Rather sueing CBS for $70mil

[Gas Man]

http://neveryetmelted.com/2009/08/28/cbs-knew-george-w-bush-volunteered-for-vietnam/

CBS Knew George W. Bush Volunteered for Vietnam

CBS, Dan Rather, George W. Bush, Mary Mapes, Media Bias, The Mainstream Media

line

Bernard Goldberg reveals a major detail disclosed by CBS’s investigation of Rathergate which the mainstream media for some mysterious reason has never considered worth reporting.

Dan Rather is suing the network that employed him for 44 years, asking for $70 million dollars in damages. Technically, the lawsuit is about a dry legal issue — breach of contract. But it is also about something much more personal to Rather: his legacy. It is a lawsuit, fundamentally, about saving Dan Rather’s reputation.

That reputation took a turn for the worse back in 2004. As has been widely reported, just 55 days before a very close presidential election, Dan Rather and his producer Mary Mapes put a story on the weekday edition of 60 Minutes that brought on the media equivalent of World War III. There were accusations that Rather, Mapes, and maybe the entire CBS News Division had set out to deliberately destroy George W. Bush and get John Kerry elected President of the United States – a charge everyone at CBS vehemently denies.

The story was about how the young George Bush got preferential treatment during the Vietnam War; how he wangled his way into the Texas Air National Guard back in the 1960s to avoid service in Vietnam; and how he was able to do it because his father was a big-shot, a United States Congressman from Houston. The story portrayed the Bush as a slacker. Others have said it portrayed him as a “cowardly draft dodger.”

And to bolster their story, Rather and Mapes got their hands on “never-before-seen” documents (as Rather put it in his story) that supposedly backed up their months (and in Mapes’ case, years) of reporting. But in no time flat the documents came under attack, mainly by conservatives on the web who examined the typeface of the memos and concluded they were fakes.

CBS News management aggressively defended the story in general and the documents in particular – until they didn’t. After about two weeks, CBS threw in the towel and said it could no longer stand by the story. Rather, who had been vigorously defending his story, reluctantly went on the air and admitted the documents could not be authenticated. Later he would say he was forced to do it.

In the aftermath of the fiasco, CBS established an outside panel to look into the matter. In January of 2005 the panel issued a report which concluded the news division failed to establish that the documents were legitimate and not bogus. Mapes was fired. A vice president and two producers were forced to resign. And Dan Rather was a dead man walking.

He had already lost his job as anchorman of the evening news but was allowed to stay on the weekday edition of 60 Minutes, which his story had sent on a glide path to oblivion. And when that show died an inglorious death Rather went over to the Sunday edition of 60 Minutes. But that wouldn’t last long, either. When his contract ran out CBS yanked him off the show, but made him an offer he decided to refuse: Rather would get an office and an assistant and he could report stories for any CBS News broadcast that called on him – if any CBS News broadcast ever chose to call on him. CBS offered Rather $250,000 a year, according to my sources, who say he wanted a million. When he didn’t get it, he quit. According to Rather, he was pushed out the door by the head of CBS, Leslie Moonves.

In 2007, Rather filed his $70 million lawsuit against his old company saying he wasn’t allowed to defend his story because the top management of CBS’ parent company, Viacom, wanted to appease the Bush Administration and protect its business interests.

Until now, the controversy over the Rather/Mapes story has centered almost entirely on one issue: the legitimacy of the documents – a very important issue, indeed. But it turns out that there was another very important issue, one that goes to the very heart of what the story was about – and one that has gone virtually unnoticed. This is it: Mary Mapes knew before she put the story on the air that George W. Bush, the alleged slacker, had in fact volunteered to go to Vietnam.

Who says? The outside panel CBS brought into to get to the bottom of the so-called “Rathergate” mess says. I recently re-examined the panel’s report after a source, Deep Throat style, told me to “Go to page 130.” When I did, here’s the startling piece of information I found:

Mapes had information prior to the airing of the September 8 [2004] Segment that President Bush, while in the TexANG [Texas Air National Guard] did volunteer for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots. For example, a flight instructor who served in the TexANG with Lieutenant Bush advised Mapes in 1999 that Lieutenant Bush “did want to go to Vietnam but others went first.” Similarly, several others advised Mapes in 1999, and again in 2004 before September 8, that Lieutenant Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam but did not have enough flight hours to qualify.

This information, despite the fact that it has been available since the CBS report came out four years ago, has remained a secret to almost everybody both in and out of the media — one lonely fact in a 234- page report loaded with thousands of facts, and overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the documents.

[StoleIt]

Nice to always have solid proof of the media bias.

I know tons of people that think Fox is biased but all the other services aren't.

[pawnman]

This would have been good news to have, oh, say...5 years ago.

I doubt it'll be anything more than fodder for a Hannitty rant at this point. Although it may be one more nail in the coffin of CBS News.

[Vertigo]

This is interesting; I wonder about the sources though because they contradict GW Bush himself.

In the Feb 7, 2004 interview with Tim Russert, Bush himself denies ever having volunteered for Vietnam:

Russert: Were you favor of the war in Vietnam?

President Bush: I supported my government. I did. And would have gone had my unit been called up, by the way.

Russert: But you didnt volunteer or enlist to go.

President Bush: No, I didnt. You're right. I served. I flew fighters and enjoyed it, and provided a service to our country. In those days we had what was called "air defense command," and it was a part of the air defense command system."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/

It's about 3/4 the way down the page.

