Just saw the Mary Mapes/Dan Rather movie "Truth..

[Peregrine Took]

and was wondering about Bill Burkett, the Lt. Col. who produced the "phony" Killian documents that led to Rather's and Mape's undoing.

I can't find anything on Burkett - where is he, is he still alive. etc. Nothing since 2004-5. Even the Wiki page has zero biographical information.

[TheMastersNemesis]

1. Don't Know About Burkett But Rather & Co Made A Major Mistake On Those Documents.

One glaring error surfaced with that situation. It was reported that the documents examine by the document examiner did NOT have originals. Using ANYTHING other than original documents is a loser. No credible forensic document examiner would ever issue an opinion based on COPIES.

I knew and met one of the best examiners in the country years ago. He never would even discuss a case with ORIGINAL documents. You simply cannot verify documents when there are no originals.

The flawed approach was was caused most of the problem. And if the documents had been shown to be fraudulent things might have turned out differently. Could have caused some real problems for Bush.

[tavernier]

2. Did you like it?

It won't come here. We only see blow up flicks and kiddie stuff. Anything cerebral might encourage us to think.

[kacekwl]

3. The bigger question is where

are the original documents and if they do prove the story was incorrect and Bush was not AWOL then why can't they be seen?

[Samantha]

4. I don't know but that story of Bush* being AWOL was old news by the time Rather reported it

It had been written about by reporters from Texas. While he was supposed to be serving in Air National Guard, he often "disappeared." And I remember he failed his flight test because he never practiced.

Bush* got into the Air National Guard through his father's influence and friends, as did sons of other VIPs. This was how they avoided serving in active duty. It was suggested that Bush went down South to campaign on behalf of a family friend running for office during that time he was supposed to be serving in the Guard.

So by the time Rather reported this (I saw that segment), it didn't surprise me at all. Rather's being dismissed did, but now of course I realize CBS must have been getting a lot of pressure from THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY, REALLY MATTER IN THIS COUNTRY to can Rather for whatever reason could be given.

Sam

[pinboy3niner]

5. Not "avoiding active duty," that's how he avoided going to Vietnam

"I'm saying to myself, 'What do I want to do?' I think I don't want to be an infantry guy as a private in Vietnam. What I do decide to want to do is learn to fly."

--George W. Bush in a 1989 interview

At Height of Vietnam, Bush Picks Guard
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072899.htm

[mnhtnbb]

6. Rachel did an interview with Rather and a good background piece

you can see both at the links.




http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/going-awol-why-did-the-media-wait-7-months-to-reveal-truth-about-bushs-national-guard-service/

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/rather-hits-faithless-cbs-on-bush-scandal-554415683914