Important Update: It seems that Howard hasn’t filed suit against CBS. He’s hired a lawyer to prepare a suit when the time comes. Sources say he will sue if CBS doesn’t clear his name. In that regard, count on this post title being accurate soon enough. Sacrificial lambs must die. Figuratively speaking.
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I read the 224-page “Rathergate” Report but never got the chance to blog about it.
In a nutshell, the Texas Army National Guard story was the baby of producer Mary Mapes (pictured below left), a Bush hater who chased the story for five years. During an election cycle where her guy (John Kerry) was getting clobbered by the Swift Boat vets and his own dull personality, Mapes and others, including Dan Rather (who is still employed at CBS), ran what’s known in the report as the “Segment,” which was based on badly forged memos and a witness who lied to the producers during the investigation.
In the Segment, which ran on September 8, and others to follow, Rather misled viewers by implying that the obviously forged memos had been authenticated by CBS’s experts. In fact, none of the four document examiners authenticated the documents, nor could they because the documents were copies, not originals. One of the handwriting and document experts warned Mapes not to go on the air with the documents, and she was told to mind her own business.
Bottom line — Inexplicably, the “Panel” concluded that CBS employees involved in this sloppy mess, despite glaring leftism (made-up word), were not motivated by political bias but simply a competitive rush to get the segment on the air to beat the other networks. Here’s a PDF of the report.
By the way, did I mention that Mapes and Bill Burke, the star witness who gave her the forged documents and lied about where he got them, had been in contact with the Kerry campaign during the Segment’s preparation??? It was very frustrating to have followed Rathergate from the beginning, watch bloggers develop the story, then read the report and see page after page of political bias, only to have the Panel wimp out in the end. This was only about getting on the air with Bush dirt first. That’s all, nothing more, they said. Weenies.
Four employees at CBS were fired over this mess, but compared to the head honchos, they are just underlings and scapegoats. By the way, the fired employees are still there. Many speculated they were preparing to sue for wrongful termination.
There is so much more to the report, but that should give you a general idea. WorldNetDaily has a good report round-up, and Power Line lawyer/blogger Paul Mirengoff does an excellent job applying legal principles to this mess to show that CBS’s bias couldn’t have been more obvious. Ironically, one member of the Panel was Attorney General.
This leads us to Josh Howard, an executive producer who tried to fix this mess before it spiraled even more out of control. He was rebuffed by top brass. Ratherbiased.com cites the section of the report which proves he wanted to admit the memos were forged. Also see Power Line.
The New York Observer has the story. Incidentally, I think the story is poorly written. But that’s not the point, I guess. Here’s a excerpt:
Mr. Howard and two other ousted CBS staffers — his top deputy, Mary Murphy, and CBS News senior vice president Betsy West — haven’t resigned. And sources close to Mr. Howard said that before any resignation comes, the 23-year CBS News veteran is demanding that the network retract Mr. Moonves’ remarks, correct its official story line and ultimately clear his name….Mr. Howard also believes, those sources said, that the report itself excludes evidence that would implicate top management at CBS and restore Mr. Howard’s reputation in the television news business.
A senior official at CBS told NYTV that Mr. Howard’s claims had no basis in fact and that management had only acted on the findings of the report, which the company deemed thorough, accurate and independent.
I find myself in the ironic position of defending Howard, although at the time I read the report, I thought his ouster was justified. He should have pushed harder to exclude the documents and/or require more evidence of their authenticity from Mapes.
CBS got off easy, and many bloggers expressed the same sentiment after news of the firings. Dan Rather is still there, so we gained no satisfaction from the “resolution.” Despite the report’s conclusion that CBS, including Rather, mislead viewers, he and other top folks still have their jobs.
I’m behind Howard all the way on this, and I hope he’s aided by a blog swarm that forces CBS to either retract their statements about him or initiates another investigation into CBS. A real investigation this time.
See the Rathergate category for background information. My personal favorite is the post that started it all. The Boston Globe based their story on the memos and tried to back-pedal and point fingers when they turned out to be forgeries. Weenies.
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Links: INDC Journal, Wizbang (and here), interesting semi-related post at JustOneMinute, Liberty Dad, Power Line, Michelle Malkin, Powerpundit, Confederate Yankee, ThoughtsOnline…
Captain Ed is on Howard’s side, too. So is Dinocrat. This could get interesting.
Slant Point also supports Howard.
Do you support Howard’s actions? Do you think he should just go away? In order to understand exactly what’s going on, you probably should invest some time in reading the report.
Update: Cross-posted at Ratherbiased.com.
Semi-related post at Vodkapundit.
See my post tomgrey. motime. com/ 1108553873#418104
I urge you to get EasonGate and RatherBiased together, and track the higher bosses. In the CBS case, L. Moonves. And there could well be a BlogStorm against Moonves — especially if combined with an advertiser boycott against advertisers who support such biased news.
It could be a good role for one of my favorite bloggers, who wants more fame, and has the advantages of being black, female, pro-life, very articulate — and mostly correct! (As well as right.)
Comment by Tom Grey - Liberty Dad — 02.16.05 @ 6:54 am
Josh Howard, Betsy West, and Mary Murphy v. CBS News
Drudge’s big splash today is “war inside CBS” - which is certainly interesting.