So either Bush had a moment where he did in fact volunteer but didn't remember or didn't want to go through the whole explanation process of saying he volunteered but wasn't selected.

I'm not saying Mary Mapes was right... if she had contradictory evidence she should have at least shown it and let the viewers decide. Withholding things detrimental but possibly key to your story isn't balanced reporting.

Edit: While looking this over I came across a passage from Mary Mapes 2005 book: Truth And Duty:

Specifically, on page 65, she writes about a 1999 interview she conducted with Maurice Udell, who was George W. Bush's trainer in the 147th Fighter Group in Houston in the late 1960s.

Here's the passage:

Udell clearly liked his young trainee, describing him as "always good at coming up with a joke." As for discipline problems, Udell said that young Bush "responded very well. I thought he'd be a great American and fighter pilot."

Had Bush joined the Guard to avoid Vietnam? "That's bullshit, that he avoided the war," Udell told me in 1999. "They try to put George down...He performed very well. I'm not saying that because he's running."

Udell told me that Bush had wanted to go to Vietnam.

So it seems this website didn't really crack this big secret when Mary herself spilled the beans back in 2005.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Vertigo

[Guest Krabs]

http://neveryetmelted.com/2009/08/28/cbs-knew-george-w-bush-volunteered-for-vietnam/

In the aftermath of the fiasco, CBS established an outside panel to look into the matter. In January of 2005 the panel issued a report...

I recently re-examined the panel’s report after a source, Deep Throat style, told me to “Go to page 130.”...Lieutenant Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam but did not have enough flight hours to qualify.

So it seems this website didn't really crack this big secret when Mary herself spilled the beans back in 2005.

At the time of the book release the cat was out of the bag, no need to hide it after that report. But I agree, the website is definitely tooting its own horn over this issue which makes absolutely zero difference to anyone besides Dan Rather and CBS at this point.

[pawnman]

This is interesting; I wonder about the sources though because they contradict GW Bush himself.

In the Feb 7, 2004 interview with Tim Russert, Bush himself denies ever having volunteered for Vietnam:

“Russert: Were you favor of the war in Vietnam?

President Bush: I supported my government. I did. And would have gone had my unit been called up, by the way.

Russert: But you didn’t volunteer or enlist to go.

President Bush: No, I didn’t. You're right. I served. I flew fighters and enjoyed it, and provided a service to our country. In those days we had what was called "air defense command," and it was a part of the air defense command system."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/

It's about 3/4 the way down the page.

So either Bush had a moment where he did in fact volunteer but didn't remember or didn't want to go through the whole explanation process of saying he volunteered but wasn't selected.

I'm not saying Mary Mapes was right... if she had contradictory evidence she should have at least shown it and let the viewers decide. Withholding things detrimental but possibly key to your story isn't balanced reporting.

Edit: While looking this over I came across a passage from Mary Mapes 2005 book: Truth And Duty:

Specifically, on page 65, she writes about a 1999 interview she conducted with Maurice Udell, who was George W. Bush's trainer in the 147th Fighter Group in Houston in the late 1960s.

Here's the passage:

So it seems this website didn't really crack this big secret when Mary herself spilled the beans back in 2005.

Maybe Bush was just saying "No, I didn't volunteer to be active-duty Army, I went into the TX ANG instead".

I will say it's interesting how the story about military service changed from 2000, when the democratic candidate (Gore) had none at all, to 2004, when the democratic candidate had actually been in-country during Vietnam (Kerry).

[Guest 3GAF]

Maybe Bush was just saying "No, I didn't volunteer to be active-duty Army, I went into the TX ANG instead".

I will say it's interesting how the story about military service changed from 2000, when the democratic candidate (Gore) had none at all, to 2004, when the democratic candidate had actually been in-country during Vietnam (Kerry).

Minor point, Al Gore was in-country during Vietnam. I know his service isn't seen as particularly worthy because he served as a journalist but he did enlist in 1969, wore the uniform, graduated boot camp, and served in a unit in Bien Hoa. He admits to contemplating draft dodging along with a great number of his Harvard compatriots, but, he chose to enlist in the active Army (as opposed to National Guard or Air National Guard) in spite of his senator-father's almost assured ability to get him a commission or a Guard slot. The Army chose to assign him as a journalist, most likely because the Nixon administration didn't want to see the son of one of the most prominent opponents of Vietnam killed in action.

Just a little historical trivia...I have no doubt Rather and CBS screwed the pooch on the whole Bush military service story.

[pawnman]

Minor point, Al Gore was in-country during Vietnam. I know his service isn't seen as particularly worthy because he served as a journalist but he did enlist in 1969, wore the uniform, graduated boot camp, and served in a unit in Bien Hoa. He admits to contemplating draft dodging along with a great number of his Harvard compatriots, but, he chose to enlist in the active Army (as opposed to National Guard or Air National Guard) in spite of his senator-father's almost assured ability to get him a commission or a Guard slot. The Army chose to assign him as a journalist, most likely because the Nixon administration didn't want to see the son of one of the most prominent opponents of Vietnam killed in action.

Just a little historical trivia...I have no doubt Rather and CBS screwed the pooch on the whole Bush military service story.

You are correct sir. It was Bill clinton who dodged the draft, opting to smoke pot in Canada, who started the "military service isn't a requirement to be president" sentiment when he ran against WWII heroes in back-to-back elections (Bush Sr. and Dole).

Shame on me.