Dan Rather and the mighty KGB

(9/22/04)


A lot of bad noise came out of Washington this week. The media was filled with ugly failures and the political happenings of the world were overlooked in favor of the gruesome site of Dan Rather's reputation suffering a quick and painful death.
In case you've been too busy watching the reality show du jour the big deal this week is CBS allegedly uncovering old Air National Guard papers that claim President Bush was absent for much of his duty and that he received preferential treatment because of his family's influence. Another tidbit of news out of Washington this week that flew under the radar of many new outlets was Russia's political overhaul.
Nothing except old Cold-War fears and desperate schemes by scorned Democrats in the news this week.
As CBS aired its big find recently, a hush fell over the entire viewing audience. Was it true? Could it be true? Did George W. Bush receive preferential treatment because of his father and grandfather? Millions of viewers were undoubtedly astonished. Of course, those were the ones who had spent the majority of their lives living in a barn. Of course he received special treatment in order to keep him out of Vietnam, as did millions of other people. This was not an uncommon occurrence during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ask anyone who was of draft-eligible age during Vietnam and they will tell you that almost anyone who knew someone or had some sort of connection tried and usually succeeded in getting a deferment or being issued duty in a non-combat unit. What ended up happening this week is that CBS got bent over and used by some liberal with fake documents. Upon further investigation, it is clear that the documents are typed in a font not available before the advent of personal computers and the paper trail behind these documents allegedly leads to a kinkos somewhere in Texas. But it gets better, people. That kinkos just happens to be a short distance away from a particularly wealthy Bush-hater and super-Liberal.
CBS fall guy, Dan Rather and his producers have refused to comment on the documents any further, the only statements they've issued have been the standard "we are sticking to our sources" and "no matter what, we believe in the authenticity of our source." I understand CBS does not want to give up their 'source', but one just has to wonder if they double check anything at all at these network news organizations.
The result of this wannabe scandal is that the President's standing in the polls has remained relatively unchanged, experiencing a bump or two in the polls depending what polls you decide to pay attention to. Also, the character and strategy for Herman Munster Kerry has suffered another blow as a result of a botched attempt at attacking the President.
In other news, Russia has recently undergone a mass overhaul of its government and its startling new look hasn't gotten the attention I had expected. Russian President, Vladimir Putin responded to the recent terrorist event where children were slaughtered in their own school by Chechen rebels by taking away the elected governors in each region of the country.
Instead, Putin plans to remove those governors who oppose him and install party comrades in their place. This may be an effective way to get legislation past, but it can also be called a little shady. Putin, an ex-KGB man, is said to be a fiery little commie with no particular love of the United States. His lack of trust or tolerance of the U.S. has been made known over the years, but with the recent rise in terrorism in Russia, he has been increasingly critical of the way the United States has handled its own war on terror.
Ironically, as Michael Hirsh and Frank Brown of Newsweek put it, the only ones defending Democracy in Russia are the Communists. The most outspoken opponents to Putin's new version of government are the Communist members of Parliament.
No one is particularly shocked by Putin's actions because he was, after all, one of our most outspoken opponents concerning the war in Iraq. This may also be because Russia and France were being well taken care of by Iraq in the corrupt 'Oil for Food' program run by the UN, which has also recently been called into question. So beware, friends, the Russians are cooking up something sinister, Communists are defending our sweet democracy, and even Dan Rather is lying to us. These may truly be The End Times, so remember to keep your eye out for spies, terrorists and news anchors and trust no one.