SwiftVets.com

[Doc Farmer]

Dan Rather--Boycott That Portrait of Unmitigated Chutzpah
Written by Doc Farmer
Thursday, September 16, 2004


''CBS News'' died yesterday, Wednesday September 15th 2004. It was killed.

Murdered....by Dan Rather.

As mentioned in my column on Sunday, the CBS News program ''60 Minutes II'' did their regularly scheduled hit piece on the President of the United States. Angry Democratic National Committee supporters made their usual angry claims in order to slander and diminish the president’s service in the Air National Guard back in the early 1970s. They’ve been trying this palaver since 1992, so it’s not anything new.

However, this time CBS went too far. It used forged documents in order to prove its point. Obviously forged documents, to be more precise. Documents which could not have been produced in 1972 or 1973, unless the late Lt. Col. Killian was able to reach through a time warp in order to type those memos and notes in default Microsoft Word mode. There is now NO doubt that the documents are astonishingly bogus.

Nevertheless, Dan Rather sits behind that desk at BlackRock and adamantly refuses to admit the truth. It’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

He claimed that experts confirmed the document’s accuracy. Problem is, that’s a lie. Experts told him that the documents were NOT accurate. Rather chose to ignore that. Why? Simple – to hurt the president.

Killian’s secretary back in the National Guard stated that the documents were bogus. However, she also stated that the documents were in line with what Killian had told her. This, in a court of law, is known as hearsay evidence. Hearsay evidence is not admissible in a court of law. Apparently, however, it is quite admissible in a ''news'' program operated by a rabid political partisan with an axe to grind of Bunyan-like proportions.

Wednesday, CBS News promised to make an announcement about the scandal (and what CBS News did was scandalous, make no mistake) at 12:00 noon. Noon passed. 13:00 passed, then 14:00. Then, CBS News revised its announcement time to 15:00. Which passed. Soon after the time was revised to 17:30. Still nothing. Finally, just after 18:05, Drudge popped up with this statement from the president of CBS News, Andrew Hayward:

''We established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate or we would not have put them on television. There was a great deal of coroborating [sic] evidence from people in a position to know. Having said that, given all the questions about them, we believe we should redouble our efforts to answer those questions, so that's what we are doing.''

Excuse me, but how is a fraudulent, faked, forged document ''accurate''? How do you corroborate a lie? It’s oxymoronic in the extreme, and yet CBS News (and, no doubt, a pack of blasted lawyers) present this unadulterated load of male bovine excrement as the truth. Or, at least, as much ''truth'' as they are capable of dealing with.

The night before, John Roberts (Rather’s heir apparent) did another report on the documents. They interviewed the First Lady, Laura Bush, who commented that she thought the documents were probably forgeries. It is her opinion, and based on the news reports from ABC News, Fox News, the Washington Post and others, she’s got a right to it. Roberts, however, had the temerity to state ''However, Laura Bush offered no evidence to back up her claim, and CBS News continues to stand by its reporting.''

Hold the phone here. She offered no evidence to back up her claim? Hell-LOW! Earth to CBS News! Your documentation is patently false. Your interview with Ben Barnes, a major donor to the Democratic National Committee and the Kerry campaign, is dripping with partisan vitriol. And you have the cojones to sit there and state that the First Lady must come up with proof?

Well, it’s enough for me.

I was never a big fan of Dan Rather. Now, however, he and his news organization have gone too far. They’ve lied like a Clinton (either one) and expect America to swallow it whole. When somebody lies to you that egregiously, you have no choice but to castigate him. While there may be legal recourse to CBS News accepting forged government documents (a felony, if I’m not mistaken) this will not be enough. Some people believe that Rather and ''60 Minutes II'' should be hauled before a Congressional Committee and be raked over the coals. I disagree with this in the extreme. When a news organization is pulled before the government to answer for their actions, it tears at the very foundations of the First Amendment.

However, there is another way to react to CBS News and Dan Rather.

First, write to CBS News and demand (politely) that Rather and the ''60 Minutes II'' producers and reporters involved in this debacle be terminated immediately and with all benefits and severance pay denied.

