The Republicans Did It!
By Barbara Stock (09/17/04)
As the final rugs are being pulled out from under “CBS News” and Dan Rather, the folks on the left have taken up a new chant: “The Republicans did it!”
That is the mantra now being repeated on liberal blogs and loudly whispered by some high ranking Democrats. They were all “taken in” and fooled by the wizards on the right, who “have a history with this kind of thing.”
Just a few days ago, Democrats were singing the praises of CBS and Mr. Rather, cheering their courage in the face of the mighty right-wing machine. Now, however, they are reeling from the overwhelming evidence that those highly-touted documents are not only forgeries, but obvious forgeries. How could a respected news organization, with a long history in America--the network of Walter Cronkite--be so easily fooled? Perhaps, they were so eager to “get something” on George Bush, they rushed in where only fools dare to tread.
Now being held up as insightful is Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, who floats the idea that someone in the Bush camp might have produced the documents that ended up in the eager hands of the CBS News department. After all, didn’t these documents pass through the hands of the White House without a peep of complaint? Didn’t a White House spokesman come out later and state that they were forgeries? Haven’t dirty things like this been done in elections past? Not that Mr. Olbermann is in accusing the Bush people mind you, no, he doesn’t want to do that. Olbermann states clearly he has not one tiny shred of proof that Karl Rove was able to dupe America’s oldest television network, he just wants to plant the seed that frantic Democrats can grab on to as it grows--and grow it will--count on it.
Within 24 hours of the Dan Rather report on “60 Minutes,” Terry McAuliffe was on the air blaming Karl Rove and Republicans for the papers. As the groundswell of complaints and suspicions were just on the rise, and CBS was standing firm that the documents were authentic, there was the head of the Democrat National Committee, on the television writing them off as fake and taking it a step farther--blaming the evil right-wing conspiracy of carrying out the dastardly deed. How could Mr. McAuliffe be so sure, so soon that the documents were forgeries? Is it possible the left-wing Clinton-bomb-thrower knew from the very beginning these documents were frauds and wanted to be the first to throw the shadow of guilt on the White House?
If conspiracy theories are the theme of the day, isn’t it possible these document’s genesis is the Kerry/Clinton people? Kerry’s fury over the devastating effect the Swift Boat revelations have had on his Viet Nan war campaign foundation may have gotten the better of him. Kerry’s own documents have now come under the gun and are being investigated by the Navy for possible tampering. As the left-wing folks shriek that “Karl Rove has a history…,” perhaps they should make sure Kerry hasn’t tampered with his own records before they make such accusations. Folks on the right can say, “Kerry seems to have a history as well.”
In an astounding juggling of journalistic judgment, CBS officials have stated that while they “continue to investigate the documents,” it really doesn’t matter if the documents are bogus because Marian Carr Knox, who was Lt. Col. Jerry Killian’s secretary, says that while these documents are obvious forgeries, she is sure that is how Lt. Col. Killian felt. Try not to notice that Ms. Knox is a vocal anti-Bush woman who refers to the president as “selected, not elected.” For a woman of 86 years, her memories of a lowly lieutenant from 30 years ago are quite remarkable. To hear the Democrats talk, only the rich sons of the powerful were in the Texas Air National Guard, so why would Bush stand out in her mind?
Let’s recap. Ben Barnes, who claimed he got Bush into the Guard, is reversing his own sworn statement from 1999 and is a co-chair of the Kerry campaign. Ms. Knox is an avowed Bush-hater who waves her hand and says with ease the documents are frauds, but apparently as John Edwards channels dead babies, the elderly Ms. Knox can channel her dead boss and tell us his feelings on the matter. Hey, good enough for me!
Can anyone imagine what would happen if “FOX News” ran with a story like this against John Kerry? Teddy Kennedy and Jesse Jackson would be out in front of the FOX headquarters in New York City leading a group of angry torch-bearing, pitch-fork wielding rioters demanding Brit Hume’s head on a pike.
Before any Democrats reading these words start screaming, “What about the Swift Boat lies?” they should take pen in hand and make a list of what, exactly, the Swift Boat men have said that is a lie based on forged documents.
Anyone whose brain is functioning higher than brainstem level now knows these documents are forgeries. The questions that remain are these: Did CBS investigate them properly considering the implications of the charges against a sitting president and, who gave CBS the documents and where are the originals, if there even are originals. It is not hard to understand why the Democrats are frantic to implicate the White House. If these fake documents can be traced in any way to the Kerry camp, Kerry may as well go home and do some windsurfing because the election will be over. In truth, his campaign, which was already floundering, has gone straight into the tank since his widely publicized “private” phone call to Bill Clinton. Kerry seems to have lost a point in the polls for every Clintonite that he has allowed to join his campaign staff.
As the H.M.S. CBS rearranges its deckchairs, the news department is hoping no one has noticed the iceberg. Captain Rather will be going down with the ship and the Democrats on board are saying the amazing and extremely versatile Karl Rove is responsible for planting that iceberg. Karl Rove--truly an amazing man. When does he find the time? Isn’t he also running the country?
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