Fisking Rather

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Howard Kurtz's article today in the Washington Post contains a very damning admission from Dan Rather:

"Rather said he could not rule out the possibility of a hoax but sees no need for an internal inquiry."
 
Fisk:
Here Rather admits the memos could be a "hoax." If the Republicans were mixed up in an issue like this, I doubt Rather would use such a neutral , inoffensive term. A forgery meant to tarnish a President and sway an election is not some harmless "hoax" but a possibly illegal, history—changing FORGERY.
 
Furthermore, if you are finally forced to fess—up to the many questions raised that cast doubt on the authenticity of this document, why would you state that there is no need for an internal inquiry? Either you are CYA or you are giving a compliment to the legion of experts out there in the blog who are doing the investigating for you. Given your sniping at bloggers, I doubt this is the reason.
 
Either way, the stance is a disgrace.

Ed Lasky  9 11 04