Dan Rather's Legal Battle With CBS Takes Nasty New Turn

[babylonsister]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-16/erasing-dan-rather/full/

Erasing Dan Rather

by Lloyd Grove

The epic legal battle between CBS and its estranged ex-anchorman has taken a nasty new turn. Rather's camp accuses the network of holding footage of him hostage.

The trouble started with Rather’s much-criticized, ultimately career-ending 60 Minutes II report on President George W. Bush’s military record, just before the 2004 election. It resulted in his 2007 breach-of-contract and fraud suit against the network and its parent company, Viacom. But as the $70 million suit heads for possible trial in January—with yet another preliminary hearing scheduled next Monday in New York State Supreme Court—the tone has grown increasingly bitter, and the shrapnel is flying thick and fast.

The latest contretemps involve such momentous issues as: whether the forced-out anchorman, who held the job for 24 years, would be welcomed at the recent funeral and memorial service for his legendary predecessor, Walter Cronkite; whether the 77-year-old Rather was sufficiently represented in a CBS News special celebrating Cronkite’s life and times, or in photos displayed during the memorial service at Avery Fisher Hall; whether an independent filmmaker hoping to make a Rather documentary would be granted access to CBS News archival footage; and whether CBS, in Orwellian style, is trying to make Rather a non-person and erase him from the corporate memory.

snip//

Meanwhile, CBS has not been shy about publicly trashing its onetime star, even to the point of questioning his sanity. "It's like he is in some paranoid nightmare where everybody is out to get him. We're all witnessing the poor guy thrashing around, tormented,” 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager told the Los Angeles Times’ Matea Gold last month. Gold noted that “the network made available several executives who spoke acidly about the anchor whose work they once touted.”

For such a high-stakes battle, such tactics seem surprisingly low. But Rather’s friends say he is at peace with his decision to pursue the lawsuit, which so far has cost him an estimated $5 million in out-of-pocket expenses for pre-trial discovery and depositions, (including of Moonves). “Dan’s interest is in getting the facts,” Rather’s lead attorney, Martin Gold, told me. “He’s a very determined person. He’s not easily dissuaded. And CBS or anybody else who thinks they’re going to scare him by testing his resolve—they don’t know him.”

[rfranklin]

1. The executives at CBS will squander millions of the company's...

funds to protect themselves.

[baldguy]

9. It's not just CBS, or their news division.

It's the entire RW corporate media complex that's at stake.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

38. WATCHED SHOW ABOUT THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS LAST NIGHT

[baldguy]

39. And look what happened to them.

[blm]

52. Yep - some people believe swiftboating began with Kerry - no, corpmedia has been targeting

truthtellers for decades.... 9-11 just gave them optimal cover to be blatant about their role as propagandists and a golden opportunity to display their fascist loyalties with no concern about backlash.

[slampoet]

75. Look what happened to Orson Wells when he based Citizen Kane on Hearst

It goes back even before him i suppose.

[tiptoe]

62. "erasing Rather" CBS: member of NEP suppressing '08 Prelim Exit Polls ("erasing" true Obama margin):

When will the MSM release the 2008 Exit Poll Report?

 

[Hubert Flottz]

2. Dan was Bushwhacked!

Pure and simple. And CBS sucks.

[Zoeisright]

3. The only thing I like about CBS is

Walter Cronkite's voice introducing Katie Couric at the beginning of the evening news. I listen to that, then turn it off.

[Cha]

42. Wow, that's really liking his

voice a lot!

[stlsaxman]

80. Haven't seen the CBS Evening News in decades... do they have Cronkite introducing her EVERY time?

THAT is creepy and disturbing.

[blm]

4. Dan wants the facts and CBS wants their coverups for BushInc to STAY covered up.

.

[goclark]

18. Keep it up Dan! Don't give up please! nt

[UTUSN]

5. K&R #6 for, Dan is conducting the investigative reporting case of a lifetime n/t

[madokie]

6. All that time little did he know that the big story he would cover would be his own

[Cha]

43. Funny ol'

World:bounce:

[Rageneau]

7. The last honest mainstream TV journalist

[davidpdx]

8. Dear Dan

Please kick Les Moonves in the nuts for me. The creep canceled my favorite show. He's an asshole.

