If the dense as a post Andy Rooney recognizes the absurdity of the CBS position, what about the other adults, er kids at the network?

This is just too much fun!

I stopped watching ABC, NBC and CBS years ago, long before the advent of the cable alternatives. I'm tempted to tune in again just to see the Rather self emulate on television.

How do you put more nails in a coffin that was long since lowered into the ditch and has been furiously covered with dirt for days?

GaryB:

Self emulate Ahh. You mean Rather playing himself on TV?

Or did you mean self-immolate?

Well, I guess we can all see the benefits of copious draughts of Faux News.

John

My spelling may be an easy target. But be the man, go after a real target with better ammunition than sneers.

Rather is drowning. Even the LA Times and Washington Post believe the memo's are poor fakes. Rather's star's, Barnes and the Secretary are both on record with different previously published stories. Even the secretary denied she typed these memo's. Killian's son has been all over the news denying his father keep secret files, much less had anything more than a neutral to positive opinion of Bush. Now we have Killian's commanding officer, you know, the one who retired a year before these "memo's" indicating he didn't pressure Killian to "sugar coat" Bush's service record from his rocking chair.

How about something better than a faux thought?

Gary,

Oh but you've left a few things out as is so typical of "thoughtful" conservatives.

The secretary denies typing the memos but she says there was a hot file and the memos accurately reflected what was going on at the time.

CYA files were commonplace in NGs because Nixon's Justice Dept. goons were going after the people who passed around favors in those days.

To top it all off, no one in the White House is denying anything. Bush isn't saying "I never disobeyed a direct order". Why not? I'm waiting for the true October surprise.

Say what you will about this flap, I'm the happiest man in the world today.

"BRAINLESS" "BRAIN-FART" BALONEY is fired!!!

Dan Rather still has his job. This is such sweet joy!

Oh come on, John. Rather may retain his job but his credibility is shot and CBS ratings have tanked. Yeah, I caught the guy's mistake in diction, too, but the Fox news crack was purely gratuitous and jejeune. CBS shows its crude partisanship and shoddy journalism by adducing nothing but obviously fake memos and one she-curmudgeon of a GS-5 clerk/typist who despises Bush and disseminates 30 year old gossip and calls it proof. Get real.

Zacek,

Again another "thoughtful" conservative (you) is ignoring the fact that the White House is not confronting what the memos are saying - that Bush disobeyed a direct order, failed to take his physicals, blew off the duty he signed up for while the unfortunate souls who couldn't get into the Guard were fighting and dying in Vietnam! Confronting what the memos are saying would mean the emperor has no clothes - the whole snow-job about character in Bush's campaign is one of the biggest, engineered falsehoods in history.

Faux News vs. CBS - I'll take a Dan Rather goof over Roger Ailes' and John Moody's, eye-candy laden, relentless RNC propaganda any day.

You're all for the secretary when she says the memos aren't genuine but she's just a bitter, under-paid, retired gossip when she recalls what she herself witnessed. She was there, you weren't.

Only in the mind of the Left and Dan Rather do charges in forged memo's represent evidence that should be confronted. This is just too funny, watching both Rather and John go crazy.

Please keep making this an issue.

Gary,

No problem. You have your wish.

See you in November. Nice talking to you.

Gary,

By the way, keep comparing typefaces. That's what your favorite bloggers, Faux News, the White House and the RNC want you to do.

They don't want you to see that Bush slacked off on the job he signed up for while others had to pay the price in Vietnam.

If Bush had maintained his flight readiness and attended his weekend drills like he promised, I wouldn't be typing this.

Gary,

Sorry, I take that last part back. I would still have a problem with Bush just like I would have with a guy like Dan Quayle.

Remember Ben Barnes?

the questions regarding bush's service pre-date the forged memos.

therefore, continuing to ask those questions is not the same as raised by the forged memos is not the same "confronting" evidence raised by forged memos.

why is everyone so hostile to dan rather's partisanship when this crap goes on all day long on fox? oh, right.....

sorry for the typo in the prior post.

Yeah dinesh, keep that focus going. And when that doesn't work, change it to Fox is just as bad, Fox is just as bad. you're a broken record. You're not going to vote for Bush, he is awful, we get it. But how about some independent thinking when it comes to this story.

I think you are confusing questions about Bush's service with speculation about it by people not in the know. There are no questions, he was honorably discharged, that's it. There is no evidence otherwise to confront, only speculation.

I imagine you are looking into Kerry's service just as much since "questions" about his service and medals have been asked as well.

Mike,

Ohh. What an original, independent thinker you are!

