HDNet Original Programming – Dan Rather Reports — Tomorrow night on HDNet it looks like Dan Rather’s revenge as he does a show titled The Bush Legacy. I would suspect that Rather believes that the whole episode about the Bush military letter that was hoaxed on Rather and then resulted in his ouster from CBS still bugs him. I’ve always been convinced that the whole tale behind that letter was an elaborate set-up orchestrated by someone in Washington. My theory is that the letter might have been real. It was then copied with the obvious flaw added to make the whole thing look like a scam. I suggest this only because one of the secretaries said that she remembers a letter “like that one” but that one isn’t it. That aspect of the story was passed by so people could pile on Rather. This episode of Dan Rather Reports looks like a must-watch.
And I do not see this as being the last hit piece done on this show.
The Bush Legacy — Episode Number: 201
Synopsis: A talk with noted historians about the Presidency of George W. Bush and how he will be viewed against others who’ve sat in the Oval Office.
Wish I had a HDTV to watch this. I’ve heard Rather’s show is pretty good.
I urge Dan Rather to retire quietly and leave Bush and the GOP mafia alone. It is likely he is a marked man and might be found dead by ‘strange illness’.
I wonder if i could find a torrent of the show
Bitter old man. He and some people on this blog can not accept the possibility this time they could be wrong about bush. Evan if they are right at this time it does not matter a rats behind to most people in this country and this planet. The headlines are not going to proclaim “Dan was right”. It ain’t like Bush does not have some more currant issues that are more provable. This does not help Rather’s credibility. Just looks like sour grapes.
“It was then copied with the obvious flaw added to make the whole thing look like a scam.” The obvious flaw?!? Like the fact that it was made using Microsoft Word? http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12526&only
Maybe Rather was set up, but he could have been honest and said that he was wrong and the document was a forgery. But instead, Nixon-like, he doubled down, even though his story was wrong.
Good journalist admit they are wrong when they make mistakes. If Rather had admitted that the letter was an obvious forgery, then he could have been forgiven. But he hasn’t, even when the evidence has turned out to be overwhelming against him.
torrents are available
I agree with JCDs evaluation of this. Furthermore it was one of the main reasons Bush got elected. Reelected would mean he was elected the first time, he wasn’t.
As to the multiple, and growing, scandals about Bush I say pile em’ on!
#6 – Sweet, thanks!!
Yup, the Bush jr apologists want to move on. Instead of focusing on the theme here, where the “f” was Bush during his service? Instead they want to stress one piece of paper was fraudulent. So instead of being noted that he was AWOL, they like to claim Dan Rather has an agenda. Instead of worrying their Commander in PJs should have done time in the brig, they scream “sloppy reporting”.
Typical bunch of sniveling cowards. The same bunch who claims a true war hero, John Kerry, didn’t earn his medals. Cripes, how low can these worms crawl.
Kerry did NOT earn or deserve his medals and his behavior after Nam is downright treasonous and he should be facing the ultimate penalty. The crap Kerry pulled makes anything Bush, Nixon or even Clinton pulled look like minor traffic offenses by comparison. The “man” is an insult to all humanity.
On to the OP. Rather was always incredibly biased as well as a pompous bloviating windbag. He’s always made the mistake that he himself is somehow important. He made the mistake of being too obvious in his foaming at the mouth attempt to influence the election. Thank God he didn’t succeed or Kerry, by now would most likely already destroyed everything that makes this country the best country on Earth.
The neolibs on this board are funny. They just can’t admit when they are wrong, even when all the evidence in the world is presented to them, they still insist that it must be true, not because there is any proof, but because they want it to be so.
To the people that aren’t blinded by hate for a person, see how silly and childish all this makes you look? They should have a psychology class on it in school, would make an interesting study, we can call it “How Hate Makes Reasonable People say Stupid Things”
Mucous: treason is a crime, either file charges or shut up.
Mucous: treason is a crime, either file charges or shut up. As for undeserved medals here’s Bush wearing one:
#4 Who’s “Evan” and what have “Currants” got to do with anything?
#9 – Tell it like it is!
#10 – Keep telling it like it isn’t.
#11 – Academics have been trying to figure out why seemingly intelligent people fall for propaganda at least since the days when Father Coughlin broadcast neocon-like attacks-by-distortion against FDR, the New Deal, and the Jewish conspirators he blamed for anything FDR didn’t personally cause. So far as I know, they’ve never figured out why people blind themselves to clear evidence the way they do. If they ever figure it out, I bet it’ll be related to the religious mental circuits other demagogues are so good at manipulating. That would at least be consistent with the way religion and the radical right are constantly in bed together.
#13 – i think its some kind of Boy Band
#10 – The crap Kerry pulled makes anything Bush, Nixon or even Clinton pulled look like minor traffic offenses by comparison.
So, Bush’s WMD lie to get a war that cost a lot of people their lives was a minor thing? Get real.
