Joe Scarborough
The Rather Report
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The Rather report is in...and the usual suspects got off without a scratch.
CBS News released its internal report today-- blasting Dan Rather's 60 Minutes story that used forged documents to attack the President's National Guard service.
While the report was scathing in sections, serious questions remain.
The first troubling question is why Dan Rather kept his job... while CBS fired producer Mary Mapes. True, Mapes produced the segment, but just like Howell Raines at the New York Times, Dan Rather was the one who, in the end, published the forged documents for the world to see.
In an interview today, CBS President Les Moonves all but accused Mapes of blindsiding poor old Dan, who was just coming back from covering a hurricane when the 60 minutes story ran.
The second question to ask is why CBS News President Andrew Hayward still has his job?
Hayward shouldn't shoulder all the blame for the false report running...but his greatest offense to CBS News and their viewers was his failure to reign Rather in after it became clear to the world that these documents were forged. Rather denied reality, continued the cover-up, and the President of CBS News acted as an enabler to Rather instead of an independent voice.
Say what you will about the New York Times...but when they had their recent journalistic scandal, the head of that proud publishing dynasty did what had to be done and fired those at the top...instead of whacking off the heads of lowly assistant editors.
You know, when the United States marines go into combat zones, the first to eat are the privates. If there is any food left, the officers will take their turns. But today, at the network of Murrow and Cronkite, it looks like the officers are more willing to eat their own instead of holding the true powers of CBS News accountable for their sins.
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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. He is the author of the recently published "Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day : The Real Deal on How Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.)Comment by clicking here.