Dan Rather Joins Tinfoil Hat Brigade

So poor Dan Rather was a sacrificial lamb to the vast right wing conspiracy - of which the brass at CBS is apparently a part - but he’s fighting back (a little late, but whatever…):

EXCERPT:

[i]The suit, which seeks $70 million in damages, names as defendants CBS and its chief executive, Leslie Moonves; Viacom and its executive chairman, Sumner Redstone; and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.

In the suit, filed this afternoon in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Rather charges that CBS and its executives made him “a scapegoat” in an attempt "to pacify the White House,�??"though the formal complaint presents virtually no direct evidence to that effect. To buttress this claim, Mr. Rather quotes the executive who oversaw his regular segment on CBS Radio, telling Mr. Rather in November 2004 that he was losing that slot, effective immediately, because of "pressure from ‘the right wing.’ "

He also continues to take vehement issue with the appointment by CBS of Richard Thornburgh, an attorney general in the administration of the elder President Bush, as one of the two outside panelists given the job of reviewing how the disputed broadcast had been prepared. [/i]

Byron York has further thoughts here:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTNjNjVkMGQ2MTIwM2RhMTZlYjBhZDRmY2RjNmM5ZmM=

EXCERPT:

[i]In the suit, Rather alleges that he was forced to apologize for the Bush story as part of a conspiracy by top CBS management to ensure that no further damaging revelations about the president�??s time in the Texas Air National Guard would become public.

Rather also alleges that CBS hired a private investigator to re-report the original story �?? after Rather threatened to hire his own private eye to do the same thing �?? and that the investigator found the story to be accurate, only to have his findings suppressed by CBS as part of an effort to curry favor with the Bush White House.

Finally, Rather alleges that CBS fired him over the story the day after Bush was reelected, despite his later claims that his departure was separate from the Bush story.[/i]

I think JTF should investigate…

This is sorta “out of nowhere” of ol’ Dan - didn’t he already apologize on national TV for allowing his (or perhaps the network’s) bias to shape the newscast? It’s a little late for him to suddenly be worried about his “honor” isn’t it? Was he a hostage of CBS until just recently? Is that why he went along with them all this time?

What is the frequency Kenneth?

[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
So poor Dan Rather was a sacrificial lamb to the vast right wing conspiracy - of which the brass at CBS is apparently a part - but he’s fighting back (a little late, but whatever…):

I think JTF should investigate…[/quote]

The Story That Didn’t Run - Here’s the piece that ‘60 Minutes’ killed for its report on the Bush Guard documents
Sept. 22, 2005 - In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, CBS bumped another sensitive piece slated for the same “60 Minutes” broadcast: a half-hour segment about how the U.S. government was snookered by forged documents purporting to show Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger…

A team of “60 Minutes” correspondents and consulting reporters spent more than six months investigating the Niger uranium documents fraud, CBS sources tell NEWSWEEK…

…correspondent Ed Bradley, asked tough questions about how the White House came to embrace the fraudulent documents and why administration officials chose to include a 16-word reference to the questionable uranium purchase in President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech.

But just hours before the piece was set to air on the evening of Sept. 8, the reporters and producers on the CBS team were stunned to learn the story was being scrapped to make room for a seemingly sensational story about new documents showing that Bush ignored a direct order to take a flight physical while serving in the National Guard more than 30 years ago…

60 Minutes: Shelving a Story to Boost Bush?
CBS puts Niger expose on hold as boss endorses Republicans
September 28, 2004
In an outrageous politicization of journalism, CBS announced it would not air a report on forged documents that the Bush administration used to sell the Iraq war until after the November 2 election (New York Times, 9/25/04). A network spokesperson issued a statement declaring, “We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election.”

The 60 Minutes segment was ready to air on September 8, but was bumped in favor of the now infamous report that relied on supposed National Guard memos whose authenticity CBS now says it cannot confirm. The furor over the Guard memos has created a situation where CBS executives say “the network can now not credibly air a report questioning how the Bush administration could have gotten taken in by phony documents” (Newsweek online, 9/22/04)…

Sumner Redstone, CEO of CBS’s parent company Viacom, made an unusual political statement at a gathering of corporate leaders in Hong Kong (Asian Wall Street Journal, 9/24/04):

“I don’t want to denigrate Kerry… but from a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on. The Democrats are not bad people… But from a Viacom standpoint, we believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.”
http://www.fair.org/activism/cbs-niger.html

Getting the tinfoil hat label usually means your too close to the truth.

[quote]JustTheFacts wrote:

The Story That Didn’t Run - Here’s the piece that ‘60 Minutes’ killed for its report on the Bush Guard documents
Sept. 22, 2005 - In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, CBS bumped another sensitive piece slated for the same “60 Minutes” broadcast: a half-hour segment about how the U.S. government was snookered by forged documents purporting to show Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger…

A team of “60 Minutes” correspondents and consulting reporters spent more than six months investigating the Niger uranium documents fraud, CBS sources tell NEWSWEEK…

…correspondent Ed Bradley, asked tough questions about how the White House came to embrace the fraudulent documents and why administration officials chose to include a 16-word reference to the questionable uranium purchase in President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech.

But just hours before the piece was set to air on the evening of Sept. 8, the reporters and producers on the CBS team were stunned to learn the story was being scrapped to make room for a seemingly sensational story about new documents showing that Bush ignored a direct order to take a flight physical while serving in the National Guard more than 30 years ago…
MSN [/quote]
Conspiracy theory!!!

It’s just a coincidence… It always is.

