Mary Mapes of CBS was set up after exposing Abu Gharib....?

[spanone]

Was is just coincidence that CBS was to be the conduit for the Bush* TANG papers??? Call it a hunch, but Mary Mapes is the CBS producer that broke the Abu Gharib story and I'd bet money that the White House was out to 'get her' and they did one hell of a job. Hopefully CBS is working overtime to expose this.

[Atman]

1. And Rather helped bring down Nixon

This was a long-time-coming revenge, I have no doubt.

[Osamasux]

9. Who was the NY Times reporter who wrote negative pieces on

the competent Bush (41). Then Chimp walked up to him at a dinner after Clinton beat his dad, cursed him out, and said "we're going to get you." It's on record.

Chimp is known to be a vindictive SOB.

[UTUSN]

24. Al HUNT, Judy WOODRUFF's Spouse

Shrub accosted the couple and their children in a restaurant and call HUNT an asshole (in front of wife and children). WSJ, not NYT?

[Osamasux]

28. Thanks. I remembered Chimp's actions but not the details.

Among his countless other failings, the man has no class.

[Clark2008]

42. Which makes you wonder why WoofWoof is such a GOP spinmeister.

eom

[Atman]

45. It doesn't make ME wonder

$$$$$$$$$$$


Isn't that what whoring is all about?

[KoKo]

49. Rove set it up to trash Josh Marshall's Exclusive about Niger Yellow Cake.

Rather went with the AWOL story and it Pre-empted 60 Minutes doing a whole show with Ed Bradley about how Italian Intelligence was responsible for Niger Yellow Cake story...connected to Plame Incident. Josh and Linda Rozen talked to a guy who knew alot about this and implications as to who forged the documents.

Salon Magazine published the whole transcript of 60 Minutes Show which was "canned" for AWOL following Ed Bradley through it.

It's here in the DU Archies and there was much discussion about it.

Josh's story about something SO BIG it would "shift the tectonic plates in DC" was the story that got canned for AWOL...

It was Rove...I'm convinced. Whether he "turned Rather" or whether Rather was clueless..I think CBS was used to can Marshall/Rozen's story.

Josh has never been the same since then...imho..anyway. :-(

[Piperay]

44. EXACTLY

they have been 'gunning' for Rather ever since, they hate his guts.

[bloom]

2. That would not surprise me...eom

[smbolisnch]

3. That's an interesting thought.

Lets just say I wouldn't be surprised. :mad:

[old blue]

4. I just hope *someone* is actually trying to track down

the origin of the false documents. It has smelled like a setup from day one.

[Ninga]

5. Just saw Joe Lockhart on CNN w/Blitzer and

once again, the supposed defender allows the opposition to define the debate.

The entire Sunday morning circut has been peppered with the CBS BushAWOL story and NOT ONCE DID I HEAR ANY DEFENDERS (including the CBS spokeperson intervied by Howie on CNN) say that the story was not disproved, that the story had other elements that proved it to be true, it was the REPORT that was supposedly bogus that has caused the problem for CBS.

[spanone]

6. I agree and the TANG story is completely lost.

That's the real tragedy in this story. THE STORY is lost and I'm sure that was Karl Roves thinking. Blame the news reporters and not the news.

[SoCalDem]

41. The TANG "story" was a no-go since * got a "pass" on it when

he ran for governor. He was then in a perfect position, as governor of the state which held 99% of his records. He had 5+ years to "tidy up"...and then in '99 during the first campaign for president, the mealy-mouthed, weasely press "folks" were more interested in reporting on "pilly, the gubernatorial pillow" and pondering what nickname he would give them, to even CARE whether or not he was a deserter...:grr:

[Atman]

7. Whores

In case you missed my Friday DU Comix offering... News you can use

[catzies]

8. You bet. And it was a three-fer for Karl Rove.

1) It effectively stopped all future inquiries into *'s military record; no one wants go to through what CBS did. The story is dead.

2) He got rid of a pillar of the "media elite."

3) Even if CBS works assiduously to expose this, RoveCo will be ahead of them, calling it "sour grapes," "disgruntled," and worthy of immediate discrediting by the other news readers on other networks.

[spanone]

15. Don't you know Rove & Bush* were 'high-fiving' in the Oval Office.

Bush* family has hated Rather for YEARS and they GOT him.

