Yeah good point. Reminding everyone that CBS tried to fix a Presidential election with forged documents should be just devastating.

Christ. You were a dumbshit two years ago, and you just get worse.

CBS seems unlikely to assert the docs were forgeries:

“This report was not based solely on recovered documents, but rather on a preponderance of evidence, including documents that were provided by unimpeachable sources, interviews with former Texas National Guard officials and individuals who worked closely back in the early 1970s with Colonel Jerry Killian and were well acquainted with his procedures, his character and his thinking.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/11/politics/main642787.shtml

I’ve never heard of a talent contract that says the boss can’t bench someone with pay, by the way.

Yes, the documents can be proven, to the satisfaction of a jury, to be forgeries. CBS doesn’t even have to hire experts for this, they can subpoena them as witnesses.

In his filing, he argued that he did not believe in the apology, but was forced to deliver it. That means he either lied in his filing (he did take the apology seriously) or he lied when he delivered the apology.

Mr Rather is worth many millions of dollars. If he didn’t think it was proper for him to apologize, he could have told CBS that no, he wasn’t going to do it; if they fired him for it, well, he’s wealthy and could stand it, and he’d have been a hero to the loony left. Instead, he proved that he’s not only a liar, but he said in his filing that he has no balls.

He must really need the money!

But Rather can be a schmuck and still win at trial since the docs can’t be proven as forgeries or authenticated and CBS failed to take steps to make sure this kind of story was correct before putting it on the air with his face on it.

Conclusive evidence of forgery has been supplied already, but more could come. The people who gave these documents to CBS can be subpoenaed and dragged out into the spotlight.

I think CBS made a serious mistake when they did not make criminal fraud complaints against the forger(s). They wanted to make everything go away fast, but “foul deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them …”

You’re right, “extorting a few mill from CBS” is the perception. The impulse to blame someone else for one’s own failures deserves no reward. But Rather can be a schmuck and still win at trial since the docs can’t be proven as forgeries or authenticated and CBS failed to take steps to make sure this kind of story was correct before putting it on the air with his face on it.

Rather’s on Larry King tonight. I think CBS will cave.

If it goes to trial, isn’t it part of the jury’s duty to find on “facts” such as whether the memos were real or forged? I think this whole thing is aimed at extorting a few mil from CBS. As others have said, the last thing that either Rather or CBS want is a jury weighting in on those memos.

There’s a small chance the jury might say they’re real, but I would think any sensible person would decide the balance on that risk/reward equation came down strongly on the side against reward.

If it goes to a jury it’s lose-lose. If it doesn’t it might be a win for Rather. I’m strongly praying for that lose-lose.