Bush's U.N. Speech: A century of liberty
President Bush addressed the United Nations today and confronted evil
and called on all nations to bring about a "century of liberty." Bush
called out Sudan and said that nation was performing genocide. He
called the Palestinian government a dictatorship of terrorism and
tyranny. He pointed to America and other nations championing a fight
against diseases and the plague of AIDS. He stressed America’s
participation with other nations in reducing the debt of poor
developing nations. Most of all, Bush championed the push for
democracy and liberty for the whole world. He challenged the
dictatorships in the Middle East to bring democracy to their
countries.
Here is a link to the
White House website and
the speech.
Bill Burkett: “I lied about
memos”
USA Today reports [LINK]
on the Dan Rather/CBS interview with disgruntled former Guard officer
Bill Burkett. Rather flew to Texas over the past weekend to
‘interview’ Burkett. It’s in that interview, aired last night during
CBS News, that Burkett says he was not entirely honest with CBS
regarding the memos – he lied about where he got them.
USA Today also received copies of the memo documents from Burkett.
Here is an excerpt from the USA Today report:
In earlier conversations with USA TODAY, Burkett had identified the
source of the documents as George Conn, a former Texas National Guard
colleague who works for the U.S. Army in Europe. Burkett now says he
made up the story about Conn's involvement to divert attention from
himself and the woman he now says provided him with the documents. He
told USA TODAY that he also lied to CBS.
Burkett now maintains that the source of the papers was Lucy Ramirez,
who he says phoned him from Houston in March to offer the documents.
USA TODAY has been unable to locate Ramirez.
When Burkett gave copies of the documents to USA TODAY, it was on the
understanding that his identity would not be disclosed. USA TODAY
honored that agreement until Burkett waived his confidentiality
Monday.
"I didn't forge anything," Burkett said. "I didn't fake any documents.
The only thing I've done here is to transfer documents from people I
thought were real to people I thought were real. And that has been the
limitation of my role. I may have been a patsy."
CBS arranged meeting
for Burkett with Kerry Campaign
USA Today reports [LINK]
that CBS arranged a meeting between ‘Bush is a Hitler’ Bill Burkett
and a top aide to John Kerry – Joe Lockhart. Lockhart is the former
press secretary of Bill Clinton. In fact, Burkett’s condition for
turning over the memo documents was that CBS arrange a meeting for him
with the Kerry Campaign. CBS producer Mary Mapes complied and called
Lockhart, who then met with Burkett:
Lockhart, the former press secretary to President Clinton, said a
producer talked to him about the 60 Minutes program a few days
before it aired on Sept. 8. She gave Lockhart a telephone number and
asked him to call Bill Burkett, a former Texas National Guard officer
who gave CBS the documents. Lockhart couldn't recall the producer's
name. But CBS said Monday night that it would examine the role of
producer Mary Mapes in passing the name to Lockhart.
Burkett told USA TODAY that he had agreed to turn over the documents
to CBS if the network would arrange a conversation with the Kerry
campaign.
So, how much trouble is CBS in? Potentially, a lot. The arranged
meeting by a national news organization between a known anti-Bush
operative and a high ranking Kerry campaign official (Lockhart) shows
the ethics of CBS are not what they tout.
The network's effort to place Burkett in contact with a top Democratic
official raises ethical questions about CBS' handling of material
potentially damaging to the Republican president in the midst of an
election. This "poses a real danger to the potential credibility ...
of a news organization," said Aly Colón, a news ethicist at The
Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
The White House said CBS' contact with Lockhart was inappropriate.
"The fact that CBS News would coordinate with the most senior levels
of Sen. Kerry's campaign to attack the president is a stunning and
deeply troubling revelation," said Dan Bartlett, White House
communications director.
Bush Officials want CBS News
moderator off debates
DRUDGE.COM reports:
Just hours after CBSNEWS admitted it cannot prove the authenticity of
documents used in a 60 MINUTES story about President Bush's National
Guard service, top Bush advisers are recommending a CBS reporter be
removed as moderator of a planned presidential debate, the DRUDGE
REPORT has learned.
At question is the approved Oct. 13 debate at Arizona State University
in Tempe with Bob Schieffer, chief Washington correspondent for
CBSNEWS, moderating.
"Considering the circumstances, we should definitely ask that
Schieffer be replaced," a top Bush adviser told the president on
Monday, according to a well-placed source.
The well-placed source continued: "Who can trust these CBS people to
play it straight [during the debate]? I suspect they will be out for
revenge."
