I'm not sure if I think you're kidding.

Or setup a laptop and show pedestrians how easy it is to fool CBS.

If you read Jim Geraghty's report on the CBS affliate's response, it's much more likely that the head of the DC affliate is performing a hunger strike in front of Dan Rather's door. But, if you think it would help...

You should print out a poster-sized copy of one of the memos and hang it outside your condo.

Sign:

Truth ----->

Worked here in NYC on the Plaza.

do you have a wireless router or a hot spot on the curb?

you'd miss all the fun unless you do.

Tomorrow I plan on watching 60 Minutes II, for no other reason than to compile a list of local sponsors.

With a list of local sponsors boycott threats to your local CBS affiliate will have a lot more pull.

I urge all to do the same and hope some lesser traveled blog will offer it's services to host a CBS local affiliate advertisers boycott listing.

I live in Alexandria I'm willing to go down to the building and pee on it.

- Show us your sources! .. ( crowd chant "Hell no...We don't know...)

Placards:

"Rather Lied ... CBS died"

"DNCBS ... Illegal Kerry campaign corporation?"

"Fire a Newscaster...Save the Memo's"

Nawwwww ....I can't stomach the idea of emulating the eternally dysfunctional left.....

On second thought, I'll just put it on the PVR so I can fast forward through the garbage.

ctob,

drop channel 9 and email,

newswatch@wusatv9.com

I like the idea of putting out some catchy and attention grabbing signage outside...

Wow-- Hunter, these are really good.

"Hell no...We don't know..."
"Rather Lied ... CBS died"
"DNCBS ... Illegal Kerry campaign corporation?"

I was thinking just walk by from time to time, in shades and an overcoat, and surreptitiously whisper into your lapel-mic...

the flash animation is great.

"hoping that there's another good Kurtz/Dobbs article tonight"

go the other way. eat. say if they don't confess you will eat food until you die. seems like more fun than death by starvation. you could make a huge spectacle of it and make yourself the envy of everyone, "wow, he is eating even more chocolate cake, he's gonna kill himself".

seriously though, we need a true and free press in this country. they should confess, say lesson learned and move forward. 'cause now they know people like you are watching. the significance of the past week, the establishment of the blogosphere as a tool of critical analysis of current events, has forever changed the playing field. i have been completely blown away by the amount of intellect displayed this week in our world and i know cbs, nbc, abc et al have noticed as well. admission or not, this will not happen again for a long time because of your work and the work of others known to us all. thanks for keeping an eye on our country.

Over at LGF they have an image of the memo with the background enhanced to show that it had be crumpled. If you look closely at the image there appears to be some handwriting diagonally across the middle. Maybe someone with access to image enhancing software could recover the handwriting. It would be interesting to see what it said.

- I echo your comments (blogments(c)) scott with one caviat....I loved seeing the bloggers on FOx tonight but one question from Brit Hume wasn't fielded as well as I would have liked...When Brit asked his..."Well how do we know your vetting of sources is any better or even as good as the major media's"...the guy missed his chance to nail it right there...."Well nobody that wants to run a scam stands a chance of more than ten minutes of life on the net before many will call him on it...and if its unprovable then blogpundits like Bill will not run it or take it down if its called into question immediately..."....Otherwise it was a perfect case of well deserved pride to watch it for everyone who did the heavy lifting... Theres a new Sheriff in town and his initials aren't MSM....

Please folks. It's time to drop it. We've proven tthat the mems are forgeries. Now it's time to get back to the real story -- Kerry's unfitness to command.

We know that CBS knew the memos were forged but ran the story anyway. Why? TO GET US TO FOCUS ON CBS INSTEAD OF KERRY.

They've bought Kerry a week. They've broken our momentum. Before the forgeries, Kerry was taking body blows every day. The Swift Boat Vets were in the news. Every day another Kerry lie was publicized.

Since CBS ran the story, the news has been about CBS. Our focus has been broken. It's time to get our eyes back on the ball. Kerry is running for President -- not Dan Rather.

Let's drop this story and start telling people about Kerry again.

I haven't come up with any new posters, but I sure have a couple of good images for them. (stolen from somewhere else in BLOGDOM., I don't remember where... slaps forhead)

1. Image of the CBS eye, superimposed on the scene from the end of LoTRIII where Sauron's Tower does that slow motion tilt and collapse.