Second, demand that the Department of Justice investigate CBS News and Dan Rather to determine the origins of those documents, and to take action to indict those involved in any felonious actions.

Third, and most importantly, Boycott CBS. Completely. Utterly. At the end of this article, I’ll provide you information on who to contact in the way of their advertisers. Let them know that you will in no uncertain terms forego purchasing any of their products as long as they continue to advertise on CBS. Make sure they understand that no matter how much you may like their products, there are plenty of alternatives out there from companies who do not advertise with liars and rabid political partisans.

Why am I doing this? Because I hate lies. More than that, I hate liars. Especially those who lie with impunity.

You now have a choice. You can sit there in front of your TV and continue to support CBS News. Which means you are tacitly, no openly, supporting an organization that lies to you. Or, you can get up from that TV and switch the channel from CBS, and get in front of your computer or your typewriter or your telephone and let CBS News know that they will pay for their lies.

I know what I’m going to do. It’s now time for you to decide.

Please forward this article to everyone you know who would be interested in helping. Thank you.

~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~

CBS News Contact Information

Sumner M. Redstone, Chairman/CEO - Viacom
sumner.redstone@viacom.com

Leslie Moonves, President/CEO, CBS
leslie.moonves@tvc.cbs.com

Andrew Heyward
President, CBS News

CBS Television Group
Address: 51 W 52nd St # 35, New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 975-4321

for CBS News comment; its phone number is 212-975-3248.

To e-mail ''60 Minutes II,'' send your message to 60II@cbsnews.com

Here's a partial list of advertisers from last week's ''60 Minutes II'' program (with many thanks to ChronWatch Forum contributor "Missy4"...)

~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~

First Commercial Break Allegra, Home Depot, Kleenex, Vioxx (Arthritis medicine), Splenda (Low carb sugar substitute)

e-mail contacts for the first group:

Allegra is Aventis. Contact info: https://www.facilitator.aventis-us.com/contactcenter/MedicalInquiryForm.do

Home Depot Executive addresses http://ir.homedepot.com/edgar.cfm
Home Depot Investor Relations http://ir.homedepot.com/comment.cfm
Home Depot Public Relations - customer-service@homedepot.com http://www.homedepot.com/HDUS/EN_US/corporate/media_relations/media_relations.shtml

Kleenex: https://www.kimberly-clark.com/ask/kleenex/index.asp?country=US&site=www.kleenex.com&ssl=true

Vioxx belongs to Merck: http://www.merck.com/contact/

Splenda: http://www.splenda.com/vcrc/customer.jhtml;jsessionid=YFXNEFPSM4OQMCQPCB3SUZQKB2IIWNSC

~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~

Second Commercial Break Kia Automobiles, Zelnorm(IBS medication for women), Sprint PCS, UPS Store, Campbells Soup, Kia Automobiles (Again)

Kia - go to http://www.kia.com and look at the bottom for contact info.

Zelnorm is an IBS med from Novartis: second commercials:

http://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/utils/contact/info/profilei.jsp

Sprint: http://www.sprint.com/business/support/index.jsp

UPS: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/contact/index.html

Campbell Soup: http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/contact_campbell.asp?cpovisq=7p1MlY0GCdNTvvNxXWY9pJhKUKkuu4AQ

~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~

Third Commercial break (End of Bush segment) Morgan Stanley, Ziploc, Cingular Wireless, Pepcid Complete, Estee Lauder, Infiniti Automobiles

Morgan Stanley: http://www.morganstanleyindividual.com/customerservice/contactus/

Cingular Wireless: http://www.cingular.com/customer_service/contact_us

Pepcid Antacid: http://www.pepcidac.com/vcrc/email/emailform.jhtml

Estee Lauder: http://www.esteelauder.com/customerservice/email_us.tmpl



Infiniti: http://www.infiniti.com/form/0,,action-IContactUs,00.htmliniti:

~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~

Sites with information on CBS and its advertisers:

http://www.boycottcbs.com/

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b3f3aa13470.htm

To file a complaint with the FCC:
fccinfo@fcc.gov


About the Writer: Doc Farmer is a writer and humorist who is also a moderator on ChronWatch's Forum. He formerly lived in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but now resides in Indiana. Doc receives e-mail at docfarmer9999@yahoo.co.uk.


