This makes me angry.

It makes me angry, too, but what are we going to do about it? The blogosphere caught them in a lie(s) and they are going to bluff it out and will get away with it.
Just tell me what to do and I'll do it.

What to do?

To start, I have the Globe's ombudsman contact info on my site right now. Write an e-mail. Make a phonecall.

Paul, You want to publish it?

I saw it. I emailed the globe a few hours ago, too. Assholes.

Get to the Shareholders at Viacom. This is the only way to stop this. Hit the Institutional Investors. They don't own stock so Rather can drop CBS News of the cliff.

All the info you need is at http://estes.redstate.org/

Get to you friends, relatives, and others that own stock through the funds their and have then write, fax, and call.

What to do??? I say do nothing. They are handing us the rope to hang themselves. Not just CBS, not just the Globe, but the whole stinking lying Left-Media Industrial Complex.

Keep patient and keep bloggin in the free world! Justice will be done.

Here's how to take action:

1) If you are a shareholder of Viacom, call 1-800-516-4399 (Investor Relations) and politely tell them that Dan Rather's fraudulent and biased reporting is destroying the brand equity of CBS News and hurting the value of the entire network. As a shareholder, you will not stand for someone destroying the CBS brand name.

2) If you are not a shareholder, call 1-212-258-6000 - press 6308 (not sure which one did it, but I got to the voicemail directory, say the name of Mel Karmazin, and leave a voicemail politely expressing your desire for CBS to rectify the situation immediately before what little brand equity remains with CBS News is completely eradicated).

Other names you can leave messages with: Sumner Redstone, Richard Bressler (CFO), Michael Fricklas, and William Roskin.

If you're stuck with what you should say, try the following:

"As a [prospective] shareholder, I'm extremely dismayed with CBS News' use of what appear to be fraudulent memos and ignoring key accounts that counter the story they tried to tell regarding President Bush's Guard service. They have effectively destroyed what little brand equity remained with the CBS News name! These acts are decimating shareholder value and I believe that senior management must take action before the entire situation implodes. Thank you very much. My name is [ ] and my phone number is [ ]."

Be polite, but make your point!

For more info, see my blog at http://directorblue.blogspot.com regarding Pravda (CBS) and the Politburo (DNC).

I fired Dan Rather. I fired CBS. I fired the local CBS affilliate. I let the local affilliate know.

I blocked the channels from my TV's. WOn't even be a cruise-through with tthe remote.

My husband will not buy advertising time on a CBS affilliate.

Expose CBS's misconduct to all you personally have the power to influence.

CBS News.com now has updated copy on this here. The money quote:

Saturday's issue of the Boston Globe reports that one document expert, Phillip Broussard, who had expressed suspicions about the documents, said "he now believes the documents could have been prepared on an IBM Selectric Composer typewriter available at the time."

Anchor Russ Mitchell of the Saturday edition of the CBS Evening News says CBS News contacted Broussard Saturday, and Broussard said he could not dismiss the documents as fake, but he needs to do more analysis before coming to a final conclusion.

Also on Saturday, there were reports that retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Hodges - who corroborated the CBS News account - now says he believes the documents were not real, in part because of recent statements of Jerry Killian's relatives.

CBS News responded Saturday, saying, "We believed General Hodges the first time we spoke with him. We believe the documents to be genuine. We stand by our story and will continue to report on it."

Fox News has been on this most of the day, and there was a guest on Fox News Live a few hours ago whose name I didn't catch but was a Democratic pollster, and even he said this looks very, very bad for CBS.

If CBS deliberately misrepresented what they guy said, then get the guy to sue them for libel/slander, whatever the term. Get a Republican lawyer to work the case pro bono.

When you contact CBS, you ought to point them to the post on INDC where Dr. Bouffard refutes the Boston Globe in no uncertain terms. The reason the Doctor "can't dismiss the documents as fake" is because he and his colleagues _are not yet finished_ with their analysis. It's been particularly taxing for them because they've had to work off PDF's and such, the actual paper not being available to them. I think everyone who contacts CBS ought to emphasize the Doctor's statement that while he's not ready to render a final judgment, he and his colleagues grow more and more convinced that the documents are, in fact, fraudulent.

And I would recommend that Dr. Bouffard get himself a junkyard dog of a lawyer who can ride CBS's and the Globe's butts until they print retractions.

And look at the extensive fact checking going on by bloggers from the other side. I bet he has some really nice pajamas, though.

What they left out is that CBS deliberatly lied to Hodges telling him the memo's were hand written during the initial phone interview. He said the "paraphrased" his words to bolster their case. As soon as he had a chance to view the documents he stated "[he] was absolutely sure they were prepared on a modern type of cumputer word proccessor and were fake." So theonly point guy they've actually named from these so-called unimpeachable sources has in fact jumped ship....and hes really pissed they mis-used him just like Dr. Boufford...

