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.

Heads rolled! These are what the consequences of sloppy journalism should be. In a failed attempt to smear George Bush, four employees at CBS were FIRED over their role in Rathergate:

The action was prompted by the report of an independent panel that concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the piece. The panel also said CBS News had compounded that failure with a “rigid and blind” defense of the 60 Minutes Wednesday report.

Asked to resign were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was terminated.

The correspondent on the story, CBS News anchor Dan Rather, is stepping down as anchor of CBS Evening News.

“We deeply regret the disservice this flawed 60 Minutes Wednesday report did to the American public, which has a right to count on CBS News for fairness and accuracy,” said CBS President Leslie Moonves. (My emphasis)

Here’s a PDF of the 234-page report (HTML via Wizbang). I’ll have more to say on this later. Right now I’m raking Bush over the coals for violating the prohibition against “covert propaganda.” After I’m done, Dan Rather will be raked.

I’ll use this opportunity to promote my recent National Review Online article, “The Blogosphere’s Smaller Stars.”

Stay tuned…

Unrelated link: Joe Carter on “Breaking out of the Evangelical Ghetto.”

More Rathergate report blogging: Wizbang, Hugh Hewitt, Ratherbiased.com , Rathergate.com, VodkaPundit, Discarded Lies (Charles of Little Green Footballs), Power Line, Patterico, Pejmanesque, Michelle Malkin (several posts), Captain’s Quarters (and here), Blogs for Bush, INDC Journal, Politburo Diktat, PoliPundit, The Moderate Voice, The Sundries Shack, Michael King, Democracy Project (and here)…

Hey, this is what bloggers do!

Power Line’s John Hinderacker will be interviewed on CBS tonight.

Update (1/11): The best commentary on Rathergate?

PoliPundit has a couple of good follow-up posts on the report here and here.

Also see Captain’s Quarters on the Washington Post’s and Weekly Standard’s assessment of the report.

Leave it to bloggers to make information easier to access. Kevin at Wizbang has created a paginated web version of the 234-page report. Read the report. I plan to read it and blog about it, and I’ll be very “intolerant” of commenters who haven’t.

More from INDC Journal.

Captain Ed: “Needless to say, there are many more instances of carelessness, prevarications, and corner-cutting in this report. But the substantial representation made by the Thornburgh-Boccardi report demonstrates beyond any reasonable doubt that CBS allowed Mapes to run wild with this story, that it followed none of its own internal checks and balances, and that CBS management simply allowed Mapes to put whatever she wanted on the air. It is impossible to imagine that CBS would have done anything like this on a story about John Kerry or anyone else other than George Bush.”

Power Line in still picking apart that report.

Back in September, a few days into the blogosphere buzz about Dan Rather’s forged memos (purporting to show that George Bush received preferential treatment while in the Texas Air National Guard), I spent a little time thinking about the computing revolution generally and Rather’s fall specifically. I came up with “Computing Dan Rather,” a take on a previous post called “Blogging Matt Drudge.”

Happy Friday!
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Posted on September 17, 2004

Computing Dan Rather

It’s been suggested that I shouldn’t get caught up in the pettiness and minutiae of fonts and kerning and forgery. I’m urged to move on to more substantive and relevant issues. We all have better things to do than devote time and energy to this story.

There are many great and high-minded ideas and discussions we should be engaged in, but this moment in history, the eve of a presidential election, is very important. The memos matter (see Donald Sensing’s comment). But first, let’s talk about Dan Rather.

Long gone are the days when journalists refrained from publishing details about public figures’ private lives. Walter Winchell broke that taboo by writing a gossip column that made him famous.

But real journalists didn’t consider Winchell one of their own. Gossip by nature is based on rumor and innuendo. Even if true, unsubstantiated claims render them unpublishable. Times have changed.

Now in his fifth decade as a newsman, Dan Rather broke the story of John F. Kennedy’s death in 1963. After that, he became CBS’s White House Correspondent. His career was solidified.

Fast forward to 2004, and we see the veteran from the old school collapsing in a heap of his own making. His pride won’t let him admit he messed up. Get this: Rather claims that although the authenticity of the documents is questionable, the contents are true. How does he know? On what/whom is he basing this claim?