2. Image of Dan Rather's face superimposed on Nixon shot with the hands upraised.... "I'm not a Crook"

Corbett -

I'm ABSOLUTELY NOT pursuing this for partisan reasons, but if I was, your strategy would be foolish. If these are tied back to the DNC (which they may be) Kerry is toast.

- Yeah ... I was going to say...If you want to talk about Kerry you better hurry up...His swiftboat is taking on water fast... Besides Why screw with a good thing....the Bushies have been more or less content to sit back and let the DNCdorks shove their whole election into the garbage disposal... Why stop them now....

Corbett,

Actually, the whole CBS fakery thing really hurts Sen. Kerry in several ways:

1. It sucks up all the "oxygen," effectively shutting down the ability of the Kerry campaign to get out its message. You can't catch up when no one is listening to you.

2. Just as a majority of people automatically tied the Swifties back to the Bush campaign - no matter how false that might be - folks will ultimately tie the fake memos - and the impugning of Mr. Bush's military record - to the Kerry campaign. Being tied to clearly-faked attack documents doesn't make someone seem presidential.

3. If the blogosphere forces the lamestream media to hold someone accountable for this foul misdeed, the message will be clear: the media lied about George Bush, with the connivance of the Democrats. Mounting further attacks against Mr. Bush will prove difficult.

On the other hand, if the media are let off the hook, it is possible they can shift the focus to "it isn't important if the memos are fakes or not, it's the MESSAGE that counts."

That's what it's all about with this ol' lady Knox, the secretary.

Corbett: Interesting way of looking at it, but Rather has yet to admit the deception he's been pushing on his viewers. Believe it or not, there are people out there who will take him at his word, as worthless as he's proven it to be. My guess is that most of them are well-into their golden years, but hey, if they're Roosevelt Democrats and uncertain about who to vote for, they might just be tipped to Kerry by Rather's "Bush skipped out of 'Nam" line. The sooner Rather is forced to come clean, the better. Perhaps then CBS will become less of a tool for the DNC.

But yeah, I do agree we shouldn't forget Kerry. It does seem that the less press he gets, the better he does.

Dr Dave, I duplicated Charles' brightness and contrast tweaking on the CBS pdf and I don't see any evidence of handwriting across the middle [excepting the signature ;) ].

Actually David in regards to that last part they've tried to hunt that dawg all day it in every instance the announcer or opposing side jumps on that with both feet from two directions..."

1). Its the Duplicity of the press thats the story because if the documents are fake then the info is totally without merit...its reduced to partisan rumor....

2). Its doubtful that most Americans care all that much about Bush's TANG record...He's a sitting president with almost 4 years of brand recognition...Kerry is the newcomer that has to make himself known and understood...

Almost everyone see's it this way except a few Liberal talking heads..

Something else was mentioned a number of times today..."While all this is going on Kerry is getting virtually zero "face time"....

I have very little doubt these "memos" will be tied back to the Kerry campaign. The timing of the story -- just at the beginning of Kerry's "Fortunate Son" idiocy -- is too good for Kerry to be otherwise.

What a pity they had such poor sources.

Bill your commitment to truth over is a credit to your profession of pajama-clad living-room-dwelling professional rumor miller.

It's been fun to watch. I think you would have done the same thing if these memos were about Kerry -- and that's important.

I agree with david that the Secretary is a problem.

you can clearly see the defense has shifted at CBS.

"Most importantly, the content of the documents was backed up by our reporting and our sources who knew the thoughts and behavior of Lt. Col. Jerry Killian at the time," the statement said"

combined with the LoL Secretary who, though demonstrating some bias, claims to know what Killian thought about Bush. It's hard to defend against her.

As a DirecTV subscriber living in the flyover country, I have to pay an additional monthly fee for each local network channel I receive such as WCBS (NY) and KCBS (LA). I just sent each affiliate an email stating that I would cancel the service unless Rather resigned.

Would you be wearing pajamas? ... and you better be careful with that animation, Rather might air it as "actual" footage to prove that the Pajama Nation is just a group of murderous thugs... I am sure he's got someone that could authenticate the images...

But . . . I saw Reese Shonfeld, the co-founder of CNN, on some show tonight and he said he heard that some experts saw it one way, and then he saw CBS put on a bunch of experts who saw it the other way, and so it'll probably never be resolved.

Doesn't this mean we should just drop it?

(Just in case you feel yourself about to blow the match out . . .)

Raving Atheist -

I'm on a crusade, and it doesn't involve God.

Bill--

*Please* tell me you (or SondraK) are willing to loan out that animation. . . I'll give full credit to whomever deserves it.