Sincerely,

davidpdx

[Cha]

44. Okay, I have to ask..

What was the show?:) NBC suits cancelled one of my fave shows..I guess so Leno could be on at 10pm every night.

[greiner3]

76. Anyone remember, "My Mother the Car?"

[davidpdx]

78. Joan of Arcadia

I'm going to hold a grudge against Les "the moon" Moonves forever for that one. He's lucky I didn't start sending him my dirty underware.

[Silent3]

10. For Dan Rather, one honest mistake ruins his career...

...meanwhile, in the world talk radio and Fox News, whole careers are built by piling one egregious lie on top of another.

[rbrnmw]

15. he did not make a mistake he told the truth

[Silent3]

16. He did fall for one fake document however...

...which unfortunately clouded the fact that what he was saying was true anyway.

[blm]

21. Newsflash - that document was never found to BE fake. The final report said NOTHING about it being

fake, and so instead attacked the vetting PROCESS that was used.

That's something that mainstream media made sure to ignore as they used weasel words like 'discredited' because of the PROCESS, knowing full well people would believe the document and the report were discredited.

[Silent3]

26. I don't remember the full details now...

...since it's been a while, but I thought there was something like fonts being used that were more like a modern word processing document than anything that would have been used back in Bush's reserve days.

At any rate, you might be missing my point, because even if the one document was bad, the general conclusion was not wrong and was backed up by other evidence. Besides, falling for one bad document, even if that is true, is far short of the outright distortions, lies, fraud and deception perpetrated by the like of Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Coulter, etc. -- that's the big point I'm making.

[blm]

27. No, I got your overall point. Just wanted to make sure Dem bloggers don't let lies rule just because

they are spread as conventional wisdom by the mediawhores. That document in question was NEVER declared a fake by the panel.

[Aragorn]

33. fonts

The "question" was whether a typewriter had a certain fraction in small enough font size to display it the same height as an upper case character. Does anyone doubt that such fraction keys existed on some typewriters. If they did exist, does anyone doubt that the military might have purchased a "high-end" model typewriter. I mean, we all know how frugal they are with our tax dollars, right.

BTW I have such a typewriter in storage at my office. It was kinda expensive so I hate to throw it out, and this model CAN be even run by a computer if you type in a certain font on said computer. That's why certain fonts exist.

[HubertHeaver]

57. That raised "th" character did exist on the old manual

Underwood I used at the driver's school at Myrtle Beach AFB in 1970.

[JDPriestly]

72. I used Olivettis and IBMs, I think. I wonder whether they checked out Olivettis.

I remember choosing an electric typewriter for my workplace that was very sophisticated in 1973 -- top of the line, money no object. It was amazing. I wonder about that.

I also wonder whether a document that was authentic but difficult to read was scanned into a computer, say with Word Perfect or Word as the processor. Someone might have scanned it because they weren't supposed to have the copy they had and feared the actual original document could be traced.

I posted this comment earlier: until the party that faked the document is identified and proved to have faked it, you can't rule out the possibility that it was somehow authentic or derived from an authentic document -- unless there were historical discrepancies other than the typeface.

[David Zephyr]

36. Thank you for keeping the actual truth out there, blm

I am almost emotional over how badly they have done this man. He is a real journalist. Thanks.

[MajorChode]

53. The document was never found, period

Bill Burkett claims to have burned the originals after he faxed them to Mary Mapes. So saying the document was never found to be fake is a bit misleading, it was never found to be authentic either, and without the originals neither can possibly happen.

In all likelihood the documents were fake going with the preponderance of evidence. Mapes employed a signature expert to examine the documents and concluded the signatures were probably genuine. That was as much vetting as any news organization in the world would have probably done at the time.

What isn't in question is the reality that Rather got railroaded at the hands of pseudo news outfits like Drudge who have absolutely no standards of journalistic integrity whatsoever. Blowhards like Limbaugh, Bill-O, and all the other RW dipshits could finally jump up and down and squeal "see, see, media bias, media bias. We told you all along and you wouldn't believe us."