According to this story, Rather’s claim seems to be based on an assumption that President Bush is ignoring him and refusing to answer his questions. I think Rather is missing the point. He’s making the claim that Bush is a liar; the burden of proof is on him to prove it is true.

Rather’s boss attempts to back away from the whole mess. From the New York Post:

The president of CBS News last night vowed to “redouble our efforts” to determine if anchor Dan Rather’s controversial National Guard documents about President Bush are real or forgeries.

It’s the first time that CBS has taken a step away from Rather, as a growing number of experts say the memos appear to be forgeries.

Rather also admitted for the first time last night that there are serious question about their authenticity.

“If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I’d like to break that story,” Rather told The Washington Post, adding if he is wrong, listeners will “learn it from me.”

The flap has put the network’s credibility on the line, with skeptics charging that Rather fell for a hoax because he’s out to get Bush.

And that’s exactly what he’s out to do. It’s common knowledge that most journalists are leftists, whether they think so or not. Rather’s own ideology and animus toward President Bush played a significant role in his decision to go on national television with questionable documents that purported to contradict the president. He knew he’d be under scrutiny by Bush supporters. Either he thought we were stupid, or he didn’t care. Rather will not acknowledge that he used poor judgment.

And he won’t acknowledge people like myself, either. Bloggers and Matt Drudge are mocked and laughed at by mainstream media, but a new day has dawned, and things will never be the same.

The broadcast is no longer in the hands of a few who decide what is and is not “news.” We live in a time unlike anything other in the history of the world. With the power of the Internet, regular folks like you and me can break and report stories long before they hit broadcast news.

Thanks to IBM , ordinary people now have the power and speed to expose corruption, journalistic or otherwise. (A commenter points out: “BTW, you should be thanking Apple for the Apple II the REAL start of the PC revolution and the university of Illinois for the original internet GUI browser.” I love this stuff.) The history of the personal computer is fascinating, and technology is still changing.

But forget PCs and bloggers for a moment. Congress has gotten involved, calling for an investigation. In the twilight of his career, Rather is going down ingloriously. I’m glad this misfortune has befallen him because he brought it on himself. But he didn’t start this fire; personal attacks against a sitting president, once taboo, are commonplace.

Rather’s shoddiness has so embarrassed the rest of mainstream media, they’re turning on him. Newspapers such as the Washington Post practically shouted, “He did it!” USAToday has launched an investigation. Can you believe it? It’s a joy to watch liberal media eating their own.

I just hope they don’t burp to loudly.
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Unrelated linkfest!: Winfield Myers gets to the real root causes of crime.

Saintknowitall knows all about evolutionists.

The Commonwealth Conservative analyzes the Virginia governor’s race.

Mr. and Mrs. George H. W. Bush celebrate 60 years of marriage.

Got an interesting post? Send me an e-mail.

Update: Were you asleep during Rathergate? Here’s your chance to catch up. Michelle Malkin provides historical links. (Hat tip: David Limbaugh)

I haven’t defined “small” and “medium” because I want to hear from a wide range of people. If you believe you’ve contributed to the exposure of the forged Killian memos or just the flow of information, I want to hear from you.

If you’ve been following the scandal from the beginning as I have, you may know that Power Line and Little Green Footballs did some independent investigating of their own. As a result of the increased traffic, the Power Line bloggers posted this entry. I commend them for the hours put into the ongoing investigation. They’ve been interviewed and written about by magazines such as Newsweek and Time.

Small- and medium-sized bloggers, how closely did you follow the story? Did you conduct an independent investigation or interview people?

Readers, I’d also like to hear from you. Which blogs did you check everyday to find out the latest news about the scandal? Only the big bloggers or some of the minor players?

Please spread the word far and wide about my survey. You may leave a comment on this post or e-mail me or both. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for your support!

Update: CBS is still in the discredited document business. Check Power Line. Allahpundit does more investigating.

Ace of Spades: What’s this about a NYT reporter tipping off Islamic terrorists?

Reminder:: I’ve disabled linking in comments because of spam.

Update II: More Memogate/Rathergate stuff from HobbsOnline.