Bob, I’d be willing to bet even with his appalling qualifications for President, all the libs on this blog would be MORE than willing to cut the man some slack, IF he had done his job. I can easily forgive a man his past mistakes, as long as he learns something and doesnt keep repeating them. But Bush is a total failure, and all your handwringing cant change that. You backed a loser, and should accept responsibilty for that. Then we can move on.
Mucous: “Thank God he didn’t succeed or Kerry, by now would most likely already destroyed everything that makes this country the best country on Earth.”
You do read this blog dont you? You do understand the irony in that statement. Well dont you?
18…great post. Bitching because I disagree about social security is a whole different kind of bitch than whether we should be losing brave soldiers in an unjustifiable, expensive, unneeded, and counter-productive war. The former is just political whining, and we all do that. The latter, well, it’ll take a lot of time before the USA is respected as it was on 9/13/01, and those lives are gone forever. In a few years nobody will admit to voting for W.
I’d place a small bet that the Word memo came from the Bush version of the Plumbers.
It’s funny to watch the bushies come out in force whenever possible.
How can anyone say with a straight face that ANY candidate could possibly have done a worse job over the last 6 years than bush? From the lies that led us to the quagmire in Iraq, to the lies and corruption that was (and still is) the Abramoff fiasco, all the while thumbing his nose at the rest of the world trying to do it ‘his way’?
Look, say what you will about Kerry or Gore, but bush has failed at every single job he has ever been handed: oil companies run into the ground, the texas rangers run nearly into bankruptcy, the presidency of the United States, a total and complete failure on every level.
It’s good to see Rather back at work. He was a news icon for 30 years and the corruption that is the bush regime led to his untimely ‘retiring’ from his big media masters. Now he can do real investigative journalism on a network that doesn’t bow to government pressure.
Here’s something i received in an e-mail yesterday… I have know idea who wrote it, but it sounds like the political bashing is just going to get mo betta… the future should be a lot of fun. Thank GOD for Americal!
here it is:
“I flew 4 Presidential support missions in the C-141 out of Dover AFB, DE.
Two for President Johnson and two for President Nixon.
Johnson was a first class jerk and on the two occasions I flew for him,
if the Secret Service and their Liaison in the Pentagon hadn’t
intervened, we would have had to stay on the airplane for hours while he
(Johnson) was off somewhere.
Nixon never required that and the four (4) stops we made with him he was
cordial to the Secret Service and to me and my crew.
Denny Keast: We had a neighbor when I lived in DC who was part of the
secret service presidential detail for many years. His stories of
Kennedy and Johnson were the same as those I heard from the guys who
flew the presidents’ plane.
Yes, Kennedy did have Marilyn Monroe flown in for secret “dates,” and
LBJ was a typical Texas “good ole boy” womanizer. Nixon, Bush 41, and
Carter never cheated on their wives. Clinton cheated, but couldn’t
match Kennedy or LBJ in style or variety.
The information below is accurate:
The elder Bush and current president Bush make it a point to thank and
take care of the air crews who fly them around.
When the president flies, there are several planes that also go – one
carries the armored limo, another the security detail, plus usually a press aircraft.
Both Bush’s made it a point to stay home on holidays, so the Air Force
and security people could have a day with their families.
WHAT WAS:
Hillary Clinton was arrogant and orally abusive to her security detail.
She forbade her daughter, Chelsea, from exchanging pleasantries with them.
Sometimes Chelsea , miffed at her mother’s obvious conceit and mean
spiritedness ignored her demands and exchanged pleasantries regardless,
but never in her mother’s presence.
Chelsea really was a nice, kindhearted, and lovely young lady. The
consensus opinion was that Chelsea loved her Mom but did not like
her. Hillary Clinton was continuously rude and abrasive to those who
were charged to protect her life. Her security detail dutifully did
their job, as professionals should, but they all loathed her and wanted
to be on a different detail. Hillary Clinton was despised by the
Secret Service as a whole.
Former President Bill Clinton was much more amiable than his wife.
Often the Secret Service would cringe at the verbal attacks Hillary
would use against her husband. They were embarrassed for his sake by
the manner and frequency in which she verbally insulted him, sometimes
in the presence of the Secret Service, and sometimes behind closed
doors. Even behind closed doors Hil lary Clinton would scream and
holler so loudly that everyone could hear what she was saying.
Many felt sorry for President Clinton and most wondered why he tolerated
it instead of just divorcing his “attack dog” wife. It was crystal
clear that the Clinton’s neither liked nor respected each other and this
was true long before the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Theirs was
genuinely a “Marriage of convenience.”
Chelsea was much closer to her father than her mother, even after the
Lewinsky scandal, which hurt her gravely.
Bill Clinton did in fact have charisma, and occasionally would smile at
or shake hands with his security detail. Still, he always displayed
an obvious air of superiority towards them. His security detail
uniformly believed him to be disingenuous, false, and that he did
nothing without a motive that in some way would enhance his image and
political career. He was polite, but not kind. They did not
particularly like him and nobod y trusted him.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN:
Al Gore was the male version of Hillary Clinton. They were more friendly
toward each other than either of them were towards former President
Clinton . They were not intimate, so please don’t read that in. They
were very close in a political way.
