CBS' Andy Rooney believes National Guard memos are fake

[RedEarth]

NEW YORK - CBS curmudgeon Andy Rooney indicated Thursday he believes the controversial documents on President Bush's National Guard service are fake and said it could cost Dan Rather down the road.

``I'm surprised at their reluctance to concede they're wrong,'' Rooney said, referring to CBS brass.

Despite praising Rather as ``a good, honest newsman,'' Rooney added, ``I'm unsure if they're whistling in the dark instead of apologizing.''

The flap over the documents has rocked CBS News, has Republicans calling for Rather's head and has people questioning the credibility of Rather instead of Bush.

Rooney doesn't think the network would try to ease out Rather over the memo mess, but he added, ``It might have an effect on him six months from now.''

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/9690815.htm?1c

[skypilot]

1. BEN BARNES!!! BEN BARNES!!!

BEN BARNES!!! BEN BARNES!!! BEN BARNES!!!

[krkaufman]

2. Yep, makes one wonder...

... if the memos weren't a plant to misdirect attention away from what Barnes was saying.

And from the more obvious problems with Bush's current performance.

[skypilot]

5. It seems to have worked.

Everyone's name is coming up except his. Now Andy Fucking Rooney is weighing in. Where's Ben?!?!

Also, Marian Knox isn't getting too much play either. She said that the memos were probably fake but that the info in them is true. How much time before she goes down the memory hole too?

[LiberalEsto]

3. Andy Rooney is a fake

I can't STAND Andy Rooney. He's an egotistical asshat.

If he says they're fake, that's good enough for me: they've GOT to be real.

[bringbackfdr]

4. Drunken old has-been

His shtick got old about the time Reagan started nodding off at cabinet meetings. CBS should've canned him years ago.

[malachi]

6. How the fuck does Rooney know that they are fake?

Has he seen them? Does he possess the technical skills to determine whether or not they are fake? Is he speaking from the bottom of a bottle? Sounds like Ol' Andy is doing a bit of butt munching.

[skypilot]

7. Maybe he's angling for Dan's job.

Rooney must be awfully tired of being holed up in that cluttered office with all that crap. I wonder if the office is in the basement.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

8. Where is is proof?

[Qutzupalotl]

9. Joe Smith says they're real; Rooney backs down.

"That Joe Smith has a better eye for detail than I do. D'jever notice how all fonts start to look alike after awhile?"

[54anickel]

10. Where's the Outrage?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6030085/site/newsweek/

snip>

Republican lapdogs on Capitol Hill rushed to cash in on "Rathergate." Rep. Chris Cox, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, urged the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications to investigate CBS's use of potentially falsified documents. This is a party that launches investigations into Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction—and now this—while ignoring the intelligence lapses that led the country into an unnecessary war in Iraq, and covering for Bush when he exaggerates the progress in that nation’s development. The National Intelligence Estimate prepared for the president in late July, and reported Thursday by The New York Times, describes Iraq in far more pessimistic terms than Bush does on the campaign trail, with civil war a likely outcome.

The White House kept the report under wraps for two months, yet where is the outrage? Instead, Republicans want to launch hearings on the inner workings of CBS. "It really scares me when members of Congress begin to publicly talk about holding an investigation into how a journalist does his job," says Bill Kovach, veteran newsman and founder of the Committee of Concerned Journalists. The First Amendment begins with the words "Congress shall make no law" when it comes to abridging freedom of religion or expression, or freedom of the press. "What if Congress began an investigation into what the Catholic church does," Kovach says to make his point on how wildly inappropriate Cox's action is.

snip>

The controversy over the memos overshadowed what is known about Bush's Guard service, or lack thereof. First, Bush needed political pull to land a coveted spot in the Texas Guard. Former Texas House speaker Ben Barnes, a Democrat, told Rather that he helped Bush at the request of a Bush family friend, that he did it for countless other well-connected young men and that he regretted it. Secondly, we know Bush didn't show up in Alabama when he was supposed to. There's a $50,000 reward for anybody who can vouch for him, and nobody has stepped forward. Third, The Boston Globe revealed that Bush never reported for Guard duty in Boston as promised when he attended Harvard Business School. Lastly, Killian's secretary, Marian Carr Knox, says the content of the disputed memos is true even if the memos were forged.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. Andy Rooney has said a lot of things on the air...

...and has had to apologize more than once. Wasn't he suspended for a period of time a few years ago?

[robcon]

12. I agree with Rooney

I think the evidence they are fakes is overwhelming. CBS should put this behind it.

[jcappy]

13. set-up?

if so, Rather and CBS were most likely set up.

there's thousands of other pieces of evidence out there on Bush's awol, but the press is deep into this and nothing else.

another dirty trick, i bet

[DrWeird]

15. Really? I still haven't heard any evidence.

Except for the superscripts and proportional spacing, but that's all been debunked.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. The operative phrase in your post is "I think".

[Heyo]

14. That guy Staudt....

... who is mentioned in the memos just came out (according to ABC news) and said what's in the memos is not true

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Politics/Vote2004/staudt_bush_040917-1.html

Heyo

[Media_Lies_Daily]

16. No, he stated that Bush did not get preferential treatment...

...as far as I know, he said nothing about the contents of the documents.

[DrWeird]

18. Andy Rooney thinks that women shouldn't report on football.

Because they don't know anything about football.