Dear Gentlefolk:

I am a trial attorney. I deal with documents, information and people’s perceptions all the time. The documents being used to support Dan Rather's story about President Bush's __time/lack of time__ spent meeting his Air Guard duty, while rather convenient, are clearly more than rather fake.

Since one doesn't need to be a document expert to see this, I expect the long term credibility of all of CBS, and all related entities and employees teeters on the verge of destruction. It seems to me that CBS continues playing this “denial game” only at great risk (to the level of absolute implausibility of any good outcome), and at great cost (to the level of a possible fatal outcome for the company in general, or at least certain departments thereof). I for one already don’t have the same level of confidence in any CBS story, and what confidence I do have left is daily eroded by the way you are handling all of this. It seems to me that mea culpas are long overdo, and each passing day raises the probable penance that will be needed to regain the public trust.

Just my thoughts, but I thought you should hear them.

Unfortunately these 3 guys were watching the Hurricaine reports from CBS and didn't believe them. They decided to go to the beach anyway.

Over the past few weeks, President Bush has responded to recurring questions about his National Guard service by saying that the subject is old and tiresome. According to Mr. Bush, reporters conducted a thorough investigation of his time in the Texas National Guard when he ran against Ann Richards for governor in 1994, and again when he ran against Al Gore in 2000. The complete Guard records, the president told Tim Russert on "Meet the Press," were "scoured." This came as news to me, as I lived in and reported from Texas during those times and feel that questions about the story — Mr. Bush's life story — linger 10 years after his first political victory. Why they linger is a more complicated question, one that has as much to do with the press as it does with the president. * * * the records that the consultants and reporters possessed were incomplete — they were torn, with Mr. Bush's name and other crucial pieces of information blacked out — but also because the Richards campaign backed off the issue. * * * Late in the campaign, James Moore, then a reporter with KHOU-TV in Houston, put the question to Mr. Bush in a televised debate: had he received special treatment while other young men had fought and died in Vietnam? The candidate's less than illuminating answer: not that he knew of. But by then most Texans had made up their minds to vote for Mr. Bush — he trounced Ms. Richards, and the issue, not surprisingly, went away.

* * * The few who continued to dog Mr. Bush about his military service — most notably reporters at The Dallas Morning News — found their paths blocked in myriad ways. This time, it was Al Gore's handlers, not Ms. Richards's, who lacked enthusiasm for this particular avenue of attack. * * * What's more, Mr. Bush's military service file remained incomplete — as it had in 1994. Some reporters got their information from time-consuming Freedom of Information Act requests, others took what they were handed by opposition researchers — in my experience, the unfortunate norm in most modern campaigns. If there was a release of documents comparable to the one made by the administration earlier this month, no one around here recalls it. What journalists had in the way of a paper trail led to suspicions that Mr. Bush's military record had been altered in preparation for a presidential bid — something that James Moore, the reporter who asked the Vietnam question in the 1994 governor's debate, suggests in a forthcoming book. Also, many people who were chatty in 1994 clammed up in 2000, perhaps fearful that they would alienate the future president or his famously long-memoried [sic] family. Without conclusive documentation or an attributable source, most reporters were stymied.

* * * It's also disconcerting that each election cycle comes with a new set of "complete" documents. Perhaps 2004 will be the year that details of George W. Bush's time in the National Guard — indeed, his life in the early 1970's — finally get filled in. This time around, there are certain factors that might put added pressure on reporters, editors and news organizations to complete the story. After all, the questions about Mr. Bush's service are being raised while we are at war and while the president is facing a genuine war hero as a potential opponent. Maybe this year, 10 years after Mr. Bush's first political victory, the lingering questions will finally disappear.

"Documents reflected view of Bush"

- Killian's Secretary

"Quick - I'll fire up the computer - you contact Killian"

D E B A T E

M O D E R A T O R

{Queue Angelic Choir} AAAAHHHH!

Wealthy countries must donate billions more dollars to ensure women’s reproductive rights and cut population growth, a U.N. report said on Wednesday.