off as a weirdo, and America has kept its distance, and I think that bugs him.
[Idema] joined the Army in 1975 and qualified for the Special Forces, but his performance was often lacking....
... In an evaluation report dated July 7, 1977, Captain John D. Carlson described him [Idema] as “without a doubt the most unmotivated, unprofessional, immature enlisted man that I have ever known.” ....
... In 1978 he [Idema] transferred to a reserve unit where he served until 1981, when he was relieved of his duties, in part for his “irrationality” and “tendency toward violence.” ...
... Idema used the platform the media provided to spread dubious information, much of it with crucial implications for national security and foreign policy. For example, he claimed to have uncovered a plot to assassinate Bill Clinton; that bin Laden was dead, and that the Taliban was poisoning the food that the United States was air-dropping to feed hungry Afghans. (In fact, people were getting sick from eating the desiccant packed with the food.)
-----------"Tin Soldier An American Vigilante In Afghanistan,Using the Press for Profit and Glory," Columbia Journalism Review ^ | Jan/Feb 2005 | Mariah Blake
[* My note : Are we sure the press wasn't using him?]
1968 : (VIETNAM : TET OFFENSIVE & THE PRESS) Gen. Giap planned and directed the military operations against the French that culminated in their defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. During the 1960's Giap controlled guerrilla operations against South Vietnam and the United States and planned the Tet Offensive of 1968.
In his book, Giap clearly indicated that NVA troops were without sufficient supplies, and had been continually defeated time and again. By 1968, NVA morale was at it's lowest point ever. The plans for "Tet" '68 was their last desperate attempt to achieve a success, in an effort to boost the NVA morale. When it was over, General Giap and the NVA viewed the Tet '68 offensive as a failure, they were on their knees and had prepared to negotiate a surrender.
At that time, there were fewer than 10,000 U.S. casualties, the Vietnam War was about to end, as the NVA was prepared to accept their defeat. Then, they heard Walter Cronkite (former CBS News anchor and correspondent) on TV proclaiming the success of the Tet '68 offensive by the communist NVA. They were completely and totally amazed at hearing that the US Embassy had been overrun. In reality, The NVA had not gained access to the Embassy--there were some VC who had been killed on the grassy lawn, but they hadn't gained access. Further reports indicated the riots and protesting on the streets of America.
According to Giap, these distorted reports were inspirational to the NVA. They changed their plans from a negotiated surrender and decided instead, they only needed to persevere for one more hour, day, week, month, eventually the protesters in American would help them to achieve a victory they knew they could not win on the battlefield. Remember, this decision was made at a time when the U.S. casualties were fewer than 10,000, at the end of 1967, beginning of 1968. --- http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/7624/Generals/giap.htm
She wouldn't have noticed. None of her stuff comes from the White House. Ever.
Ha! What a dope. Real presidents like Clinton share classified info deliberately.
Little yellow bellied coward.
We thought Roger Mudd would succeed Cronkite and were disappointed.
Mudd always seemed reasonable, which may explain why he didn’t get the gig. Courage!
Maybe they're going to fight challange his lawsuit after all?
DAN RATHER VOWED TO LEAK BUSH GUARD DOCS TO NEW YORK TIMES — IF CBS SPIKED...
the nyslimes...another objective new source!!!
no wonder both are circling the toilet bowl!!!!
Poor old Dan was so determined to bring Pres. Bush down, he but brought himself down instead. Yes, there is a God who “hates a heart that devises wicked schemes and feet that are quick to rush into evil.” (Proverbs 6:18).
In Saigon, wearing that stunning lime green safarie suit with Sam Brown belt cradling his shiny new Smith and Wesson .38 at the bar of the Rex hotel...all by hisself, backed into a corner hissing like a cat.
Exactly!
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.