[forgethell]

23. The real tragedy about

this whole thing is that even if the story was true, even if the documents were genuine, and proven to be so, it wouldn't have mattered. NOBODY CARED. Those that were for * would have believed what they already believed. Those that were for him would have disregarded them and believed them false anyway. And the sheeple in the middle would have thought it was all too compmlex for them, and anyway, didn't it happen 30 years ago, and Jeez, everybody deserves a second chance.

IT DIDN'T MATTER to anybody, or very few.

[NoStinkinBadges]

25. You may be right.

Ironic, but by having the document exposed as not genuine it did become a plus for Bush.

[forgethell]

38. Yes, I thinnk so. And,

it just goes to show that one should never let their emotions, no matter how justified (in this case, hatred of *), affect their ability to think. They did this, I believe, and have paid a price. It is the way of the world.

[Osamasux]

10. We need to continue our efforts to get our own media outlets.

Maybe we can have something decent in place by the 2008 elections. AAR is one avenue. We need much more.

We also need a party apparatus that drives news and stops just reacting all the time.

[KamaAina]

58. Here ya go, right in our own cyber-backyard.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2945559&mesg_id=2945559

[McCamy Taylor]

11. Exactly. She is a heroine! She did the right thing and the right wing

took her down. We need to mobilize to show her our support. I sent angry email to CBS but I havent been able to get in touch with her to express my support. Does anyone know how to contact her?

[NV Whino]

12. That same thought crossed my mind

But then I put on my tinfoil hat everyday.
:tinfoilhat:

[spanone]

13. Hope yours fits as well as mine

Oddly enough, there have been theories in DU that I have thought were WAY TOO FAR OUT to be true and low and behold!!!!

[McCamy Taylor]

16. See the post "The Media Lynching"

There was a coordinated attack on her as the CBS story was breaking. I found three stories within a matter of minutes with a search were probably more out there. I think she really was the target. Rather is a talking head journalist, he reads what is given to him.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x281916#281934

After an interview * gave recently, I now agree that she was taken down in retaliation for the prison abuse stories. I think the election was stolen primarily to cover IRAQgate. The Bushies were scared to death that if Kerry won they would all go to jail.

[catzies]

18. Thanks for linking that thread. I would have missed it otherwise

:thumbsup:

[NoStinkinBadges]

14. Who Produced Those Documents?

Someone needs to investigate where those documents really came from. This event turned out to be an asset for Bush and may have helped him get re-elected. If CBS was tricked, and they very well may have, why aren't they digging to see who did this to them? Or perhaps they are and we are just not aware of it?

[DeepModem Mom]

17. There's a lot of info in an LAT article I posted in LBN, and was moved...

to Editorials and Other Articles (to be seen by very few, I'm afraid). Here's a link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x98368

[Catchawave]

19. They should seriously investigate Burkett....

Rove could've hired him? If I were Mapes, I'd be doing an audit of his bank account for the past year. Also, an audit of everyone involved in authenticating the TANG docs.

Other than that, I'm still waiting for someone to cover the real story, how Bush "got out" of the NG. I think alot of doc tweaking was done before his run for TX gov.

:tinfoilhat: <----and proud of it :)

[spanone]

21. I seriously hope that this is going on. I can't imagine Rather wanting

to retire with the bushit smell all over his pretty amazing career.

[Geek_Girl]

33. Burkett Perfect Patsy

:tinfoilhat:
He appeared on the talk show circuit and really stuck his neck out it was easy for Rove to chop it off. I think someone gave him those documents just like he claimed and they set up him up.

[grasswire]

36. no no no

Burkett is NOT a paid stooge for Rove. Those of us who have worked together to investigat the AWOL story since 1999 know that Burkett was always anti-Bush. His judgment was quite impaired, that's all. He's sort of like James Hatfield, the writer that Karl Rove set up to innoculate Bush against the cocaine story. Hatfield was eventually suicided.

[leetrisck]

20. "Couldn't determine if documents were fake"

Would think that would be the real story. This big investigation and they don't know if they are real or fake. So just who decided in the first place they were fake besides rw republicans.

