September 11, 2004

The New York Times > CNET > Technology > Bloggers drive hoax probe into Bush memos

Bloggers get some respect! If the Bush National Guard memo story last Wednesday on CBS reported by Dan Rather proves to be based on forged documents, Rather is headed for retirement.

In any event, the original typed memos should have surfaced by now. The longer they remain unavailable while Rather pleads his case that they are real, the more damage is done to his and CBS' credibility.

Here's the link to one of the blogs that surfaced the possible forgeries.

What is particularly disturbing in this whole episode is that the son of the alleged documents' author, Ltc Killian, himself a Texas National Guard officer, thinks his father did not write the memos. Also, the daughter of Barnes, one of the people Rather interviewed and a big Kerry financial reporter, who said that he pulled strings for Bush to join the Guard, claims her father told he previously that he did not pull any strings for Bush.

In any event politically, the damage to the credibility of the memos has already been done.

The sad fact from all of this is the distraction from the real issues of the campaign created by virulent controversy around events 30 years old. In any event, the media has been damaged more than Bush has by all this falderal.

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