Absurd Frenzy Over Fiasco at CBS News

[punpirate]

For those of you who still think all lawyers can't be trusted, Brauchli ought to be kept in mind as one of the good guys:

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1002-03.htm

The world is upside down. In an election in which one of the critical issues is the merits of a war justified by lies, whose described successes are lies, being waged by a commander in chief whose swagger conceals his lies, it appears that the election has been affected, if not swayed, by corrupt ads attacking his opponent's military service.

In a normal world, if two candidates were running for office, one of whom served honorably as a military officer in an unpopular war and was decorated for his service and the other used family influence to get a position in an organization that ensured he would risk neither life nor limb in defense of his country, the honorable record of the candidate who served with distinction would redound to his benefit and not to the benefit of the demonstrated coward. That is not how it works in the United States of Gullible Americans. Indeed, two things stand out in the swamp of this election. John Kerry served honorably during the Vietnam war and George Bush did not. That makes George Bush the favorite son of the electorate, most of whom can apparently understand the motivation of a man who lets others die and lose limbs in his stead.

Having used family connection to enter the National Guard, Mr. Bush relied on those same connections to treat his required military service cavalierly. None of that is disputed and that, by itself, should end any discussion of which candidate served more honorably. It has not. Thanks to lies spewed from the mouths of those intent on maintaining control of the reins of government, the tables have been turned. John Kerry's military service has become a weapon used against him and George Bush's cowardice has become his strong suit. (In fairness it should be observed that Mr. Bush's cowardice has been somewhat compensated for by the courage he has shown in sending other young people off to do what he himself was afraid to do. Although he has had the courage to send others off to do what he was afraid to do, it should be noted that he has not yet had the courage to greet the coffins of his returning emissaries.)

The madness of the world does not end with the Swift Boat results that have sunk Mr. Kerry's military service. It continues with the mindless assault waged on CBS news because of its poor reporting on "60 Minutes." The CBS report was an embarrassment to journalism. The proper response to the poor reporting for those not in journalism is: "So what." Lousy reporting may well mean those responsible will lose their jobs and certainly results in the diminished reputation of those responsible. It has nothing to do with George Bush's military service about which all that needs to be known is already known. Whether or not CBS relied on forged documents does not change the facts about George W. Bush. The facts were the same before the report as they were after the report. But in an upside down world, the poor reporting became the news, comparative military careers were removed from the front pages and the only thing that mattered was that CBS had made a mistake.

... more at the link.

edit for brain-deadedness.