I'm thinking a citizen complaint brief filed with the FCC or Federal campaign board alleging interference with a National Election might force their hand... Any lawyers out there with some idea's....

Did anyone notice that these so called "investigative" journalists at CBS News, failed to print the correct name of the document expert. They called him Phillip Broussard, when his name is Philip Bouffard?

Hm. Would an investor lawsuit alleging harm to the value of CBS's brand due to a failure to employ due dilligence on the part of CBS employees get their attention?

You people are on the wrong track.
You need to be mailing ABC and NBC and telling them about this, they will be happy to stab CBS by pointing out that they misquoted this fellow and lied.

If you're going to complain to CBS, complain to your local affiliate, or don't bother, I think the national folks just don't care.

One item that I think is getting far too little attention is the standard of reporting that CBS is using as a defensible standard. Last night, Dan Rather said that there was a "preponderance of evidence" (to a lawyer, this means simply "more likely than not - i.e., as low as 50.1% probability). And all of the comments we see are of the variety of "you can't prove it's false so it must be reportable." This brings the standards down somewhere way below the Weekly World News, which is at least entertaining. But "preponderance of evidence" is such a low standard that CBS has essentially admitted that it has no evidence in seriously verifiable evidence - though I know I'm stating the obvious to the readers here.

Perhaps both Bouffard and Hodges should contact all the other news outlets and express how they really feel.

You realize there is no way Rather can back down now. He's in too deep and his back is against the wall. I cannot see him doing a mea culpa.

But he told CNN he, "stands behind the President." I don't know what that means.

I won't register on that moonbat Kos' site just to tell them how nicely their asshats fit. It must be the biggest Kool-Aid convention *ever* (255 "diary entries" and counting).

Relax...

A few more days of CBS actively promoting a fraud to influence the election is good for Bush. And then the front page of the NY Post with a pic of Dan Rather reads "Fraud at CBS"

Future news: Confidential informants inside of CBS reveal turmoil in the newsroom. Everyone knows the memo's are forgeries but are in too deep to admit the truth. Rather will retire. Kerry plummets further in the polls.

Although CBS may be acting all macho, ABC News notes that they have been quietly backtracking on some of their language:

CBS's "Early Show" did a tell this morning on the document story.

An anchor read: "The authenticity of those documents is now being questions. Family members doubt that Killian would have written an unsigned memo . . . "

And "there are questions about the typography, which some experts say appear to have been done on a computer."

"CBS News says it stands by the story."

And then they quoted from the second CBS statement (not the third) that said that CBS was "convinced" the documents were authentic.

That conviction was dropped from a third CBS statement, which they asked ABC News to use instead of the second.

Compare two sequential statements released by CBS News last night:

New: "As is standard practice at CBS News, the documents in the 60 MINUTES report were thoroughly examined and their authenticity vouched for by independent experts. As importantly, 60 MINUTES also interviewed close associates of Colonel Jerry Killian. They confirm that the documents reflect his opinions and actions at the time."

Old: "As is standard practice at CBS News, each of the documents broadcast on 60 MINUTES was thoroughly investigated by independent experts and we are convinced of their authenticity. In addition to analysis of the documents themselves, CBS verified the authenticity of the documents by talking to individuals who had seen the documents at the time they were written. These individuals were close associates of Colonel Jerry Killian and confirm that the documents reflect his opinions at the time the documents were written."

The stunning incompetence of this pathetic effort to smear George Bush is not to be believed. I mean, if you're going to attempt something this bold, at least a) get a competent forger; and b) pick a story with some meat. Even if it was true, does the fact that President Bush skipped a physical 30+ years ago really disqualify him to be re-elected? Can't stop laughing.

Nathan

Good catch, I noticed that as well but did not have it in writing.

P

Here's what I wrote to CBS on its comment section:

I am dumbfounded that CBS cannot admit even today what any clear-thinking person can obviously see, even your mainstream media competition - that the TANG "memos" are fakes, and very bad ones. I know a bit about typography, about the history of desktop publishing and about fonts and it takes no time flat to see how fake they are.

With every passing day of maintaining the memos' validity, your battered reputation goes further downhill. After the first day if Rather would have admitted the mistake then maybe his career could have been saved, but at this time CBS News' pretense of being an objective news organization has hit the level of Al Jazeera's. I can understand how Dan Rather will stand by the story because of his considerable ego; I cannot fathom how CBS management can watch their reputations go down the toilet along with this fabricated story. Even the "expert" Rather trotted out is only a handwriting expert and even that is being disputed by others; he is clearly not a typography expert and he himself has said previously that it is impossible to validate a signature without looking at the original - which is exactly what he did.

Your ship is sinking quickly and the time to throw the anchor overboard to save yourselves is almost gone.

Emailing the Ombudsman won't really make a difference. If you really want a media company to change their format and/or stories, you contact their advertisers. Trust me on this one. I have years of experience in the media as well as a father who works for one of the top 10 newspapers in the nation that swears by this method.