INDC Journal says Texas has launched a criminal investigation into the forged Killian memos.

See Dan Rather’s free-fallout into the ratings dumpster.

Semi-related: JustOneMinute on the New York Times on Valerie Plame, world-class spy.

Hey bloggers, do you want to interview one of those foreign observers sent to monitor the November election? See No quarters blog.

Update: Does CBS source Bill Burkett have a blog? Ask Beldar.

Jay Rosen at PressThink asks, “Does CBS News Have a Political Future in This State?” The “AP Writers For Kerry” club stumps for their man. Power Line has the details. Protein Wisdom has more on the AP and other interesting things…

See Joe at Daily Newsbrief for the latest on liberal bias. Why do we let them get away with this stuff?

Update: Power Line has more on the AP, especially reporter Jennifer Loven. Read the latest on Bill Burkett, CBS source, at Allahpundit.

Update II (9/26): Michelle Malkin dissects a column by conservative-turned-liberal David Broder, and Power Line does the same to a column written by Richard Cohen. Good stuff.

How closely have you been following the network’s folly? Leave a comment and I’ll link to your latest post.

More updates to follow…

“Many questions still remain. Was a crime committed? I believe so. Obviously, forgery is involved. But the Texas Legal Code also says it is a third degree felony if one ‘makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record’ or ‘makes, presents, or uses a governmental record with knowledge of its falsity.’”

“Did the Kerry campaign know about the existence of the documents in question in advance of the CBS report? A chronology of events indicates they did.”

“Bill Burkett says he made multiple contacts with the Kerry campaign in August, sending an e-mail newsletter on August 21 saying he talked to Kerry campaign seniors on Friday, August 20. The Kerry campaign told him they wanted to ‘counterattack,’ and he says he ‘gave them the information to do it with.’”

“Bill Burkett says he contacted the Democratic National Committee and laid out a rationale for using what he termed ‘down and dirty tactics against President Bush.’”

“We know that the Kerry campaign devised a strategy to attack the President’s National Guard service that began the same night the Republican National Convention ended, with Senator Kerry attacking the President’s guard service on the night of September 2.”

“CBS should act now to assure its viewers that it understands the gravity of its producer’s actions, and the Kerry campaign and the DNC should answer these questions, abandon its character assassination campaign and focus on the issues relevant to the American people in this election.”

“The centerpiece of the Kerry Campaign’s ‘character based critique,’ Boston-speak for character assassination, is based on a discredited news report that was based on the criminal activity of someone who mocked up and forged documents. What’s that say for the character of the Kerry campaign?

I like bold, non-nuanced, euphemism-free talk. See this CNSNews story. More CBS-related links…

***

Karl Rove speaks. See Power Line. More on Karl Rove from Wizbang. Beldar says CBS admits it violated policy by contacting Lockhart. Astonishing.

Semi-related: Flying Space Monkey makes an interesting comparison. Allahpundit wants to know why CBS producer Mary Mapes hasn’t been fired.

Jayson Blair comments on Rathergate? Rathergate.com has an exclusive.

I’m waiting for the day my blog is mentioned in a newspaper, just like ProfessorBainbridge and the other big boys. See Blogs for Bush on character assassination.

The Associated Press Campaigns for Kerry, says Power Line.

Power Line has the latest on “fake but accurate.”

Everybody’s trying to put the blame on somebody else. And Dan Rather had to be forced to admit the documents might be fakes, but he still hasn’t said this:

“It is true. I don’t like George Bush and I wanted to send him back to Texas. I knew the documents were questionable, but in my zeal, I resorted to dirty tricks. I’m so ashamed for presenting to the American public forged documents. I have no excuse. Although my career ended decades ago, I’m still trying to hold on to a remnant of the past: The domination of my beloved leftist media. We had a good run, didn’t we boys? Anyway…America, I humbly beg your forgiveness.”

You think? Let’s go to the story:

A war of words has erupted within the halls of “60 Minutes” following Dan Rather’s admission that CBS News aired a report on President Bush using questionable documents.

On one side of the battle is Steve Kroft, a veteran correspondent on the Sunday edition of “60 Minutes.” On the other is Don Hewitt, founder of the pioneering newsmagazine.