Questions about Kerry's service, you mean like those raised by the Swift Boat Liars?

Kerry was there. He was shot at. Where was the guy you're going to vote for in November back then?

I'll tell you, being pushed to the head of the TANG waiting list by Daddy and friends. Did you ever wonder why Daddy did that? He was a WWII vet, got shot down even. Maybe because either 1)he knew the war was a mistake or 2) junior couldn't handle it!

I don't care about any shortcomings you wingers can bring up about Kerry. One because they're mostly lies. Two because Kerry knows things that the current fraud in the White House can never know.

Namely what it feels like to have your life and those of people you're commanding on the line. It kind of informs your decision making.

Actually, the main reason I'm not voting for Kerry is that 1.) I think his plan to giveaway nuclear fuel to Iranian extremists is completely in-bloody-sane and 2.) I don't want my taxes, or anyone else's to go up. (Kerry claims he wants to lower middle class taxes and only screw the rich, but why should I believe he would really follow through with that once elected, and not flip-flop?)

Notice:

claims of Kerry's service: mostly lies by right whingers!

claims of Bush's service: perfectly acceptable criticisms of Bush because he is a coward.

Now that's enlightenment.

> Kerry was there. He was shot at. Where was the guy you're going to vote for in November back then?

Did John vote for Clinton or Dole? Did John vote for Bush I or Clinton?

independent thinking? please. with a statement like " There are no questions, he was honorably discharged, that's it.", you lose a lot of credibility on the independent thinking front.

so, for example, clinton was not convicted of anything relating to the $70 million ken starr witchhunt. i guess that means clinton is innocent, right? to paraphrase your wonderful, independent thinking, "he was exonerated, that's it."

in some ways i hope the republicans continue to hold the house, senate, and presidency, b/c when after 8 years this country is further screwed, you'll have no one to blame and others will say, like a parent telling their child, i told you that 4 years of this narrowminded administration was enough but you chose not to listen.

What a political drama queen. I guess that's how I'm different. I intend to go on living my life regardless of who wins. I don't think the country is "screwed" regardless of the outcome; even if Kerry wins and succeeds in his brilliant scheme of providing nuclear fuel to the Iranian mullahs who openly declare their desire to kill as many Americans as possible. A few million people in New York, DC, and other large cities terrorist targets may well be screwed, but the country will survive.

Short of that, everything else is just apocalyptic hyperbole. There won't be death camps if Bush wins. And if Kerry wins, he probably won't get his "screw the rich, socialize health care, kneel before the UN" schemes past Congress, at least not without considerable watering down. And we can correct either mistake in four years, when the nuts will be just as apoplectic about whoever is running then.

In any case, it's just pathetic to stake one's personal happiness on who wins an election. That can not possibly be healthy.

To be honest dinesh, Clinton was not exonerated, he committed perjury and was later impeached. And nice try with the apple to orange comparison.

And yes dinesh, the fact is that he was honorably discharged. How does that lose credibility in the independent thinking front? Another fact is that this was over 30 years ago, so why is it so important to you? It has nothing to do with how he has run the country the last 4 years. Could it be that you are so caught up in your anti-Bush views that anything that could help malign the President is newsworthy and applicable today?

i don't care about bush' vietnam service. i just don't appreciate people accusing me and others of dependent thinking just b/c we don't accept the party line.

re clinton, it's not apples to oranges. clinton was impeached, but not convicted. understand, therefore he was not convicted by the senate. starr brought no independent charges. clinton was held in contempt for perjury and lost his bar license. get the facts straight and understand the procedural posture.

o.j. was acquitted. how's that? what sort of fruit do you call that?

matt--you are a classic. you're calling me a drama queen, yet you are talking about 'screw the rich, death camps, sending nuclear material to iranian mullanhs (that was bush's friend/dictator musharraf in pakistan btw, who has also not been very effective in capturing osama "remember him" bin laden?'

my personal happiness is not tied to who wins this election (what would ever give you that idea). i simply recognize that political parties exist to win elections, not to do right by the people (to the extent those 2 items diverge). and after 4 years of holding office, this president has precious little to run on. instead he attacks a weak candidate (easy and fair enough) and creates clever slogans, but avoids discussing real issues that are impacting this country.

like i said, republicans have had 3 branches (4 if you separate the house and the senate) of federal govt for 4 years, and what have we got?

