Rather Defends CBS's Use of Memos (WP not buying it).

washington post ^ | 9/10/2004 | Howard Kurtz

[jhouston]

Dan Rather vigorously defended his "60 Minutes" story on President Bush's National Guard service yesterday, saying the 30-year-old memos he disclosed on the show this week "were and remain authentic," despite questions raised by some handwriting and document experts.

[Torie]

Hi Bigun. I hope this finds you well. I still remember when I had the pleasure to hear that friendly Texas sounding voice of yours.

[MJY1288]

Hey Dan Rather! I hear Al Jazeera is hiring :-)

[Mike Fieschko]

The Post Office in Houston with zip code 77034 discontinued operations September 14, 1962

Maybe I misunderstand you. ZIP Code use began on July 1, 1963.

[Jeff Gannon]

Do you think Tim Russert can now declare Dan Rather "largely discredited?" like he did the Swifties?

[Torie]

Uh oh. Well, keep hope alive.

[Soul Seeker]

Try as they might, they ran with this story as well. They didn't check into the reporting of CBS, as any credible news organization should have done. Maybe they think people won't notice?

"Until someone shows me definitive proof that they are not, I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumor mill," the CBS anchor said.

So Senator Kerry isn't the only elitist in town?

[XEHRpa]

Rather won't back down on his defense of the memos, since he can protect the source's identity as long as he asserts the validity of the information. Once he admits forgery, CBS "principled stance" of not revealing a journalistic source gets compromised, as they have no longer a reason to protect the source.

[MJY1288]

I think Bernie Goldberg put it best tonight when he said on Hannity & Colmes..... "Now you know why I titled my book "Arrogance"

[Bigun]

I hope this finds you well.

Yes indeed! Very well in fact.

I still remember when I had the pleasure to hear that friendly Texas sounding voice of yours.

I hope you will have occasion to hear it again some day soon.

[dc-zoo]

You did good. Real good. I was inspired enough to make another donation to the swiftvets today. Their ads are running again on nation-wide cable networks (even on dish and directv).

[igoramus987]

from link

DOCUMENT AND HANDWRITING EXAMINER MARCEL MATLEY ANALYZED THE DOCUMENTS FOR CBS NEWS.

HE SAYS HE BELIEVES THEY ARE REAL...BUT IS CONCERNED ABOUT EXACTLY WHAT IS BEING EXAMINED BY SOME OF THE PEOPLE QUESTIONING THE DOCUMENTS....BECAUSE DETIORATION OCCURS EACH TIME A DOCUMENT IS REPRODUCED.....AND THE DOCUMENTS BEING ANALYZED OUTSIDE OF CBS HAVEBEEN PHOTOCOPIED, FAXED, SCANNED AND DOWNLOADED.... AND ARE FAR REMOVED FROM THE DOCUMENTS CBS STARTED WITH WHICH WERE ALSO PHOTOCOPIES.

Note that the documents that everyone is analysing are the pdf documents that CBS put on their website.

Their own document expert tells CBS that he has concerns about authenticating a document that has deteriorated, yet instead of first getting a copy of the original memos and authenticating them, CBS and Dan Rather unprofessionally and unethically decide to air the story based on copies of the memos that CBS say are [deteriorated] photocopies.

[USNBandit]

Did anyone see the original story on 60 minutes?

My question is once these documents are totally discredited what is left of the story? From the clips I've seen it would just be Kerry's co-chair (Barnes), the author of a couple Anti-Bush books, and one guy saying the documents are authentic.

It sounds like without the documents there is no story left.

[MJY1288]

I just saw on the FOX NEWS Crawler, that the SwiftVets have raised 6.7 Million Dollars since their first Ad aired :-)

[Illinois Rep]

Yes you misunderstood me...

The Harris County post office discontinued operation in 1962....that would be the only post office in (todays) zip code area of 77034.

There is no United States Post Office in 77034 yet it is listed in that return address on the fake docs.

[Bigun]

Rather won't back down on his defense of the memos, since he can protect the source's identity as long as he asserts the validity of the information. Once he admits forgery, CBS "principled stance" of not revealing a journalistic source gets compromised, as they have no longer a reason to protect the source.

Agreed and especially so in view of the high probability that someone VERY close to Rather is involved. Namely his daughter Robin.

[macsmind76]

Rather's defense, "the real issue are the questions they raise", is baffling.

First, there are no questions if the documents are fakes. News based on innuendo and fraud is not news - it's gossip.

His tone during this entire ordeal reveals in my opinion a seemingly overt bias towards the veracity of the story - but for what purpose?

If it isn't true there is no story and CBS as a major news organization should pull the story and fully investigate the charges.

I'm afraid that Rather is going to have several problems getting out of this one. Although it isn't entirely clear whether or not he is a party to the alleged fraud, unless he issues a better stance he will become guilty by omission.

One last thing; in this highly competitive news business the criticism will eventually come mainly from competitors such as NBC, ABC, CNN, and those "enemies" in the mainstream press Rather has made over the years.

This is going to get really interesting in the coming weeks.

"Rather-Gate", perhaps.

[snarkytart]

>>>But of course it is all moot, because even if the documents were forged, they reflected what Dan Rather's sources said was on Killian's mind at the time<<<<

Who is CBS to say this was Killian's mindset?
Without the docs to back CBS up what REAL proof do they have to say that???

The fact is that CBS/Rather rested this entire NG story on these docs and now that the docs are forged means their story is FINISHED! They can go on and on about "the story is what is important, not the docs" But without the docs there is no story...don't they get it.

[Torie]

Well I would have to agree that conclusive proof, or near conclusive proof, that the memos were forged, would constitute an inconvenience for team CBS/Dan Rather.

[bannie]

Funny:

Instead of, "Until they're proven to be true, we won't act upon them."

It's, "Until they're proven to be fakes, we won't stop acting upon them."

Bizarro World, to be sure.

[Always Right]

they reflected what Dan Rather's sources said was on Killian's mind at the time, well maybe not what was on his mind, but "consistent" with something or other.

Except the person that said that says that is not what he said. CBS lied to him (said the notes were handwritten) and distorted what he said (he said if that is what he wrote, that is what he thought).