MCCLELLAN: We received those documents from a major news organization. We had every reason to believe that they were authentic at that time, and in keeping with the spirit of releasing documents and being open about all the documents that we have, we made those documents available to everybody else so you could look at them yourselves…

Translation:
We received these documents from a major credible news organization — CBS “found” them, and showed them to us for comment.
We had every reason to believe that they were authentic at that time — we don’t have them already from our own collection, we naturally assume them them to be legitimate newly discovered documents that were overlooked in previous searches of multiple archives which is always a possibility in any organization, especially a governmental agency. Why should we automatically assume them to be fakes, just because we never saw them before and Bush doesn’t recall seeing them 30 years ago.
and in keeping with the spirit of releasing documents and being open about all the documents that we have, we made those documents available to everybody else so you could look at them yourselves — we have nothing to hide, so we released them w/o comment to everyone to evaluate whether Bush lied or not (We show, You decide). Bush honestly believes that he served with honor and any “shortcuts” or exceptions to published regulations were done so IAW with conventional procedures in effect at the time.

The rest of the statement is pretty straightforward. If you think the docs are legit, so be it and we’ll take our lumps. If they’re fakes, then that should be further investigated and let the chips fall where they may.

Where is the lie? One doesn’t have to lie to rope-a-dope. If you’re fixated on a pawn that is a move or two away from checking the king, why should your opponent announce that he’s set the stage so that checkmate will occur if you take the pawn?

No, that is not what it means. Let’s say I own the house and cannot find the deed. I am too lazy or unaware to find the original or request an official duplicate, so I make one up on my computer. The fake deed is exposed. That doesn’t change my home ownership. And since I do own the house, I know anyone else’s claim to it has to be false. In fact, I would challenge anyone to prove I don’t own it.

If the documents re: Bush are fakes, then more power to anyone who exposes that. Lies are never chased away by more lies. But, why aren’t those demanding proof from CBS also demanding proof from the President about his service? I was just a Marine Corps Corporal, but I can prove (through pictures, mail, eyewitness accounts) where I was and what I was doing in my 4 years of active duty. If Bush had been honest from the very beginning about his service, this issue would have been laid to rest long ago.

(And while I respect healthy debate and differences of opinion, the fact that I served my country proudly and honorably as a United States Marine gives me every right to expect accountability from my leaders.)

John Hulsey
CPL/USMC
1985-1989

If you think the president’s press secretary is a liar, say so.

“Today, USA Today reports that Killian’s secretary (via the Dallas Morning News) states categorically that the memos were not the actual ones Killian might have created at the time. They use the word “forgeries,” but it’s not clear whether or not the memos were created specifically to deceive anyone into believing they were the original memos, or were merely copying what the original source memos said. In other words, is a color photo copy of a $20 bill a “forgery,” or “counterfeit,” or a reproduction of the bill? It depends on what you intend to do with the copy. If you try to pass it off as legal tender…that’s counterfeiting. If you use it to illustrate what a $20 bill looks like in a school report on currencies of the world, then it’s not.”

I think this is the excuse CBS will end up using. They will gloss over the fact that they presented them as “what they would have looked like, had they ever actually been written”,but the problem is they didn’t present them in that manner. Maybe the whole story was an “example”. The “Rove did it” theory didn’t fly, they’ll keep looking until they find something to appease the people out there not looking for the truth any harder than they were.
Keep up the good work!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040915-3.html

hit ctrl-F (find in most browsers) and look for “60″ (for 60 minutes). The white house belived they were true — which is not intended to say anything about the fact that they’re fake, more the content.

Meanwhile — real issues being discussed and debated in this campaign: 0

At least Cronkite had the decency to quit pretending he was an unbiased reporter some time ago.

Between watching tonight’s 60 Minutes and monitoring several live blogrollers, all I can say is that the fat lady has yet to sing.

The longer Dan drags this out the more painful it will be for him. That tenacity reminds of a pitbull that has locked on and won’t let go until dead, no matter how much one beats him.

But this is good, and a wakeup call for journalists. Let the fisking continue.

MCCLELLAN: We received those documents from a major news organization. We had every reason to believe that they were authentic at that time, and in keeping with the spirit of releasing documents and being open about all the documents that we have, we made those documents available to everybody else so you could look at them yourselves. Since that time, there have been a number of questions that have been raised about these documents, and their authenticity. There continue to be questions raised. Those are serious issues. They ought to be looked into fully. The one thing that is not under question is the timing of these orchestrated attacks by the Democrats on the president’s service. These are old, recycled attacks and the Democrats made it clear that they intend to try to tear down the president and throw the kitchen sink at us because they can’t run on John Kerry’s record and because they see him falling behind in the polls — and that’s what this is about.

Huh?”

Somebody asked Scott Mcleland and he said he had every reason to believe they were true when they came out.