This Article Was First Published In ChronWatch At: http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=9728
_________________

Fat, Bald and Ugly - And PROUD Of It!

[Guest]

September 15, 2004, 5:52 a.m.
The First Rathergate
The CBS anchor's precarious relationship with the truth.
By Anne Morse
Critics are calling the media scandal over the Jerry Killian forgeries
"Rathergate." But to thousands of Vietnam veterans, the real Rathergate
took place 16 years ago when Dan Rather successfully foisted a fraud
onto the American people. Then, unlike now, there was no blogosphere to
expose him.

On June 2, 1988, CBS aired an hour-long special titled CBS Reports: The
Wall Within, which CBS trumpeted as the "rebirth of the TV
documentary." It purported to tell the true story of Vietnam through
the eyes of six of the men who fought there. And what terrible stories
they had to tell.

"I think I was one of the highest trained, underpaid,
eighteen-cent-an-hour assassins ever put together by a team of people
who knew exactly what they were looking for," said Steve Southards, a
Navy SEAL who told Rather he had escaped society to live in the forests
of Washington state. Under Rather's gentle coaxing, Southards described
slaughtering Vietnamese civilians, making his work appear to be that of
the North Vietnamese.

"You're telling me that you went into the village, killed people,
burned part of the village, then made it appear that the other side had
done this?" Rather asked.

"Yeah," Steve replied. "It was kill VC, and I was good at what I did."
Steve arrived home "in a straitjacket, addicted to alcohol and drugs"
knowing that "combat had made him different," Rather intoned. "He asked
for help; that's unusual, many vets don't. They hold back until they
explode."

Rather then moved on to suicidal veteran named George Grule, who was
stationed on the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga off the coast of Vietnam
during a secret mission. Grule described the horror of watching a
friend walk into the spinning propeller of a plane, which chopped him
to pieces and sprayed Grule with his blood. The memory of this trauma
left Grule, like Steve, unable to function in normal society.

Neither could Mikal Rice, who broke down as he described a grenade
attack at Cam Ranh Bay, which blew in half the body of a buddy,
"Sergeant Call." "He died in my arms," Rice tearfully recalled. Rice
described how the sound of thunder and cars backfiring would regularly
trigger his terrible memories.

Most horrific of all were the memories of Terry Bradley, a "fighting
sergeant" who told Rather he had skinned alive 50 Vietnamese men,
women, and children in one hour and stacked their bodies in piles.
"Could you do this for one hour of your life, you stack up every way a
body could be mangled, up into a body, an arm, a tit, an eyeball . . .
Imagine us over there for a year and doing it intensely," Bradley said.
"That is sick."

"You've got to be angry about it," Rather replied. "I'm suicidal about
it," Bradley responded.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, drug abuse, alcoholism, joblessness,
homelessness, suicidal thoughts: These tattered warriors suffered from
them all.

The The Wall Within was hailed by critics who - like the Washington
Post's Tom Shales - gushed that the documentary was "extraordinarily
powerful." There was just one problem: Almost none of it was true.
The truth was uncovered by B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam veteran and author
of Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and
its History (with Glenna Whitley). Burkett discovered that only one of
the vets had actually served in combat. Steve Southards, who'd claimed
to be a 16-year-old Navy SEAL assassin, had actually served as an
equipment repairman stationed far from combat. Later transferred to
Subic Bay in the Philippines, Steve spent most of his time in the brig
for repeatedly going AWOL.

And George Gruel, who claimed he was traumatized by the sight of his
friend being chopped to pieces by a propeller? Navy records reveal that
a propeller accident did take place on the Ticonderoga when Gruel was
aboard - but that he wasn't around when it happened. During Gruel's
tour, the ship had been converted to an antisubmarine warfare carrier
which operated, not on "secret mission" along the Vietnam coast, but on
training missions off the California coastline. Nevertheless, Burkett
notes, Gruel receives $1,952 a month from the Veterans Administration
for "psychological trauma" related to an event he only heard about.

