The title of the blog post is overwrought, The Next Hurrah: CBS Collaborates in Torture, but with cause.
According to Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS, it didn't torture anyone — but CBS let the US government talk it into first squeltching and then toning down the story of the torture at Abu Ghraib.
Shameful if true. (And, while nothing is impossible, it's hard to see what Rather could possibly gain from making this up.) So much for the heirs of Murrow and Cronkite.
Bonus poodle example. And my apology to real poodles and their fans.
Despite Dan Rather, there are plenty of media outlets that still tell it like it is.
Just look at the barrage of scrutiny Al Gore’s global warming position has withstood from the mainstream media. Some times I feel sorry for Gore because they are so tough and probing on him.
And look how the media remained objective and impartial during the early stages of the Duke lacrosse scandal, despite the pressure from civil rights activists to have those boys declared guilty in the press. Now that took guts.
Why just yesterday I saw in small type on the CNN web page that Marines accused in the Haditha “massacre” have been acquitted. Seems to me the media never bought Murtha’s claims and this should be no surprise to anyone.
Boy you’re right, its a shame when conservatives manipulate the media.
What is in it for Rather? The hope of a similar payout to the one Imus received.
It does not matter what Rather says during the lawsuit, the only thing that will be remembered is if he won or lost. If he wins he transfers the blame for the national guard story to CBS.
Despite the claims from the wingnuts there is no forensic evidence that proves the memos to be forged. Now that the source has been revealed there is plenty of reason to doubt their provenance but thats not what the wingnuts based their case on.
But it looks to me like Rather’s real objective here (apart from the moolah) is to drag the whitehouse and the GOP through the same mud they threw at him in the hope that in their current weakened state some of it might stick. Its not like the AWOL story depended on the memos alone.
And Rather can dream about pulling Bush into all of this, put him on the stand and ask him questions about his service in the national guard that he has been avoiding all these years. And if he lies, well doesn’t that look just like the Paula Jones perjury trap the GOP pulled on Clinton?