O’Reilly Defends Rather
Bill O'Reilly is defending Dan Rather of all people in his New York Daily News column.
Dan Rather was the editor-in-chief of the program the forged documents appeared on. Ensuring that all stories were thoroughly vetted for accuracy was his job. He clearly failed in that job thus the blame for the memos falls squarely on his shoulders.
But I think O'Reilly has ulterior motives for this sudden railing against internet "smear" campaigns.
I mean, this couldn't have anything to do with O'Reilly's sour grapes over internet coverage of his recent sex scandal could it? You know, the one where we learned that he doesn't know what a loofah is?
Yeah, I'd be bitter too Bill.
The ordeal of Dan Rather goes far beyond the man himself. It speaks to the presumption of guilt that now rules the day in America. Because of a ruthless and callow media, no citizen, much less one who achieves fame, is given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to allegations or personal attacks. The smearing of America is in full bloom.
Right-wing talk radio in particular pounded Kerry and also bludgeoned Dan Rather for his role in another smear incident - the charges against President Bush about his National Guard service. Again, Rather was found guilty without a fair hearing. Charges that he intentionally approved bogus documents that made Bush look bad were leveled and widely believed. It was chilling.
As a CBS News correspondent in the early '80s, I worked with Rather and have known him for more than 20 years. Listen to me: There is no way on this Earth that he would have knowingly used fake documents on any story.
Dan Rather was the editor-in-chief of the program the forged documents appeared on. Ensuring that all stories were thoroughly vetted for accuracy was his job. He clearly failed in that job thus the blame for the memos falls squarely on his shoulders.
But I think O'Reilly has ulterior motives for this sudden railing against internet "smear" campaigns.
I mean, this couldn't have anything to do with O'Reilly's sour grapes over internet coverage of his recent sex scandal could it? You know, the one where we learned that he doesn't know what a loofah is?
Yeah, I'd be bitter too Bill.