Mikal Rice - the anguished vet who claimed to have cradled his dying
buddy in his arms - actually spent his tour as a guard with an MP
company at Cam Ranh Bay. He never saw combat. Neither did Terry
Bradley, who was not the "fighting sergeant" he'd claimed to be.
Instead, military records reveal he served as an ammo handler in the
25th Infantry Division and spent nearly a year in the stockade for
being AWOL. That's good news for the hundreds of Vietnamese civilians
Bradley claimed to have slaughtered. But it doesn't say much for Dan
Rather's credibility.
As Burkett notes, the records of all of these vets were easily
checkable through Freedom of Information Act requests of their military
records - something Rather and his producers simply didn't bother to
do. They accepted at face value the lurid tales of atrocities committed
in Vietnam and the stories of criminal behavior, drug addiction, and
despair at home.

Perhaps that's because this is what they wanted to believe. Says
Burkett: The Wall Within "precisely fit what Americans have grown to
believe about the Vietnam War and its veterans: They routinely
committed war crimes. They came home from an immoral war traumatized,
vilified, then pitied. Jobless, homeless, addicted, suicidal, they
remain afflicted by inner conflicts, stranded on the fringes of
society."

Burkett, who did check the records of the vets Rather interviewed,
shared his discoveries with CBS. So did Thomas Turnage, then
administrator of the Veterans Administration, who was appalled by
Rather's use of bogus statistics on the rates of suicide, homelessness,
and mental illness among Vietnam veterans - statistics that can also be
easily checked. Rather initially refused to comment, and CBS
spokeswoman Kim Akhtar said, "The producers stand behind their story.
They had enough proof of who they are." For his part, CBS president
Howard Stringer defended the network with irrelevancies. "Your
criticisms were not shared by a vast majority of our viewers," he
sniffed, adding that "CBS News and its affiliates received acclaim from
most quarters . . . In sum, this was a broadcast of which we at CBS
News and I personally am proud. There are no apologies to make."

Sarah Lee Pilley, who ran a restaurant in Colville, Washington where
the CBS crew dined while filming The Wall Within, would not agree. The
wife of a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who saw combat in Vietnam,
Pilley, said she "got the distinct feeling that CBS had a story they
had decided on before they left New York." After interviewing
Vietnam veterans, CBS chose the "four or five saddest cases to put on
the film," Pilley said. "The factual part of it didn't seem to matter
as long as they captured the high drama and emotion that these few
individuals offered. We felt all along that CBS committed tremendous
exploitation of some very sick individuals."

Why would Dan Rather do such a thing? Partly because the stories of
deranged, trip-wire vets is much more dramatic than the true story:
That most Vietnam veterans came home to live normal, productive, happy
lives. Second, Rather apparently wanted the story of whacked-out
Vietnam veterans to be true - just as he now wants the Jerry Killian
story to be true.

Or maybe - despite a preponderance of the evidence - he considered the
sources of these tales of Vietnam atrocities "unimpeachable." As angry
Vietnam veterans began calling CBS to complain about the factual
inaccuracies of The Wall Within, Perry Wolff, the executive producer
who wrote the documentary, claimed that "No one has attacked us on the
facts." Despite the growing evidence that he'd been had, Rather also
continued to defend the documentary - which is now part of CBS's video
history series on the Vietnam War.

Perhaps Vietnam veterans ought to take a page out of the book of the
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and air television ads exposing Rather's
deceits - something along the lines of: "Dan Rather lied about his
Vietnam documentary. I know. I was there. I saw what happened. When the
chips were down, you could not count on Dan Rather."

Certainly, we cannot count on him for the truth. During a 1993 speech
to the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Rather
criticized his colleagues for competing with entertainment shows for
"dead bodies, mayhem, and lurid tales." "We should all be ashamed of
what we have and have not done, measured against what we could do,"
Rather said.

Thousands of Vietnam veterans would agree.

- Anne Morse is a writer living in Maryland.