[creeksneakers2]

55. The document(s) is a fake

The report listed lots of anomalies in the documents. Perhaps they didn't say with certainty that the documents were forgeries for legal reasons. They were being sued.

[JDPriestly]

73. Do you have a link to the report? What report are you talking about?

[creeksneakers2]

87. The internal investigation CBS commissioned

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/CBS_Report.pdf

[JDPriestly]

89. Thanks. I bookmarked it for later.

[blm]

85. You're wrong about that...as usual...as you defend the establishment.

.

[creeksneakers2]

88. The link to the report is above by a couple of spaces

Read it if you don't believe me.

I do often defend mainstream opinions. Mainstream opinion is grossly under represented on the net. Conspiracy theories, like the one that the documents are real and the rest is all a sham, are tenacious and widespread. We have the equivalent of birthers on the left, and this story is a good example.

This particular one makes me especially mad. The documents were forgeries. The Bush white house admitted that earlier in the day Bush told his staff that one of the events described in one of the memos never occurred. If it didn't occur, then of course the White House knew the documents must be forgeries. Instead of denying the story and telling CBS the documents weren't real, Bush and Rove and the rest of them let CBS swallow the hook with the documents, knowing the GOP could destroy Rather later, after Rather made a fool of himself. That was the real conspiracy, and the facts were right in front of everybody. The White House even faxed out 500 copies of the documents to reporters. Why would they do that?

A few media outlets chased the real story down, but the excitement was all around Rather's irresponsible self defense and the left went crazy trying to prove the documents genuine when overwhelming evidence said otherwise. So the real story got ignored.

It was a shame, because if the public was informed of a plot to destroy a network anchor who was responsible enough to check his facts first, Bush could have been shown to be the evil scheming bastard he was. Instead it all flitted away.

Crazy nonsense hurts the movement rather than help it. I'm going to keep speaking up against extremist folklore whenever I get the chance.

Read the report. It says what I say it does.

[spotbird]

37. It's incredible how many people accept myth

as fact.

[Greyhound]

77. "I heard it on the TeeVee, so's I know it's true". n/t

[JDPriestly]

71. What I have wondered is, if the document was truly fake, why have

we never found out who faked it? It would seem to me that CBS would want to know who perpetrated the fraud. Why wasn't this investigated? It should have been possible to identify the person who tried to defraud CBS and Dan Rather if that is what happened.

A good argument was made, based on the typeface that the document was a fake, but that is not certain unless we know were it came from -- if it was fake who faked it?

Since the person who faked it has never been identified, it is reasonable to question whether it really was a fake. Does the typeface definitively prove that the document was faked? Is there some possible reason other than that the document was a total fake for the discrepancy in the typeface?

Could the document have been a copy of an authentic original that was scanned into a computer with a word processing program that changed the font before being sent to Rather? Is that possible? I ask that because a secretary who was around when it was claimed that the document was written is alleged to have said that the contents seemed similar to a document she had seen at the time such a document would have been written. Assuming for the sake of argument that the document is authentic, is it possible that the original was not produced because it would be possible to identify the source of the document from the copy? What if, for example it was a carbon. Remember, back then people used carbon paper. It wasn't impossible for someone to sneak an extra carbon in when typing a document. (I was working as a typist then. I know what I am talking about here.) I am just speculating here.

Assuming the document was a fake, I return to the question, who faked it? It just doesn't make any sense for someone on the left or someone who opposed Bush to fake such a document. It would be too easy to discover the deception. A fake document would do too much damage to the credibility of the claims against Bush. Of course, someone who opposed Bush and was stupid or mentally irresponsible could have faked it. It could have been faked as a sort of joke on the news media or specifically on Dan Rather. It could have been faked to cause Dan Rather trouble.

So, who would do this? That question still really needs to be answered. I should think that CBS would want to prove that it really was a fake by showing who faked it. Until that is proved, the evidence regarding the typeface is not entirely persuasive.

If Rather made a good faith effort to vet the authenticity of the document, why was he fired? As has been pointed out here, lots of news reports turn out to be false. For example, the Iraq/yellow cake story was reported over and over -- and the underlying document was an even more obvious fake than the Rather document. To my knowledge no one was fired over reporting based on that fraudulent document.

