{"id":3087,"date":"2004-09-22T16:00:05","date_gmt":"2004-09-22T23:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=3087"},"modified":"2004-09-22T16:00:05","modified_gmt":"2004-09-22T23:00:05","slug":"the-devils-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=3087","title":{"rendered":"The Devil’s Own"},"content":{"rendered":"

In what he probably views as a brave piece in today’s Newsday<\/i>,<\/a> Mediachannel.org editor Danny Schechter uses his powers of divination to explain how a tiny little non-event like the CBS forged document story got blown up into a huge media scandal via some carefully orchestrated plot by a cabal of right-wing hitmen, the goal of which was to destroy uberpatriot (and unimpeachable source) Dan Rather.\n<\/p>\n

\nWrites Schechter:<\/p>\n

\n

“CBS’s most popular program “CSI” can now investigate a crime scene close to home.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe reputation of veteran news anchor Dan Rather is lying on the floor, bloodied by a mistake he has now admitted, flanked on the political right by “we told you so” finger-pointers led by GOP operatives demanding his head.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nThat’s right, Danny.  Always open with a joke, even a lame one.  A joke loosens up your audience.  Wins over their trust.  Shows ‘em you’re a regular guy—not just some embittered lefty crank whose dreams are plagued by visions of Karl Rove in a bowling shirt, reading the Bible and urinating all over the Constitution.\n<\/p>\n

\nGot one for you.  Q<\/b>:  Why did Danny Schechter cross the road<\/i>?  A:<\/b> Who the fuck is Danny Schechter<\/i>?\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd as for Mr. Rather admitting his mistake, well, not quite. He’s sorry he got caught, sure. But that’s about it.  He used a dubious source, ignored the advice of his own experts, dismissed testimony that disproved his story’s thrust, then—when questioned—launched the same kind of simple-minded, defensive, accusatory attack on his detractors as you offer here, Mr Schechter.<\/p>\n

\n

A news outlet once headed by “the most trusted man in America” is accused of being the least trustworthy. With Rather apologizing for airing a story based in part on memos that CBS cannot verify, it looks bad for network news in general and critics of President George W. Bush in particular. And that fits the M.O. of the people behind the hit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nWell, in the sense that “the people behind the hit” like their news forgery-free, I suppose you’re describing the “M.O.” correctly…<\/p>\n

\n

The story that “60 Minutes” ran charging that Bush had not completed his Texas National Guard duty has now been pronounced a “mistake.” CBS News added that “a source had misled the network on the documents’ origins.” The network promised “an independent review of how the report was prepared to help determine what actions need to be taken.”\n<\/p>\n

\nOver at Fox News, they were breaking out the champagne when the admission of error came down from Black Rock. Fox, of course, has its own (wink, wink) “standards” and never makes mistakes worth acknowledging. Their playbook in this regard feeds and follows a well-established White House approach: When confronted by unwelcome truths, avoid them, deny them or tarnish the critic.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nAh, the Oliver Willis defense<\/a>:  CBS uses forged documents and an unreliable source to rush to air—with no supporting evidence, mind you, and against the advice of document experts—a speculative story about the Commander in Chief’s military service…and FOX NEWS is evil!  Bush lied!  Beware conservatives who control the means of production and would sell their souls for super-lucrative petroleum contracts!<\/i>\n<\/p>\n

\nWell played, Mr Schechter. Wink wink.<\/p>\n

\n

Fox News branded this dust-up a scandal, a “Rathergate,” using a familiar “change-the-subject” tactic to deflect attention away from persuasive charges that President Bush has not told the truth about his military “service.” Allegations about a media misdemeanor were quickly blown up into a felony demanding Rather’s career termination with prejudice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nSee how clever FOX News is?  They managed to change the subject of forged documents into a story about…forged documents<\/i>!  Or, in keeping with Mr Schechter’s curious use of scare quotes:  forged “documents.” But Mr Schechter—a man whose keen mind can pierce through veils of smokey misdirection to seize upon the bright light of Truth—sees right through this gambit and recognizes that the real <\/i> story is the allegations themselves, allegations supported by the word of a discredited source using faked documents.  Oh. And the testimony of an 86-year old former member of the TxANG secretarial pool.<\/p>\n

\n

The right-wing attack machine works by personalizing issues and demonizing “enemies” with overheated language and cartoon-like characterizations. Osama “the evil doer” bin Laden gave way to Saddam “the butcher of Baghdad” Hussein, and now John “the phony war hero” Kerry has been displaced with a “lather over Rather.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…Whereas “right-wing attack machine”?  A very un<\/i>-cartoon-like descriptive phrase awash in cool neutrality…<\/p>\n

\n

It’s a textbook example of how attacks against journalists are used to denigrate news not to the right wing’s liking by planting items in the media food chain and cranking up an echo chamber of feigned indignation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