Tipper Gore was generally nice and pleasant. She initially liked
Hillary but soon after the ele ction she had her “pegged” and no longer
liked her or associated with her except for events that were politically
obligatory.
Al Gore was far more left wing than Bill Clinton. Al Gore resented
Bill Clinton and thought he was too “centrist.” He despised all
Republicans. His hatred was bitter and this was long before he
announced for the Presidency.
This hatred was something that he and Hillary had in common. They
often said as much, even in the presence of their security detail.
Neither of them trusted Bill Clinton and, the Secret Service opined,
neither of them even liked Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton did have some good qualities, whereas Al Gore and Hillary had none,
in the view of their security details. Al Gore, like Hillary, was very rude and
arrogant toward his security detail. He was extremely unappreciative and would
not hesitate to scold them in the presence of their peers for minor details over
which they had no control.
Al Gore also looked down on them, as they finally observed and learned with
certainty on one occasion. Al got angry at his offspring and pointed at his
security detail and said, “Do you want to grow up and be like them?”
Word of this insult by the former Vice-President quickly spread and he
became as disliked by the Secret Service as Hillary. Most of them
prayed Al Gore would not be elected President, and they really did have
private celebrations in a few of their homes after President Bush
won. This was not necessarily to celebrate President Bush’s election,
but to celebrate Al Gore’s defeat.
WHAT IS:
Everyone in the Secret Service wants to be on First Lady Laura Bush’s
detail. Without exception, they concede that she is perhaps the nicest
and most kind person they have ever had the privilege of serving.
Where Hillary patently refused to allow her picture to be taken with her
security detail, Laura Bush doesn’t even have to be asked, she offers.
She doesn’t just shake their hand and say, “Thank you.” Very often,
she will give members of her detail a kindhearted hug to express her appreciation.
There is nothing false about her. This is her genuine nature. Her security detail
considers her to be a “breath of fresh air.” They joke that comparing Laura Bush
with Hillary Clinton is like comparing “Mother Teresa” with the “Wicked Witch of the North.”
Likewise, the Secret Service considers President Bush to be a gem of a
man to work for. He always treats them with genuine respect and he
always trusts and listens to their expert advice. They really like
the Crawford, Texas detail. Every time the president goes to Crawford
he has a Bar-B-Q for his security detail and he helps serve their
meals. He sits with them, eats with them, and talks with them. He
knows each of them by their first name, and calls them by their first
name as a show of affection. He always asks about their family, the
names of which he always remembers. They believe that he is deeply and
genuinely appreciative of their service. They could not like, love, or
respect anyone more than President Bush.
Most of them did not know they would feel this way, until they had an
opportunity to work for him and learn that his manner was genuine and
consistent. It has never changed since he began his Presidency. He
always treats them with the utmost respect, kindness, and compassion.
Please pass this on. It is important for Americans to have a true
inside understanding of their President.”
#20 – Yeah, what you said. These people’s “support Bush” circuits are closely linked to the “right-wing religiosity” and “moralistic political posturing” circuits though a series of illogic gates. That’s the scientific explanation.
#21 – what an absolutely classic hit piece. The Big Villains? Al and Hillary. Gee. I wonder what the agenda is. Wow.
Hunter Thompson had a way of pinning down the truth. In February, 2004 he remarked, “Desperate men do desperate things, and stupid men do stupid things. We are in for a desperately stupid summer.”
As you said, it won’t get better anytime soon, but it’ll be entertaining.
#21
GWB is by no doubt a guy that is easy going and polite. I wouldn’t mind chatting and having a person like him as a friend outside of work. But this doesn’t mean that he’s great on the professional level. We’ve all seen GWBs track record in the White House… he leaves a lot to wish for.
As for Hillary… she’s a bitch. The Democrats will shoot themselves in the foot if they run with her…
#21
Thanks for passing on your spam/chain letter…you’re the first to get through the Dvorak “I get no spam” filter.
#10 Kerry did NOT earn or deserve his medals and his behavior after Nam is downright treasonous and he should be facing the ultimate penalty
The military was convinced he deserved those medals and I respect the military… but that aside, do you think Kerry should have LIED about what he experienced in Vietnam?
That’s not true patriotism — that’s just cover-up.
Dan Rather’s politics aside, is he some kind of pioneer to be broadcasting this way?
It seems like he’s pushing the tech envelope.
A windfall benefit for the Bush mafia in executing Saddam. Could rather be next?
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/123006.html
#20, Well put.
#21, Editor:, I am surprised that this post is allowed. It is overly long, obviously phony, and adds nothing to the discussion.
#28, Denial that you are a troll doesn’t become you. It makes you even more disgusting. Gore and Kerry are admirable men. Your constant denigrating of them shows the lack of self esteem you suffer. What a sad life.
If you had anything of intelligence to say, any argument to back up your opinionated blather, you might be worth listening to. Thanks to you, however, I remembered today is garbage day.
I wish I had HDNet, just so I could turn him off. Go away Dan Rather. No one cares about you anymore. I knew this guy was a flake from the “kenneth” incident. he needs medication.