[Speed Gibson,
Wednesday September 22, 2004 at 10:35am]
Of Mice and Men
What are you, Dan Rather, a man or a mouse?
A man apologizes for his mistakes. As I understood your words, in the context of your career which included a Democratic Party fundraiser appearance, you're mostly sorry that your story about President George W. Bush, a Republican, fell apart, at least in the public sphere. And without pressure from CBS management, you clearly wouldn't have apologized at all, since you still believe, wish really, that the underlying story to be true. What you gave us was just regret, not remorse.
A man apologizes directly to those whom he offended, in this case, his co-workers at CBS News, his profession, those in the Texas Air National Guard he mis-represented including their families, and above all in this case, President Bush. That hasn't happened yet. What damage has accrued to the list of wronged parties is a result of our unwillingness to accept your unproven assertions, not your excesses in pursuing them.
A man takes one for the team if that's what repentance and restitution require. If there are no consequences for lying, which you so clearly did, how are we to believe anything you or CBS News say? Jayson Blair and Howell Raines had to leave for false reporting at The New York Times, and many on both sides of the aisle say the Times is clearly regained most of their luster as a result. CBS will not have that opportunity until you and those involved with this scandal are gone, possibly including your boss, Andrew Heyward.
This also means you drop the whole story if you have no other proof of your charges to publish. After all, even if true, it means nothing. A voter who values this over Bush's four year record was going to vote for Kerry even without your help, Dan. The honorable thing to do is drop the whole thing, as Vice President Gore did in 2000.
But if you insist on pursing this thin line of inquiry, first tell us why you continue to ignore the Swift Vets and their verifiable evidence against John Kerry's record of the same period. This story is relevant by John Kerry's own declarations that these exploits alone qualify him to be a capable President of the United States, no matter what he's done since then.
Better still, apologize to all the people you hurt, then prove it by resigning, effective immediately.
A man apologizes for his mistakes. As I understood your words, in the context of your career which included a Democratic Party fundraiser appearance, you're mostly sorry that your story about President George W. Bush, a Republican, fell apart, at least in the public sphere. And without pressure from CBS management, you clearly wouldn't have apologized at all, since you still believe, wish really, that the underlying story to be true. What you gave us was just regret, not remorse.
A man apologizes directly to those whom he offended, in this case, his co-workers at CBS News, his profession, those in the Texas Air National Guard he mis-represented including their families, and above all in this case, President Bush. That hasn't happened yet. What damage has accrued to the list of wronged parties is a result of our unwillingness to accept your unproven assertions, not your excesses in pursuing them.
A man takes one for the team if that's what repentance and restitution require. If there are no consequences for lying, which you so clearly did, how are we to believe anything you or CBS News say? Jayson Blair and Howell Raines had to leave for false reporting at The New York Times, and many on both sides of the aisle say the Times is clearly regained most of their luster as a result. CBS will not have that opportunity until you and those involved with this scandal are gone, possibly including your boss, Andrew Heyward.
This also means you drop the whole story if you have no other proof of your charges to publish. After all, even if true, it means nothing. A voter who values this over Bush's four year record was going to vote for Kerry even without your help, Dan. The honorable thing to do is drop the whole thing, as Vice President Gore did in 2000.
But if you insist on pursing this thin line of inquiry, first tell us why you continue to ignore the Swift Vets and their verifiable evidence against John Kerry's record of the same period. This story is relevant by John Kerry's own declarations that these exploits alone qualify him to be a capable President of the United States, no matter what he's done since then.
Better still, apologize to all the people you hurt, then prove it by resigning, effective immediately.