[forgethell]

22. Bah.

Hopefully CBS is working overtime to expose this

CBS knuckled under, and sold her ass down the river, to protect their own lousy corporate butts.




x(

[UTUSN]

26. Roger & Nikki STONE, Harry "Buckhead" MacDOUGALD, and ROVE

need to go under oath for this (and many more things).

Who are they? Roger J. STONE and his Cuban wife Nikki. He has been involved in Repuke dirty tricks since age 19 for NIXON. When DOLE ran for prez, STONE was a chief adviser and advised that "family values" be a key campaign issue. During the campaign the National Enquirer found out that Mr and Mrs STONE were "swingers" who advertised for other couples, and who posted their nekkid pics of themselves in magazines. More recently, Roger was the leader of the Repuke mob that stormed the Miami elections office in 2000.

The CBS documents were called-in to the BURKETT informer-dude by somebody named "Lucy RAMIREZ". Uh, could it be Nikki the Cuban? She was supposed to deliver them to BURKETT at the stock show in Houston. When BURKETT got there, a man in a suit is who delivered the documents. This was in May, 2004. BURKETT sat on the documents for months.

When CBS made contact with BURKETT and then aired the story in September, FOUR HOURS LATER a Repuke lawyer, Harry MacDOUGALD was on the internet claiming the documents were forgeries. Uh, how would he know, not having SEEN or handled the documents personally?

**********QUOTE*******

http://www.voiceoffreedom.com/electionstuff/electionlaw ...

According to Judge Hooper’s 36-page order, Roger Stone, through his Washington, D.C.-based firm, "Ikon Public Affairs", was the real agent behind the campaign in late 2000 and 2001 to defeat the Florida Justices in the 2002 merit retention election. But who, if anyone, was paying Roger Stone and giving him orders remains unclear.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0405/barrett.php

'Roger Stone, the longtime Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000, is financing, staffing, and orchestrating the presidential campaign of Reverend Al Sharpton.'

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-091704buck...

Blogger Who Faulted CBS Documents Is Conservative Activist

WASHINGTON — It was the first public allegation that CBS News used forged memos in its report questioning President Bush's National Guard service — a highly technical explanation posted within hours of airtime citing proportional spacing and font styles.

But it did not come from an expert in typography or typewriter history as some first thought. Instead, it was the work of Harry W. MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes who helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Times has found.

The identity of "Buckhead," a blogger known previously only by his screen name on the site freerepublic.com ....

************UNQUOTE*******

[NoStinkinBadges]

27. Interesting.

Wonder if CBS is investigating this? They need to clear their name and exposing a dirty trick as the source of their bad documents would help.

Criminal charges should be filed.

[grasswire]

37. start with a subpoena of Burkett's phone records

and start identifying the numbers during that period of time. Ms. Ramirez might have been clever enough to use a throwaway cel phone, though.

[Osamasux]

29. Were the documents shopped around and others saw them

and turned them down before CBS? If that were the case, that could partially explain the four hour response to the story.

The whole thing stinks, though.

[NoStinkinBadges]

30. USA had them.

Not sure if they were shopped around but I seem to recall reading that USA Today had them. That was one of the reasons why CBS claimed they were in a rush to air them.

[UTUSN]

31. "Lucy RAMIREZ" Claimed She Saw BURKETT on Tweety's Circus

I remember seeing BURKETT on Tweety's circus and Tweety treated him well. "Lucy RAMIREZ" called BURKETT and told him she was calling him because of his performace on Tweety. But in his round of whoring on all the outlets that will have him, post the CBS report, Tweety has been saying that he knew BURKETT is a phoney from day one. Tweety thinks his intelligence shows in his coinages, and what he has been saying is, "This phoney BURKETT claimed to be at EVERY place where (Shrub's) records were: He was THERE when pages were being tossed into the trash, he was THERE when (Shrub's flying monkeys) called the officer to tell him to destroy the documents. (Here's the catchphrase: ) He must be ZELLIG, always THERE at the right moment."

CHEENEEing-Tweety. The people who know BURKETT say he is a decent fellow, a good Dem, and, yes, he has a personal gripe over a Disability claim against the Shrub, but this does NOT discredit him. One of Tweety's guests said that the problem was that BURKETT changed his story. Uh, how many stories has Shrub changed multiple times?