Kroft argues it’s unlikely the Sunday show would have made the mistake of using the documents that bolstered Rather’s report – which aired on the Wednesday telecast, formerly known as “60 Minutes II.”

So much so, Kroft and staffers on the Sunday telecast want it to be clear — they weren’t the ones that were duped.

Too little, too late, Kroft. I don’t know about you, but I’m not letting the network wiggle off the hook that easily. If it hadn’t been Dan Rather, some other “journalist” at CBS would’ve picked it up. You can make book on that.

In another delightful story, we read:

Across the country, CBS affiliates continued to be bombarded with mail from viewers expressing their outrage over Dan Rather in particular and the journalistic debacle in general. Affiliate board is sure to take up the subject at its next meeting, set for Oct. 5.

“Some people broke the cardinal rule and screwed us all,” one “60 Minutes” veteran said Tuesday.

I’ll concede. That local affiliates have to reap what Rather has sown is unfair, but Rather is getting what he deserves. Unfortunately, his colleagues have to suffer, the same way we’ve suffered his transparent liberal bias all these years. Such is life!

Throughout the day, CBS News prexy Andrew Heyward [who should be fired] and others worked to appoint members to an independent review panel that will dissect the circumstances leading to the decision to air documents pertaining to President Bush’s service in the Air National Guard….

So far, no one at CBS News has been fired. Industryites don’t believe Rather will resign over the flap, but they concede the final chapter is far from written.

I don’t know about you, but I think bloggers have already written it.

***

Allahpundit post a funny pic of Dan Rather. More on the independent panel at Wizbang.

Malkin mentions an interesting e-mail auction. Check out Bainbridge’s comment.

(Hat tip: Power Line)

According to Drudge:

CBS DOC SOURCE SET TO SUE NETWORK FOR LIBEL
Wed Sep 22 2004 00:05:20 ET

Bill Burkett, the man identified yesterday by CBS as the source of the controversial documents used in its September 8 “60 Minutes II” report questioning President Bush’s Air National Guard service, plans to sue the network, the NY SUN reports.

Burkett has had “several meetings with lawyers to determine the best course of action.” The planned lawsuit would center on “defamation of character and libel.”

Mr. Burkett “told me everything about the process” of his dealings with CBS and how he came into possession of the documents at the heart of the controversy, a lawyer close to Burkett said.

The lawyer said the CBS News producer, Mary Mapes, promised to protect Mr. Burkett with complete anonymity and CBS was to “expend both time and money authenticating” the memos.

“Bill Burkett went with CBS News on this over ABC News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post because they promised to work the hardest to protect him and authenticate the documents. ,” Mr.Van Os told the Sun. “Bill leveled with [CBS] about his doubts over the papers, and they promised him they would take their time. They spent all of three days, maybe less, on authentication.”

Developing…

And the Kerry campaign is involved. See you back in the Senate in January, Mr. Kerry.

More links…

Patterico explains the facts to CBS. Also see Power Line.

Semi-related post over at Evangelical Outpost.

Interesting quote over at Michelle Malkin’s place.

Andrew Heyward [President of CBS] Internal E-Mail to CBS News Employees
Mon Sep 20 2004 13:25:11 ET

Dear CBS News Colleagues,

Many of you have expressed understandable concern about the disputed documents used in the 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY report on President Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard.

Obviously, 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY had full confidence in the original report or it would not have aired. However, in the wake of serious and disturbing questions that came up after the broadcast, CBS News has done extensive additional reporting in an effort to confirm the documents’ authenticity. That included interviews with Marian Carr Knox, secretary to the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, the officer named as the author of the documents; an interview with Bill Burkett, the former Guard officer who provided the memos to 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY; and a further review of the forensic evidence on both sides of the debate.

Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret.

CBS News and CBS management are commissioning an independent review of the process by which the report was prepared and broadcast to help determine what actions need to be taken. The names of the people conducting the review will be announced shortly, and their findings will be made public.

Nothing is more important to us than our credibility and keeping faith with the millions of people who count on us for fair, accurate, reliable, and independent reporting. I know all of you work tirelessly to be worthy of that trust. I hope today’s public statements about the documents are an important first step in restoring YOUR confidence in the standards and systems we have in place to ensure that we live up to our obligations to our viewers, listeners, and readers — and to one another.