1) larger govt;
2) more federal spending & higher federal deficit;
3) weak/neutral economy;
4) 130k troops installed in the middle east.

hmmmmm....sounds like something we should have more of.....sounds like a record to run away from.....

i don't care about bush' vietnam service. i just don't appreciate people accusing me and others of dependent thinking just b/c we don't accept the party line.

re clinton, it's not apples to oranges. clinton was impeached, but not convicted. understand, therefore he was not convicted by the senate. starr brought no independent charges. clinton was held in contempt for perjury and lost his bar license. get the facts straight and understand the procedural posture.

o.j. was acquitted. how's that? what sort of fruit do you call that?

matt--you are a classic. you're calling me a drama queen, yet you are talking about 'screw the rich, death camps, sending nuclear material to iranian mullanhs (that was bush's friend/dictator musharraf in pakistan btw, who has also not been very effective in capturing osama "remember him" bin laden?'

my personal happiness is not tied to who wins this election (what would ever give you that idea). i simply recognize that political parties exist to win elections, not to do right by the people (to the extent those 2 items diverge). and after 4 years of holding office, this president has precious little to run on. instead he attacks a weak candidate (easy and fair enough) and creates clever slogans, but avoids discussing real issues that are impacting this country.

like i said, republicans have had 3 branches (4 if you separate the house and the senate) of federal govt for 4 years, and what have we got?

1) larger govt;
2) more federal spending & higher federal deficit;
3) weak/neutral economy;
4) 130k troops installed in the middle east.

hmmmmm....sounds like something we should have more of.....sounds like a record to run away from.....

"in some ways i hope the republicans continue to hold the house, senate, and presidency,......"

Can we now count on a Bush and Nethercutt vote from dinesh?

dinesh, Kerry does support providing Iranians with nuclear fuel, or don't you read any right-wing news sources like, say, the Washington Post, which reported on the story a month ago.

And my point about death camps and screw the rich was to emphasize the way drama queens like you exaggerrate the stakes in this election. But, I understand, it's the end of the month, and the clue budget is running a little short, so I'll let it pass.

And capturing Osama bin Laden (if he is still alive [which I doubt]) is not going to make all the terrorism in the world go away, despite that being the way the left frames the argument.

no gary, i won't be voting for bush. based upon his own standards, i believe he has failed as a president. i'm not excited about kerry, but i believe that accountability still matters and i feel that kerry represents a better (although far from the best) opportunity to change the dialogue regarding some big issues facing this country. bush's lack of engagement with the people of this country (as opposed to those who put him there) is simply unacceptable. he reduces the most complex situation to some 'hick' phrasing and sloganeering, and frankly dumbs down everything. the lap dog press simply repeats this pablum, and we end up at a race for the bottom.

while kerry has many faults, i still believe in the fundamental balance of power as enshrined in the constitution. accordingly, it appears best for the country (imho) that we not concentrate too much power in the hands of either party. on the assumption that the republicans control the senate and house (or at least one of the 2), it seems necessary to distribute power to the dems.

checks and balances, separation of powers.....those are fundamental principles upon which this country operates. we've seen what 4 years of 1 party rule has wrought.

i don't live in washington state, but i would consider voting for nethercutt. what shark has posted about gregoire makes me question her qualifications, but since i'm not there....

it seems many folks in washington feel that the dem stronghold has become a stranglehold and i applaud shark's efforts (and others) to bring political diversity to the area. while i may not always agree with some of the positions, i genuinely believe political diversity (based upon principles, as opposed to campaign slogans or party ideology) is crucial to a healthy, meaningful debate. unfortunately, the national debate more resembles jerry springer. i hope its better in washington.

dinesh, in the interest of divided government please vote for the Republician representative and/or if applicable, the Republician Senate candidate. Please do us all a favor and split your vote.

Actually, separation of powers and checks and balances refer to the branches of government, not to political parties.

I'm a service disabled former Marine, amateur historian, and an English speaking person. As such, can anyone tell me how Americans can be so naive (or stupid ?) as to think they can be patriotic without first being a nationalist? I'm tired of gutless, overly polite, so called "Conservatives" who insist on not calling a traitor a traitor !! A Nationalist is simply one who loves his country, wants the best for his country ( and it's peopple) and is willing to try and protect his country. Mons Kerry has never displayed any on those qualities !! While I enjoyed the pleasure of being spit upon- he enjoyed the pleasure of lieing about us. While I continued to service in the Cold War, against the Communists who openly bragged they were going to destroy this country , Kerry spent 22 years creating a perfect pro-communist ( anti-American !! ) voting record. His helping the ENEMIES of this country did not stop in 1972--it is a life long self serving obsession of his !!
Seems to me we CAN learn something from the Arabs of the world....The enemy of my enemy is my friend..or in this case...the friend of my enemy IS MY ENEMY !!

Jim, I hope you comment more frequently. I like your moxie.