You ever notice how the Tin Foil Hat brigade can never say no to any conspiracy?

It’d make more sense (but still not much) if the conspiracy crackpots would at least be occasionally choosy - “no, that particular conspiracy theory about Elvis heading up the Taliban is just nonsense” - but they never do. All conspiracies, all the time - no matter time, place, subject, or persons involved - are real and right.

Stupid.

As to ole Danny Rather - he was humiliated and he just can’t accept responsibility for his shameful conduct.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
You ever notice how the Tin Foil Hat brigade can never say no to any conspiracy?

It’d make more sense (but still not much) if the conspiracy crackpots would at least be occasionally choosy - “no, that particular conspiracy theory about Elvis heading up the Taliban is just nonsense” - but they never do. All conspiracies, all the time - no matter time, place, subject, or persons involved - are real and right.

Stupid.

As to ole Danny Rather - he was humiliated and he just can’t accept responsibility for his shameful conduct.[/quote]

And the US government, DOD, CIA, insert government entity or official here never lies, misleads the public, engages in any illegal activity, or operate in a covert manner in an attempt to keep information and actions secret.

What they tell you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Stupid.

I never see you or any other cheney fluffer ever doubt the word of George Bush or the military or anyone who sides with your opinion.

[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:

I never see you or any other cheney fluffer ever doubt the word of George Bush or the military or anyone who sides with your opinion.[/quote]

You’ve proven your idiocy before, but the above is, of course, nonsense - you are just swinging wildly.

I like to base my opinion on the relevant, rational information instead of venturing into fantasy land all because I want to Rage Against the Machine.

But then, I am picky like that.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
Inner Hulk wrote:

I never see you or any other cheney fluffer ever doubt the word of George Bush or the military or anyone who sides with your opinion.

You’ve proven your idiocy before, but the above is, of course, nonsense - you are just swinging wildly.

I like to base my opinion on the relevant, rational information instead of venturing into fantasy land all because I want to Rage Against the Machine.

But then, I am picky like that.
[/quote]

But in a movie I once saw the CIA were the bad guys therefore all conspiracy theories must be true and anyone that denies them is a “cheney fluffer”.

US now ranks 53rd in World Press Freedom Index
October 27, 2006
The news media advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders released their fifth annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index this week, and it shows that the United States has dropped 9 places since last year, and is now ranked 53rd, alongside Botswana, Croatia and Tonga. The authors of the report say that the steady erosion of press freedom in countries like the US, France and Japan (two other countries that slipped significantly on the index) is “very alarming.”

The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism…”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1027/dailyUpdate.html

The CIA and the Media
by Carl Bernstein
Rolling Stone, Oct. 20, 1977
The Agency’s dealings with the press began during the earliest stages of the Cold War. Allen Dulles, who became director of the CIA in 1953, sought to establish a recruiting-and-cover capability within America’s most prestigious journalistic institutions…

…The CIA even ran a formal training program in the 1950s to teach its agents to be journalists. Intelligence officers were “taught to make noises like reporters,” explained a high CIA official, and were then placed in major news organizations with help from management…

Murky details of CIA relationships with individuals and news organizations began trickling out in 1973 when it was first disclosed that the CIA had, on occasion, employed journalists. Those reports, combined with new information, serve as casebook studies of the Agency’s use of journalists for intelligence purposes…

The Columbia Broadcasting System – CBS was unquestionably the CIA’s most valuable broadcasting asset. CBS president William Paley and Allen Dulles enjoyed an easy working and social relationship. Over the years, the network provided cover for CIA employees, including at least one well-known foreign correspondent and several stringers; it supplied outtakes of newsfilm to the CIA; established a formal channel of communication between the Washington bureau chief and the Agency; gave the Agency access to the CBS newsfilm library; and allowed reports by CBS correspondents to the Washington and New York newsrooms to be routinely monitored by the CIA. Once a year during the 1950s and early 1960s, CBS correspondents joined the CIA hierarchy for private dinners and briefings…
http://danwismar.com/uploads/Bernstein%20-%20CIA%20and%20Media.htm

On a related note:
The CIA past of CNN’s Anderson Cooper
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/The_secret_CIA_past_of_CNNs_0906.html

[quote]
JustTheFacts wrote:

The Story That Didn’t Run - Here’s the piece that ‘60 Minutes’ killed for its report on the Bush Guard documents
Sept. 22, 2005 - In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, CBS bumped another sensitive piece slated for the same “60 Minutes” broadcast: a half-hour segment about how the U.S. government was snookered by forged documents purporting to show Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger…

A team of “60 Minutes” correspondents and consulting reporters spent more than six months investigating the Niger uranium documents fraud, CBS sources tell NEWSWEEK…

…correspondent Ed Bradley, asked tough questions about how the White House came to embrace the fraudulent documents and why administration officials chose to include a 16-word reference to the questionable uranium purchase in President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech.

But just hours before the piece was set to air on the evening of Sept. 8, the reporters and producers on the CBS team were stunned to learn the story was being scrapped to make room for a seemingly sensational story about new documents showing that Bush ignored a direct order to take a flight physical while serving in the National Guard more than 30 years ago…

Inner Hulk wrote:
Conspiracy theory!!!

It’s just a coincidence… It always is.[/quote]

You conspiracy wackos always forget one little issue: you never show causation, or establish any links to your supposed dots…

Check out this interview with Dan Rather:

The man’s cognitive dissonance is approaching a critical mass. Batten down the hatches (and tighten up the tinfoil hats)!