”Feigned indignation.” Because really, how can anybody but an army of right-wing nutjobs be upset with an unsubstantiated attack on the President that relies for its force on forgeries—or that in its genesis employed the kind of “investigative journalism” that would make the editor of a high school newspaper cringe.<\/p>\n

\n

The Republican National Committee operates its own 24\/7 anti-news network to monitor coverage and orchestrate a rapid response. Salon reports that the story casting doubt on the documents was first pushed into the news stream by Creative Response Concepts, a Republican public relations firm.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…Which, of course, was debunked by bloggers, resulting in a retraction and an apology.<\/a> But I suppose Mr Schechter is so busy organizing “facts” to fit his narrative that he hasn’t time to do a Google search…<\/p>\n

\n

Then, selected bloggers…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

—”selected<\/i>”?  Selected by whom?  Cheney?  Rove?  Nixon’s Ghost? Oliver Stone?—<\/p>\n

\n

…went to work led by an Atlanta lawyer who helped get President Bill Clinton disbarred and was the first who called the memos fakes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nWell, “Buckhead” ain’t a blogger, first off. And second, how does helping to get an attorney who perjured himself disbarred affect one’s ability to recognize a Word document presented as a 1972 typewritten memo?<\/p>\n

\n

His charges spread like a prairie fire through the rabid conservative grapevine and amen corner. The goal: Focus the media on Rather, not Bush. CBS initially stood by the documents, then hedged, saying that even if they were flawed, the story that Bush had disobeyed his commander’s order to have a physical was accurate in essence. But it finally had to concede it was a mistake to run the story.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

”Rabid conservative grapevine and amen corner”?  Are you serious with that line?  Dubious poetic choices aside though, lemme ask you a question:  isn’t the proper focus of an investigation into forged documents the forged documents themselves<\/i>, followed by a closer look at the peddlers of those forged documents<\/i>?  And if the documents are forged, why on earth would anyone focus on the man being defamed by the forgeries?<\/p>\n

\n

It’s possible that CBS was flim-flammed, but TV’s need for visuals did them in. By trying to gussy up the story with what producers call “video enhancement elements,” “60 Minutes” fell on its own sword, opening itself up to attack. Other leading news outlets including the BBC ran the same story about Bush’s troubles in the Guard without being discredited.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nTranslation:  sure, CBS was duped, but only because they really really really <\/i>wanted to hammer home George Bush’s guilt.  In retrospect, maybe—just maybe<\/i>—they should have stuck to the available facts.  But c’mon:  they were going<\/i> for it, y’know?  And can we really fault them for that<\/i>?<\/p>\n

\n

Dan Rather has been a punching bag of the right ever since he was targeted for being rude to President Richard Nixon 30 years ago.  Conservative journalists accused him of fudging footage from Afghanistan in the 1980s when he took over the anchor chair as the high salaried “Six Million Dollar Man.” Some conservatives tried to buy CBS with the promise they would fire Dan Rather the day the “Tiffany Network” became theirs. His critics pictured him as the poster boy of their hated “liberal media.”\n<\/p>\n

\nThe irony is that he doesn’t fit the stereotype. Rather has a superpatriotic persona. A day after 9\/11 he went on the David Letterman show to proclaim his willingness to do whatever his president ordered. On Sept. 22, 2001, he said he would give the administration the benefit of every doubt. When a pre-war interview with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad raised eyebrows, he tacked hard right in his war reporting, for which he later won the conservative Media Research Center’s top prize for best network coverage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nAnd of course, anyone who a day after 9\/11 goes “on the David Letterman show to proclaim his willingness to do whatever his president ordered” is then allowed to do as he pleases, unchecked, from now until Aunt Lulu makes the breadpudding.  He used forged documents to push a flimsy story?  So what?  After 9\/11 he went on Letterman and expressed outrage at the nineteen Islamofascists who flew planes into buildings and slaughtered 3000 Americans.  See?  He cares<\/i>.  How dare you question his reporting.  That’s like, well, questioning his patrio<\/i>tism…!<\/p>\n

\n

Don’t write Rather off. He has had more media lives than the Republican Guard that wants to bury him. He is just this week’s poster boy for the sins and screw-ups of an imagined liberal media.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…Whereas two days from now, Danny Schechter will again be that same nobody who recently crossed the road…<\/p>\n

\n***
\n
\nh\/t Michele, who has ASV<\/a>.  See also, INDC<\/a>.  And Allah<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what he probably views as a brave piece in today’s Newsday, Mediachannel.org editor Danny Schechter uses his powers of divination to explain how a tiny little non-event like the CBS forged document story got blown up into a huge media scandal via some carefully orchestrated plot by a cabal of right-wing hitmen, the goal of which was to destroy uberpatriot (and unimpeachable source) Dan Rather. Writes Schechter: “CBS’s most<\/p>\n

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