The basic gist of it, as stated by RatherBiased.com, is this:
In a blockbuster story in tomorrow’s New York Observer, TV reporter Joe Hagan reveals that Howard an…
Trackback by Myopic Zeal — 02.16.05 @ 8:09 am
CBS: MORE MSM MELTDOWN NEWS
You’ve seen the NY Observer piece on CBS’s meltdown. Blog powerhouse Power Line first highlighted the Thornburgh report’s silence on the role top execs played in the memo fiasco here. Maybe Josh Howard and his lawyer were reading! (While we’re…
Trackback by Michelle Malkin — 02.16.05 @ 8:56 am
It’s About To Hit The Fan AT CBS
The four CBS scapegoats from the Rathergate/Memogate affair are not necessarily going quietly. (H/T Captain’s Quarters) The NY Observer reports on what could be a very ugly situation for CBS. Prominent among the targets was executive producer Josh Ho…
Trackback by Secure Liberty — 02.16.05 @ 10:31 am
Quietly Into That Dark Night
If the allegations of the Rathergate three, led by Josh Howard, are correct, could they mean the existance of a “vast left-wing conspiracy” at the hallowed halls of CBS?
Trackback by The American Princess — 02.16.05 @ 10:47 am
Rathergate Continues
This is getting ugly. It appears that CBS simply tried to sweep it under the rug and then whitewash things to make them go away. Unfortunatly this appears to be backfiring.
Trackback by HCS's Pad — 02.16.05 @ 10:47 am
When the report came out, I thought it was BS. Only Mapes was fired, the other 3 were suggested to leave. And the report didn’t touch Rather, or the senior CBS honchos. To see all the evidence, and present it in the report, and then tell us it was only Mapes’ zeal to be first?!?
While I think Howard and company are also culpable, he’s right: CBS needs to come clean, and show how far the rot goes, not just stake out a few lambs for the slaughter.
Comment by SCSIwuzzy — 02.16.05 @ 10:55 am
Scapegoats put up fight
From the New York Observer: Mr. Howard and two other ousted CBS staffers—his top deputy, Mary Murphy, and CBS News…
Trackback by JackLewis.net — 02.16.05 @ 11:12 am
Wednesday Menu: Black Eye Peas
For your mid-day dining pleasure, we offer you to choose from one of these specialties: Confederate Yankee is following the CBS/memo story. La Shawn Barber follows it, too. As does Wizbang. As does Wonkette. aTypicalJoe goes on an outing. Chase
Trackback by basil's blog — 02.16.05 @ 11:46 am
I like the idea that there is infighting inside of CBS.They deserve it for turning on Bernard Goldberg and treating him like a piece of trash.
Comment by ratso ferrari — 02.16.05 @ 12:37 pm
Ratso: If only the people at CBS had read Goldberg’s books and heeded them. This mess could have been avoided. To top it all off, now we can add the CBS investigative panel to the list of “people not to be trusted.”
Comment by Evon Bachaus — 02.16.05 @ 12:47 pm
Howard should blog: La Shawn Barber’s Josh Howard
La Shawn Barber has a roundup of comments on Josh Howard’s trying to get CBS to ‘retract Mr. Moonves’ remarks, correct its official story line and ultimately clear his name’, and asks for opinions.
Well, if Howard thinks he wasn’t treated fairl…
Trackback by chattr +a -V — 02.16.05 @ 12:59 pm
CBS scandalized employees threaten to sue.
Josh Howard, the executive producer of “60 Minutes Wednesday” that is being forced to resign, isn’t leaving without making some noise first. The guys over at RatherBiased.com along with The Drudge Report are previewing a New York Observer article t…
Trackback by Expertise's Politics and Sports Blog — 02.16.05 @ 1:15 pm
Rathergate: It’s not over yet folks.
Now, after being asked to resign (how do I get a job where I can be asked to resign and tell them no and still get paid?) they refuse to leave and have hired lawyers. In the end, they’ll probably keep their jobs because they don’t want to deal with …
Trackback by Ravings of John C. A. Bambenek — 02.16.05 @ 1:27 pm
Trial Balloon Suit
According to La Shawn Barber, John Howard (a player in the RatherGate scandal) hasn’t filed suit against CBS yet, contrary to earlier reports that stated Howard’s lawyers had in fact served the papers. Whatever. The fact remains that Howard is gettin…
Trackback by PunditGuy — 02.16.05 @ 7:10 pm
‘Atta girl!
Comment by The Anchoress — 02.16.05 @ 7:14 pm
Blogosphere 9/16
Blogosphere Mini Wrap Up Blogs for Bush - Abortion Will be Illegal in SD? Speed of Thought - Bloggers at the Gates Say Anything - It is unusual that Tom Jones is still getting underwear. A Little About Everything -…
Trackback by The Political Teen — 02.16.05 @ 10:05 pm
Please don’t show any pictures of Mapes without advanced notice.
Comment by Walter E. Wallis — 02.16.05 @ 10:10 pm
Walter, LOL.
I once saw a picture of a younger looking Mapes. Needless to say she found her ‘precious’ and Precious has slowly but surely turned her into a pitiful creature like Gollum.
Comment by Andy — 02.17.05 @ 10:24 am
La Shawn, you are right about Howard being railroaded. So I did follow your suggestion about posting on the issue, and I hope others will follow your advice as well.
Comment by MaxedOutMama — 02.17.05 @ 11:50 am