It's 'Rather' a Problem

Dan Rather and his bosses at CBS News are in a controversy that they created. Within hours of the airing of the story on 60 Minutes, experts began to look closely at the documents. Now there are few, if any, document experts who do not believe that the documents shown by CBS News are forgeries.

One expert said that he is unable to authenticate the signature or the document, but he can tell that the document is a fake or a forgery. Experts contacted by CBS News before the airing of the story had “concerns” from the beginning about the documents. Concerns that CBS News, 60 Minutes, and, especially, Dan Rather ignored. Why were these concerns and warnings ignored?

They were ignored primarily because of arrogance. Arrogance that the viewers would not care. Arrogance that people will believe anything Dan Rather says because he is Dan Rather. That the viewers of 60 Minutes and Dan Rather are as partisan and liberal as Rather. If that were true, the backlash would not have happened. Dan Rather and CBS would not be the target of a possible Congressional investigation.

CBS and Dan Rather have decided to stonewall the issue and refuse to give “direct answers” to questions about or the identity of the source. At the same time Rather is “demanding” answers from President Bush about his National Guard service and dismissing the comments of the First Lady. Dismissing Laura Bush’s comment is dangerous ground for Rather. The President and his staff will, no doubt, find some way to give Rather the same type of treatment. It will be unlikely if Rather or any reporter from CBS receives an exclusive interview from anyone in the Bush Administration for a long time.

Although it has been treated as a sidebar, a larger issue may be where the documents came from. Rather claims they came from a “reliable” and “impeccable” source. Who in Dan Rather’s mind is such a source? Is it a Texas Democrat who raises thousands of dollars for the Kerry campaign? Could be. Here is a list, based on various reports, of possible sources for the documents.

*The Democratic National Committee. An unnamed staffer at the DNC says that he/she had doubts about the documents, but sent them to the Kerry campaign.

*The Kerry campaign. Staffers at the Kerry campaign say there were concerns about the documents. Speculation is that the campaign sent the documents to CBS.

*Karl Rove. This is the DNC’s favorite source. Karl Rove did it to embarrass the Kerry campaign and the DNC. Do they need any more help?

*Dan Rather. Why not? He refuses to identify the source. Is it possible that CBS staffers forged the documents? I wonder if CBS News uses Microsoft Word.

These are the most logical sources, but until CBS requires Dan Rather to release the sources it can only be speculation.

What if CBS finds out that the documents are truly forged? What will their response be?

Will Dan Rather be suspended, fired, or forced to retire? No. Why? He knows where many of the skeletons are buried and has for many years. Some of you may remember the controversy during the Nixon presidency. Rather, much younger and more arrogant then, insulted the president during a live press conference. After the press conference, the White House went ballistic, but Rather kept his job. Well, he was placed on the Enemies List at the White House.

Will anyone lose their job at CBS. Probably, but it will be a low level producer and not Susan Mapes the producer of the story.

Will CBS change the way it does news? No.

Will CBS ever regain its credibility? Only partially. CBS News has been losing credibility for years. It has an obvious liberal bias and has done nothing over the years to correct it or run from it. Former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg was a victim of the bias after questioning several stories on the CBS Evening News. He was not fired, but was in a sort of limbo. His stories were ignored by CBS producers and managing editor, Dan Rather. Eventually, Goldberg left CBS News and began writing books about the liberal-bias in the media.

If CBS makes any further statements other than Rather blathering night after night that the documents are genuine, it will be interesting to see what happens.