It seems to me that CBS has a problem unless it really proves that the document is fake. I think they need something more than the typeface argument.

[robinlynne]

46. what mistake?

[SpiralHawk]

83. Rather made no mistake. He reported accurately, CBS caved

Check the facts. Bush was shamefully AWOL, like the Republicon he is.

[Festivito]

11. I hope the jury returns that Dan should own CBS. /nt

[Mudoria]

12. Anyone who has seen Rather's series on HDNet

or seen him on numerous talk shows knows that Rather has not lost his sanity or his journalistic expertise. I hope he owns CBS..

[Cha]

48. I'm glad to hear that Dan is doing so

well over at Mark Cuban's HD!

http://www.hd.net/

[Lorien]

13. Give 'em hell Dan!

Because Hell is the best that they deserve!

[Annces]

14. Corporations care nothing for their talent

I notice that even movie companies don't have any archives about their stars. When there is no more money to be made, they don't exist anymore. It is the fans who keep the past stars memories alive.

[MinM]

17. Russ Baker's "Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty" devotes a chapter

to "RatherGate"

Russ Baker: Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty - The Education Forum

Democratic Underground - Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Th - Democratic Underground

[Cha]

49. Thank, MinM..I bet that's

interesting!

[Stinky The Clown]

19. This story could prove to be MUCH bigger than Rather or even CBS

The exposure of the corporate propaganda arm of the Monied Elite is at stake.

[blm]

86. That's what I see, Stink...

.

[Obamanaut]

20. We need an 'Ethical Behavior in TeeVee' Czar. n/t

[dotymed]

79. We used to have one...

it was called THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE. Of course that was before
Raygun decided "that the free market should determine the
content of the media." The Document (fairness doctrine)
was enforced by the FCC for many decades. It not only kept our
news programs honest but it kept our citizens among the worlds
best informed. It made a huge difference in the education of
our people. Now, the truth has been sold to the highest bidder
and our citizens are ignorant... FOX TV, will show you why and
how.

[Obamanaut]

84. Didn't the FCC overturn the Fairness Doctrine in the 80's

and didn’t the SCOTUS support this in a couple of cases it heard, without declaring the doctrine unconstitutional?

Wasn’t it said that this was because of the proliferation of broadcast outlets, or words to that effect?

My post was made in jest, poking fun at the current furor over the number of “czars”, past and present. Presidential czars have been around since FDR - sometimes more, sometimes less. My jest was a jibe at the argument of “Obama has only 30, but Bush had 47.” When someone uses this argument, it is never followed up with “in less than 1 year, compared to eight.”

At this rate, we are on our way to more than 200. And they never have the scrutiny of Senate confirmation.

edited for punctuation

[otohara]

22. Rather Forced Out ... Beck, O'Reilly, Dobbs

one thing the right-wing is damn good at, is forcing our guys out of jobs. They're even better at it since Bush left office.

[Uncle Joe]

23. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.

[samsingh]

24. Rather is in the right

i hope he gets a lot of money from the cbc whores

[Mr. Sparkle]

25. I'm 100% behind Dan. what CBS did was outrageous.

And I'm non pulsed with what they are doing now.

[ThomWV]

28. I sure hope Dan get the money - and by the way Bush was a deserter.

[ooglymoogly]

29. I hope any settlement or judgment will not only cover the 70 mill

but legal expenses plus pain and suffering of a couple gazillion, putting this Reich wing magacorp out of business. kr

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

30. One major question they're hiding the answer to is

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

:mad:

[redqueen]

31. I wonder if Rather is surprised at all by their slimeball tactics.

Somehow I doubt he is. Glad he has the courage to go through with this regardless.

[WI_DEM]

32. The Rather report on Bush was accurate, nobody has been able to discredit it.

[myrna minx]

34. I hope Rather receives justice for the smear campaign waged against him.

:grr:

[David Zephyr]

35. I support Dan Rather. No wavering. No nothing. He's a true jounalist.

And I loathe CBS for what they have done to Dan and for how they have destroyed their once-sterling news organization.

