DESPERATE TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES

DESPERATE TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher

October 6, 2004

With the implosion of the 60 MINUTES story by Dan Rather over President Bush's National Guard service and the credibility of the once Tiffany network having been irretrievably shattered, we have now seen once and for all the destruction of the monopoly the network news once had on how the people of America and other countries got their news. Between 24-hour news channels, the internet, bloggers and web magazines such as this one (among others), it is easy to see how the inevitable chickens came home (most deservedly) to roost on Dan Rather's watch.

The decline of CBS News began gradually at first with then-anchor Walter Cronkite falsely reporting the events of the Tet Offensive in 1968. That, along with its subsequent coverage of the war in Vietnam was tantamount to disloyalty to the nation in time of war and for that, Cronkite and the CBS brass should have been tried for treason and shot.

Do not get me wrong here; freedom of the press is an important part of our society, so much so that it is embodied in the very first amendment to our Constitution. However, there are inherent responsibilities that go with those freedoms and rights. With those rights come responsibilities and consequences, and when one's actions - in the name of freedom of speech or the press - put the lives of innocents or American troops at risk, then there can and should be certain penalties affixed for inappropriate disclosures.

Case in point: When President Bush made a surprise trip to Baghdad last Thanksgiving to visit American troops serving there, only a few TRUSTED journalists were brought in on the trip. They were sworn to secrecy, relieved of their cell phones for a time, and only reported on it once the president was in the air on the way home. Suffice it to say, Dan Rather and others of his ilk had a hissy fit that it was kept secret. Like other uberliberals, they have the same entitlement/ghetto mentality that possesses the lowest economic rungs of our society. Having been in the military, I learned that the first rule of operational security is the likelihood of a secret being blown is directly proportional to the square of the number of people who are in on it. In other words, you tell two people, they tell two people and so on and so on…

One cannot help but think that given the deep seeded animus Dan Rather has for the Bush family - going back over 15 years - that he would have squealed with orgasmic delight to have seen the crashed remains of Air Force One on the tarmac at Baghdad International with Bush either dead, or as a hostage on an Al-Jazeera video. Dan Rather, the personal anti-Christ of the Bush family, has never - in his role as anchor of the CBS Evening News - EVER referred to President George W. Bush as either the President or as President Bush. It has always been "Mr. Bush". The obsessive hatred and blind obsession with which he has been dedicated to driving the president out of office has neutralized his ability to be either a reporter or an occupant in the anchor's desk.

Following the 2000 election when Bush was declared the winner, Rather made it clear he wasn't happy with the result and that we would have to live with it. Hey, I have an idea for you, Dan. If you hate President Bush with the blind, raging and seething hatred as much as you do, then show those empty-mouthed celebrities the lead and leave our country and never come back. Go to North Korea and perhaps then you'll see what it's like to really appreciate the efforts of those who work to protect your sorry hide, however much you may not deserve it.

The desperate measures CBS News has engaged in to tank the election in favor of John Kerry has only served to feed the president's reelection campaign and will only boost the final electoral vote count for the president in November. Further, if Mary Mapes is found to have aided and abetted in the effort to tilt the election, then Dan Blather and the brass at CBS - including Mapes - may find themselves on the end of federal charges that may include federal prison time. Either way, Dan Rather's career will deservedly end in ignominy and disgrace. Of the 538 electoral votes possible, I'm making the call now in favor of the president.

Final tally: BUSH - 353; KERRY - 185. ***

EDITOR'S NOTE: According to a FOX411 article by Roger Friedman on the FOX NEWS web site dated Monday October 4th, it is believed that senior CBS reporters - to include retired CBS icon Walter Cronkite - who Dan Rather played a key role in having Walter banished to network Siberia, as well as more than likely Wallace as well (among others), will not be going to bat for Rather as a result of his use of forged documents in the National Guard non-story that Rather appears to have made up in his personal crusade that he has led against the Bush family for the better part of 20 years.

BUSH: 353 ELECTORAL VOTES

Oregon - 7; Nevada - 5; Idaho - 4; Montana - 3; Wyoming - 3; Colorado - 9; Arizona - 10; Utah - 5; North Dakota - 3; South Dakota - 3; Nebraska - 5; Kansas - 6; Oklahoma - 7; Texas - 34; Alaska - 3; Iowa - 7; Missouri - 11; Arkansas - 6; Louisiana - 9; Mississippi - 6; Alabama - 9; Georgia - 15; Florida - 27; Tennessee - 11; South Carolina- 8; North Carolina - 15; Kentucky - 8; Virginia - 13; West Virginia - 5; Indiana - 11; Ohio - 20; Pennsylvania - 21; Maine - 4; New Hampshire - 4; Rhode Island - 4; Connecticut - 7; New Jersey - 15; Wisconsin - 10.

KERRY: 185 ELECTORAL VOTES

Washington DC - 3; Hawaii - 4; California - 55; New York - 31; Washington - 11; New Mexico - 5; Minnesota - 10; Illinois - 21; Michigan - 17; Delaware - 3; Maryland - 10; Vermont - 3; Massachusetts - 12. ***

Photo of Timothy Rollins courtesy of staff files
Image courtesy of CBS Television Network
With files from FOX NEWS