Thanks
Andrew

CBS ought to be ashamed. Heyward and Rather need to hold a primetime press conference and answer for what they’ve done. Then Congress should investigate CBS and find out who the source of the forged Killian memos was and whether he/she is connected to John Kerry’s campaign. If there’s no connection, good for Kerry. Bunch of newspaper idiots.

More links: Allahpundit spends every waking hour on this stuff (and this). Corante has more advice for CBS.

RatherBiased is posting at Mudville Gazette due to fire at his host company, and INDC Journal notes the DNC is headed for a fall. Sort of. Blogs for Bush has links to TIME Magazine’s article about bloggers.

Update: Regarding my remark about the Kerry campaign, check this out. Power Line picked up on this, too.

Matt Drudge EXCLUSIVE // Mon Sep 20 2004 11:58:02 ET

STATEMENT FROM DAN RATHER:

Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY story about President Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question — and their source — vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome.

Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where — if I knew then what I know now — I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.

But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.

Please know that nothing is more important to us than people’s trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.

Rush Limbaugh pointed out that if CBS were really an innocent party in this mess, Dan Rather should be expressing anger about being duped, a missing element in this statement.

******
According to the New York Times (registration req.), CBS finally admits it was “misled.” How gracious of CBS.

After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a “60 Minutes” report that raised new questions about President Bush’s National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, said CBS News would most likely make an announcement as early as today that it had been deceived about the documents’ origins. CBS News has already begun intensive reporting on where they came from, and people at the network said it was now possible that officials would open an internal inquiry into how it moved forward with the report. Officials say they are now beginning to believe the report was too flawed to have gone on the air.

But they cautioned that CBS News could still pull back from an announcement. Officials met last night with Dan Rather, the anchor who presented the report, to go over the information it had collected about the documents one last time before making a final decision. Mr. Rather was not available for comment late last night.

No one but a liberal would believe that Dan Rather didn’t at least suspect the memos were fakes. Frankly, I don’t buy it, but whatever. They had no choice but to concede something, so I guess this is the concession.

Journalism is dead. Long live journalism!

Update: See Power Line and Michelle Malkin.

The American Mind: USAToday remains unaccountable. Read Scrappleface’s post about Rather’s “resignation.”

More web info at Blogs for Bush.

Power Line links to Kurtz, who recaps the role of bloggers.

I’m following the big bloggers following the news on this, so I’ll update this post periodically.

Do you think Congress should investigate ? Power Line weighs in. The Allahpundit needs a break. Blogs for Bush sees a conflict of interest in CBS’s “investigation.”

The White House did it! IMAO: Bringing people together. Does the Washington Post come clean? See BeldarBlog.

Big Media is old news, says Idler Yet.

Professor Bainbridge reacts to mainstream media’s comments about bloggers.

Off-topic: Michelle Malkin trackbacked the Irreverent Reverends II post. Excellent. The more people who know what the “reverends” really believe, the better.

Reminder: I’ve disabled linking within comments. I may have found the cure to comment spam sickness, so linking may be restored this week. I’ll keep you posted.

Update: Power Line on Mark Steyn latest.

Semi-related: Is there a Kerry cover-up going on? JustOneMinute has the latest.

Power Line has information on newly-released memos from the Department of Defense re: Bush’s Guard service.

Did the Kerry campaign have something to do with forged memos? See Blogs for Bush.

More good stuff from Corante.

There are many great and high-minded ideas and discussions we should be engaged in, but this moment in history, the eve of a presidential election, is very important. The memos matter (see Donald Sensing’s comment). But first, let’s talk about Dan Rather.

Long gone are the days when journalists refrained from publishing details about public figures’ private lives. Walter Winchell broke that taboo by writing a gossip column that made him famous.

But real journalists didn’t consider Winchell one of their own. Gossip by nature is based on rumor and innuendo. Even if true, unsubstantiated claims render them unpublishable. Times have changed.

Now in his fifth decade as a newsman, Dan Rather broke the story of John F. Kennedy’s death in 1963. After that, he became CBS’s White House Correspondent. His career was solidified.