[2Design]

40. truthtellers are great - love Dean and Dan n/t

[Cha]

41. Rather is on a story, moonves..

watch out, you vinDICtive mediawhore.

[robinlynne]

45. I love Dan Rather. I applaud Dan Rather! I salute Dan Rather for his courage! nt

[laughingliberal]

47. I am so impressed with his courage to fight this rank injustice

Previous post was right. This is about more than the specific case. The corporate biased media needs to have their covers pulled big time.

[Dr Fate]

50. Seems like CBS would be GLAD to have all the facts aired out in the public record.

Unless they have soemthing to hide.

Interesting that Rather does not seem to want to hide anything- but appears to want to get facts out into the public record.

[sabrina 1]

51. Good for him. Wish we could help

What the media never clear, even after the so-called investigation, was that even that biased panel could not say that the documents were forged. Whenever this story is brought up, it is always said that the documents were forged.

CBS proved how cowardly the media has become during this whole mess. They also proved that the media is scared to death of the right, not so much of the left.

CBS disgracefully even considered hiring for their 'investigative panel' such luminaries as Ann Coulter.

The sad thing is that Dan Rather trusted them in the beginning and thought they would stand up for him. In a Larry King interview not long afterwards, he was even surprised that the media was considered 'liberal'. He also said he didn't really think people were out to 'get him'. Dan may be a great investigative journalist, but he was pretty naive if that's what he really thought.

[omega minimo]

54. I Rec for Rather +100

[Blacksheep214]

56. Bush cannot prove his service!

You can't find me many vets who can't come up with something to prove their service. There are just too many documents and other records to lose to not back up ones claims.

Yet our President has a birth certificate which is not believed. Bush doesn't even have that!

This vet says that Bush can kiss my ass! Keep on, Dan!

[Dinger]

58. DAN WILL KICK SOME cbs ASS!

That is all.
:headbang: :yourock: Dan!

[tiptoe]

59. K & R! nt

[MasonJar]

60. Dan Rather gave CBS credibility after Cronkite. Now the network has none.

[4lbs]

68. After firing him for doing a story about a college cheerleader, they hired a high-school cheerleader

to replace him.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

61. His integrity is, intact, for all intents and purposes. This is about his greater purpose,...

,...in life,...

,...the pursuit of TRUTH.

I want him to GET THAT. I wish I could make it happen knowing he has taken on the "power-mongers". All I can do is,...hope for him. If I had more power than that, I'd give it,...in a minute!!!

[Senator]

63. K&+R

[MissDeeds]

64. K&R

I hope Dan goes after them with a vengeance. Too many good people have suffered for speaking the truth in the past nine years. It has to stop.

[gtar100]

65. CBS is a pathetic news source. They are partsan to the right in an underhanded, deceitful manner.

Whatever Rather does to them, they deserve worse. These "news" executives have forgotten the higher values in journalism and have continually stuck to kissing up to the repubs.

[chill_wind]

66. I would truly love to see him create a legal earthquake.

A legal victory for him would be just that. Not just an almost impossible to imagine victory over a corporate media giant, but victory that would expose the rotten lies of the former Bush Protectorate to the core. An immense legal win of epic importance on several major levels.

Which is why, no matter how brilliant his legal counsel and no matter HOW MUCH money he spends, sadly, I can't imagine it happening.

[lib_wit_it]

74. I see I'm not the only pessimist here. But I'm not totally giving up hope. There is a chance. /m

[Dystopian]

67. KandR....

Thank you for posting.

peace~

[HCE SuiGeneris]

69. Corporations Vs. The Truth

We all lose should Mr. Rather not win this case.

[earcandle]

70. Do it, Dan. You care more about people than what they think. You got it.

[SpiralHawk]

81. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[SpiralHawk]

82. "Sneer." - xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

"Military service with honor is for you noisy proles, not for us 'elite' Republicon Homelander 'leaders' & progagandists like Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly and our newest propaganda pimp, Becky Boy the Weeper. Sneer."

- xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zvCLjsWq_UU/SQGpsqD2FtI/AAAAAAAAAek/RuNJ7WpKBQE/s400/cheney.+sneer.jpg

[Kaleva]

90. I think CBS screwed over Roger Mudd