I simply must have it. . .

Cheers,
Dave
Garfield Ridge

Hunter and The Drill SGT,

Regarding the secretary, I think as long as folks continue to hold CBS' feet to the fire, as Hunter says is happening, the secretary isn't much of a problem at all.

But if folks let this all slide, because we're not focusing on the issues or something, then the Republicans lose on this. CBS and the left will be able to redefine it as, "we were right on the substance, even if some of the evidence was a little leaky."

Go Edgar!

I loved watching Podhoretz explain what little green footballs are too O'Reilly...

Yeah Drill - CBS is down to mediums and mind reading now....whats next Terrot cards and Crystal balls....

That burning man gif is sick!!

Which makes me wonder... is this a hysterical laugh coming out of me? Or am I as sick as all that?

Well Bill.... we've pretty well rung everything possible out of the memo's ,other than having an alien testify they were made on Alpha Centura, and we've agreed to let off of "deep memo"...So whats next your blogginess ...Not much we can do till the Dems do something else smart.....

I don't think that Rathergate is entertaining anymore. I think it has become a journalistic crisis. Seriously.

http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/006171.php

my fix is here. a New Kurtz story in the Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21675-2004Sep14.html

Sorry Corbett, but eight years from now neither Dubya nor Kerry will be in the White House.

CBS will, however, still be on your tv set.

This goes far beyond a presidential campaign. It speaks to our ability to get the truth from those we used to be able to trust.

I think Corbett makes a good point, but I also think we can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time.

This is the brave new world. We don't have to let wrong-doers slide just for political expedience anymore. The little fish can be dropped in the hot grease along with the big.

Dan Rather, and more broadly, CBS, are culpable for this fraud they have committed.

It may or may not go back to Kerry, but don't doubt: Kerry has been harmed by this.

He is trailing Bush badly in most polls, and this is precisely the type of story that keeps non-committed voters home.

So a lack of focus by the media on the campaign is a wash for both parties. The only advantage for Kerry is that he can't drop further behind as even more people get to know him.

Drill - even that comment by Matley is a CYA evasion....An amatuer can look at those signitures and spot them for fakes, copies or not...They are SO bad...I mean it looks like a harried secretary was handed the hot potato for later deniability and told...."Just sign them as best you can...."...

This is a very serious story...at least as serious as Watergate.

The media forms an unofficial 4th branch of our govt. and is supposed to hold the 3 official branches accountable. If the media is corrupt, it is difficult to maintain a functional democracy, for democracy depends upon people making decisions based upon accurate information.

It is no mystery why dictators and tyrants always, as one of their first acts in grabbing power, seek to seize control of the media.

If the media cannot be trusted, and especially if it is acting in concert with a political group, then this has very serious implications for democracy.

3 "document experts" recant and CBS does another, these folks were peripheral... we had other experts, but we won't give you their names yet..

don't they realize that unles they already have tape of the expert and sworn statements, that no expert is gonna walk the plank to profesional suicide by supporting those docs.

can't you imagine how much fun opposing lawyers will have with a CBS document expert the next time they testify?

Although I do think this election is important and I plan on voting for Bush. I think that RatherGate is important on its own merits. I have been bitching about the media for too long to not think so. This is part of the bill of rights people! This Election is 4 years the constitution is more than 200. I simply can't conscience fraud being passed off on to the people.

So I respectfully disagree with Corbett.

I agree with Bill and ctob.

some level of balance in the media is essential to a democracy. and we can't afford to fracture our viewing into polarized media outlets that provide slanted opinion to a tailored audienace.

though I love blogs, I really miss a MSM that I can trust to give me the facts and tell me when it's opinion/

Jay Leno is totally ripping CBS apart. He just called them "See BS" and said "the network had just discovered some new documents relative to Bush's TANG service . . . they know they're new because they just printed them over the weekend."

SGT - Bingo. Blogs need the MSM.

Raving - Well, that's the death knell then. In the late night jokes ...

I've been e-mailed and told that the burning man is inappropriate. If it helps, it's, um, strictly metaphorical. And I'll start being proper and pc when you guys start paying me to blog. Sorry.

Wait, so if we just pop in a few bucks to your paypal account, we can turn you all proper and PC?

I'm easy.

I like the little guy. He's cheerful and persistent, if a little extreme, but I don't think you should emulate him. Maybe if you go out there in shorts with a lawn chair and threaten to sun-burn yourself severely