Fast forward to 2004, and we see the veteran from the old school collapsing in a heap of his own making. His pride won’t let him admit he messed up. Get this: Rather claims that although the authenticity of the documents is questionable, the contents are true. How does he know? On what/whom is he basing this claim?

According to this story, Rather’s claim seems to be based on an assumption that President Bush is ignoring him and refusing to answer his questions. I think Rather is missing the point. He’s making the claim that Bush is a liar; the burden of proof is on him to prove it is true.

Rather’s boss attempts to back away from the whole mess. From the New York Post:

The president of CBS News last night vowed to “redouble our efforts” to determine if anchor Dan Rather’s controversial National Guard documents about President Bush are real or forgeries.

It’s the first time that CBS has taken a step away from Rather, as a growing number of experts say the memos appear to be forgeries.

Rather also admitted for the first time last night that there are serious question about their authenticity.

“If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I’d like to break that story,” Rather told The Washington Post, adding if he is wrong, listeners will “learn it from me.”

The flap has put the network’s credibility on the line, with skeptics charging that Rather fell for a hoax because he’s out to get Bush.

And that’s exactly what he’s out to do. It’s common knowledge that most journalists are leftists, whether they think so or not. Rather’s own ideology and animus toward President Bush played a significant role in his decision to go on national television with questionable documents that purported to contradict the president. He knew he’d be under scrutiny by Bush supporters. Either he thought we were stupid, or he didn’t care. Rather will not acknowledge that he used poor judgment.

And he won’t acknowledge people like myself, either. Bloggers and Matt Drudge are mocked and laughed at by mainstream media, but a new day has dawned, and things will never be the same.

The broadcast is no longer in the hands of a few who decide what is and is not “news.” We live in a time unlike anything other in the history of the world. With the power of the Internet, regular folks like you and me can break and report stories long before they hit broadcast news.

Thanks to IBM , ordinary people now have the power and speed to expose corruption, journalistic or otherwise. (A commenter points out: “BTW, you should be thanking Apple for the Apple II the REAL start of the PC revolution and the university of Illinois for the original internet GUI browser.” I love this stuff.) The history of the personal computer is fascinating, and technology is still changing.

But forget PCs and bloggers for a moment. Congress has gotten involved, calling for an investigation. In the twilight of his career, Rather is going down ingloriously. I’m glad this misfortune has befallen him because he brought it on himself. But he didn’t start this fire; personal attacks against a sitting president, once taboo, are commonplace.

Rather’s shoddiness has so embarrassed the rest of mainstream media, they’re turning on him. Newspapers such as the Washington Post practically shouted, “He did it!” USAToday has launched an investigation. Can you believe it?

It’s a joy to watch liberal media eating their own.

I just hope they don’t burp too loudly.

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**Links: Read Michelle Malkin’s love letter to bloggers, and Power Line sends a shout out to readers.

See Rathergate, by Larry Elder and Malkin on Mary Mapes.

Dan Rather makes a “confession”, according to ScrappleFace.

Wizbang on the early years of the “60 Minutes” story, and Right Wing News takes a humorous look at the history of forged documents.

Update II: Protein Wisdom pulls a Johnny Cochran. Idler Yet’s prediction comes true.

Power Line ponders, “Is Memogate Hurting Kerry?”

Update III: JustOneMinute: CBS had six docs, but buried two?

Semi-related: Steve Verdon on Instapundits “demise.”

Update IV: Chrenkoff comments on the Casualties of the Media Civil War.

CBS Now Says Announcement Will Be Made at 5:00 p.m. Sources: Will admit docs are false but content is not.

Huh?

In a related matter, INDC Journal has an update on the Boston Globe’s antics, and Ace of Spades has the siren.

Update: Tim Blair asks,”Who knew what, when? HobbsOnline asks, “How long have Dems known about the memos? Allahpundit asks, “What’s up with the delay?

Check out the lone protester on Rathergate.com.

Backcountry Conservative is live-blogging the non-conference. It’s very exciting.

Update II (7:22 p.m.): The American Thinker has the play by play of CBS’s bizarre performance.

Corante dissects CBS’s statement.