Raw, but c*nsored blabbing and blogging of a young journalista
and local news producer in Southern New England.
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Monday, September 27, 2004

Babs loves Dan, and Martha

New York Daily News's Lloyd Grove reports in Some Rather kind words that the other day at Barbara Walters's going-away party she gave words of praise and support to Dan Rather and Martha Stewart.

I'm of the wondering opinion that the reporting and then retracting of documents that purported to detrify President George W. Bush's National Guard record -- and say that Mr. Bush skived off his requirements and responsibilities -- could easily be Dan Rather's undoing. I think people have been looking for a reason to oust him, and here's why. People I've randomly heard from here and there simply don't like him. Rather was highly ripped on the night of the election (selection?) in 2000 when he was spouting remark after remark that was too folksy. Whereas Tom Brokaw is still quite solvent, Rather seems to be getting fuzzy around the edges.

Rumors and reportage are flying around about Rather's own trusting of the documents, the producer who was involved (TBA whether she will be forced to walk the plank a la Jayson Blair -- not that she was a fabricator like he's been documented to be), and now a CBS News investigation. And a touted on-air apology from Rather for going forward and publishing. Did you SEE these things in Newsweek? The documents have the strict LOOK of a modern-day inkjet/bubblejet, rather than a typewriter of the day. The only way anybody could have really gotten away with them is if they had been touted as, say, an email message containing the text. Which, if it had been, couldn't be verified for love or money, because email documents can be fabricated with only the writer's imagination as the limit. And speaking of imagination, could that have been the problem? Surely if anyone had merely considered whether the documents were fabricated or not... it would have dawned on them that they obviously were.

As for Martha Stewart, the jury's still out for me on the woman. She is very entertaining, though, partly because she's SO put on. Every other home decorating guru is more believable because they seem so much more like a real person.

Labels: Originally published

... Scribbled by Bill T ... 9/27/2004 04:28:00 PM ... Email this entry ...
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