[Geek_Girl]

32. I think Burkett was Rove's Patsy

:tinfoilhat:
Rove master minded this. Someone got in touch with Burkett and gave him those documents. Burkett believed the person "Lucy Ramirez" to be credible. CBS got wind of the documents and took the bait, hook line and sinker and Rove reeled in the biggest fish in television news, Dan Rather.

The only question left is Who is Lucy Ramirez?

:tinfoilhat:

Anyway that's my tinfoil hat theory on the CBS documents.

[UTUSN]

47. You Got It, Toyota n/t

[grasswire]

34. I might agree........

...but the documents were apparently shopped to some other people first. At least that's part of the story.

[democracyindanger]

35. No, Seymour Hersh broke the Abu Ghraib story.

Credit where credit's due.

[KoKo]

48. Mapes pushed to have the pictures put on CBS...Hersh's New Yorker

article wouldn't have gotten as much coverage. :shrug: I think Rove set it up.

[spanone]

51. They both are credited with having broke the story.

[democracyindanger]

52. Probably right.

New Yorker doesn't do pictorials, which the story really needed.

[grasswire]

39. Who is Michael Smith?

We need to know more about him. He's the freelancer who tipped Mapes off about Burkett's papers. He became her asst producer on the story.

Who is Michael Smith? Is he living above his means?

[BigMindTinyHead]

40. Need some proof with facts

Please post it when you get it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

54. The original post is a speculation, and doesn't try to pass itself as fact

But I understand why you'd react negatively to speculation of this kind. I REALLY do.

[Piperay]

43. Probably BUT

she fell into it and should have checked her facts, so ultimately the blame still lies with her. :-(

[NVMojo]

46. good point ...

[Disturbed]

50. The origin of the false documents?

Do any of the pundits ever ask that question?

[McCamy Taylor]

53. They dont care. Nor do they care that the facts in the documents

were accurate. Viacom, CBS's parent company needed an excuse to fire her in order to prove themselves worthy of the kind of favors the administration is lavishing on other media giants, and Karl Rove created a document so close to perfect and gave it to a source so credible that even a dedicated journalist would have had little reason to suspect that it was not real.

She ought to file a lawsuit against Viacom and CBS claiming that she was unjustly fired, ask to see all contact between her network and parent company and the administration. That would be an eye opener---if the White House didnt claim executive privilege.

[McCamy Taylor]

55. Great Bob Parry piece about reporters who "mess" with the Bushes

Contrasts the media lies about Gore and Clinton with the sad fates of Webb, Hatfield and now Mapes, required reading.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/011705.html

The Bush Rule of Journalism
By Robert Parry
January 17, 2005


“Don’t take on the Bushes” is becoming an unwritten rule in American journalism. Reporters can make mistakes in covering other politicians and suffer little or no consequence, but a false step when doing a critical piece on the Bushes is a career killer.

The latest to learn this hard lesson are four producers at CBS, who demonstrated inadequate care in checking out memos purportedly written by George W. Bush’s commanding officer in the Texas Air National Guard in the early 1970s. For this sloppiness, CBS fired the four, including Mary Mapes who helped break last year’s Abu Ghraib torture scandal.

A painful irony for the CBS producers was that the central points of the memos – that Bush had blown off a required flight physical and was getting favored treatment in the National Guard – were already known, and indeed, were confirmed by the commander’s secretary in a follow-up interview with CBS. But even honest mistakes are firing offenses when the Bushes are involved.

[McCamy Taylor]

56. Keith Olberman just revealed ONLY Mary Mapes was fired, other 3

are in contract negotiations. Sounds like Mapes was the only target all along and the other three were named in an attempt to hide that fact. A pretty pitiful attempt, since so many people noticed that she was the target of the attack.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[LynnTheDem]

57. Sy HERSH broke Abu Ghraib, NOT Mabes.

[McCamy Taylor]

59. She put it on TV for all to see. The White House isnt afraid of print.

but they demand complete control of the Big Five TV News.

I sent CBS a very annoyed email about their lie about firing FOUR employees when they really only fired ONE (Mapes). They tried very hard to hide the fact that she was the target of this attack. I guess they didnt want anyone to realize that they were bowing to administration pressure to get rid of this loose cannon who would not hesitate to air stories that were critical of the administration.

CBS-Viacom are scum. If I didnt like the Daily Show so much, I would boycott them.