Don't waste your time with the paper, contact the advertisers. Be polite though.

The dream resolution to all of this is if Tim Russert or O'Rielly did a whole show laying out everything we already know point by point. Then did a "talking point memo"...looked into the camera and ended it with ..."All we can do is layout the truth Mr. Rather...Its been shown your documents and the "unimpeachable sources" you cited are all fraudulent...Basically with no specific details on your sources, or the original documents and their sources, you look like partisan lap dogs for the Democratic party, bent on Illegally interferring with a National Election by broadcasting lies and distortions in the guise of a "Newscast"...."What Say you".....

(btw I'm assuming everyone knows that INDC's ed. Bill is in touch with Dr. Bouffard as we blog...)

Mel's number at CBS as noted above is correct. I just called him. LOL, wonder how many calls he is receiving?

Would anyone here have a link to a list of subscribers?

Would anyone here have a link to a list of advertisers?

In the words of former CBS News executive Jonathan Klein, “You couldn’t have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas.”

He said something smart by accident. He meant to imply CBS practices better journalism that blogs like this. Perhaps he should filter his thoughts through a few more layers so his own words can't be used against CBS so easily.

Ok...just fired off afairly comprehensive synopsis of things to date to O'Reilly with a cc to the WH. I itemize a dozen of the most damning points of proof.

I ended it with....

The blog editors on powerline.com, Whizbang, INDC etc. can provide you with all the material you'll ever need to nail this story beyond reproach.

The blogosphere broke this bombshell and followed it through doing all the spadework to run these bastards to ground....many many hours of investigative work by a whole lot of dedicated people....The MSM is not really going after these guys aggressively. and the CBS/DNC camp is stonewalling stalling for time....hoping it will just go away...

Nows your chance to show all the people such as myself that have supported you through the years if you are really interested in justice and being fair and balanced or in the end it was just a lot of bloviating.....What say you Bill?

1. It's clear to everyone that the memos are forgeries.

2. It's the 'chain of custody' that's now important. What ww really need to know, and to pressure CBS to answer, is where the h*ll did the forgeries come from.

The American Thinker now has up a neat article pointing out mistakes in the 'medical exam memo' that track language from Kerry's campaign web site!

WIZbang, not WHIZbang. :-)

In the words of former CBS News executive Jonathan Klein, “You couldn’t have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas.”

That clown Klein (Hmmm. I like that Clown Klein -- it has a ring to it) said the same thing to Tony Snow while he subbed for Bill O'Reilly. The other guest, Stephan Hayes of The Weekly Standard, told Klein that the mainstream journalists get it wrong a lot, too. He also said the statement was an unfair one about bloggers.

Too many people are worried that Dan Rather and CBS News are going to get away with these forgeries. I think CBS News has a secret nemesis: CBS Entertainment! Tens of millions of CSI junkies are not going to let this die.

Unbelievable.

Now the CBS Website is claiming Marcel Matley is a signature AND document expert, even though his OWN website clearly shows his area of expertise is in signatures, not document authentication.

Dan Rather should have come clean from day one, when he could have gone down in history as a national joke. Now, he's the 21st Century's Joe McCarthy.

I keep having a horrible thought. What if the forger had used a typewriter?

It scares me that somebody like Dan Rather is dreaming of bringing down the president he cannot stand! Simply ignoring people who had contradicting ideas is unforgivable. It reminds me so much of Michael Moore.

Media bias is an absolute disgrace to democracy and freedom of speech. Dan Rather should be fired to set an example for other biased journalist. Anything less, further compromises journalistic integrity and further undermines the public's confidence in both CBS and the media as a whole. I used to enjoy CBS, but no more. There has to be harsh penalties for Journalists who manipulate the media to accomplish their personal political objectives. Hiring an expert to determine the authenticity of a document, and then ignoring their advice because it doesn't happen to fit your political goals is a direct effort to mislead the American Public and wrongly influence a democratic election. This is a clear abuse of media power and shows just how arrogant and out of control some in the liberal media have become. I think many journalists have this arrogant notion that they're teflon and are above reproach due to the fact that we have something called "freedom of press" in this country. I think "freedom of the press" needs to be more clearly defined for some of these so-called journalists. I don't think our founding forefathers would define “freedom of speech” as "freedom to say whatever you want and claim it to be truthful regardless of whether it's true or not". Somehow this seems to have become the working definition among journalist today. Freedom of the press should mean freedom of the press to report the facts. Conjecture and hearsay, if used at all, should be clearly identified as such. This is the code most Americans erroneously believe the media lives by. Not me. Not only should Dan Rather be fired, it should be a crime to attempt to influence a democratic election by advertising or perpetrating a known mistruth before an election. CBS SHOULD HAVE SOME INTEGRITY AND FIRE HIM !!!