The president is said to have not made any decision whether to seek a
removal of the planned CBSNEWS moderator.
Developing...
Killian family wants apology from CBS
NewsMax.com [LINK]
reports that the family of deceased National Guards officer LT. COL.
Jerry Killian want an apology from CBS:
Gary Killian of Houston, son of the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, a
Texas Air National Guard commander over Bush in the early 1970s says
CBS owes his family an apology for airing false documents attributed
to his father, according to a report in the Kansas City Star.
Gary Killian, who once served in the Guard with his father, said he
first questioned the validity of parts of the memos -- then later
became convinced they were all fakes.
Killian admits he is angry with CBS:
"Do I take it personally? Yes. I think, first of all, CBS and Dan
Rather owe my deceased father and my family an apology."
Killian added, "I don't accept that this was an innocent mistake. I
think it confirms what a lot of people already think: that there is a
hidden agenda among some of the media."
Forged memos provider
Burkett to sue CBS
According to a NewsMax.com report [LINK],
disgruntled former Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett – who
supplied the forged Bush memos to CBS News -- is going to sue CBS for
defamation of character and libel:
Burkett's one-time attorney, David Van Os, told the New York Sun that
his former client had "several meetings with lawyers to determine the
best course of action." He said the planned lawsuit would center on
what he termed "defamation of character and libel." Van Os declined to
name the attorneys who Burkett consulted, but a Tuesday New York Times
report cited attorney Gabe Quintanilla as his lawyer, saying that his
client got the suspect documents from an unnamed source at a Houston
Livestock show.
Though Van Os maintained the source was "a Texas man with Air National
Guard experience," USA Today named a woman, Lucy Ramirez, as the
person who gave the documents to Burkett.
Burkett says he was misled by CBS:
It was Mr. Burkett, not CBS, who was misled, Van Os told the Sun,
explaining that ""60 Minutes" producer Mary Mapes promised to protect
his then-client with complete anonymity and would "expend both time
and money authenticating" the memos.
"Bill leveled with [CBS] about his doubts over the papers, and they
promised him they would take their time," Van Os insisted. But "they
spent all of three days, maybe less, on authentication," he
complained.
Based on the network's assurances of confidentiality, Burkett chose
CBS over ABC News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, Van Os
said.
However, he told the Sun that he now thinks a CBS is "an organization
with a total lack of moral or journalistic integrity."
Bush/RNC vs Kerry/DNC Money
The Associated Press reports on the money race. Kerry and the Democrat
Party are burning their money faster than Bush and the Republicans.
Kerry spent $10 million last month, starting in September, leaving $62
million just as Bush received his $75 million from the Federal
Election Commission.
The Democrat National Committee started this month with $56 million in
the bank after spending roughly $46 million in August -- much of it on
TV and radio ads supporting Kerry and opposing Bush.
The Republican National Committee spent about $20 million in August,
starting September, with nearly $94 million on hand.
Both political parties can spend approximately $16 million in
coordination with their presidential candidate. They can also spend
unlimited amounts that are not coordinated.
The DNC raised about $192 million from January 2003 through last month
and spent about $138 million, while the RNC raised at least $271
million and spent roughly $182 million according to figures both
parties released Monday, reports the AP.
Kerry & foreign influence
The
Associated Press reports
that Sen. John Kerry’s fundraiser met with a S. Korean foreign
intelligence officer and discussed how to create a political PAC:
A South Korean man who met with John Kerry's fund-raisers to discuss
creating a new political group for Korean-Americans was an
intelligence agent for his country, raising concerns among some U.S.
officials that either he or his government may have tried to influence
this fall's election.
Poll watching, 9/21
President Bush continues to move ahead in the polls. Bush now leads in
Iowa -- a state that makes up one of three states including Minnesota
and Wisconsin that would spell defeat for Kerry for sure. All three of
these states were in the blue category. Minnesota also appears to be
in play for Bush, and Bush is substantially ahead in Wisconsin.
Iowa CNN/USA Today/Gallup Sept. 16-19
Bush 50%
Kerry 44%.
Nader, 2%
undecided 4%.
Strategic Vision (R). Sept. 13-15
Bush 48%
Kerry 46%
Nader 2%
Unsure 4%
Ohio Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for Knight Ridder and
MSNBC. Sept. 14-15
Bush 49%
Kerry 42%
Nader 2%
Unsure 7%
Pennsylvania Strategic Vision (R). Sept. 13-15
Bush 49%
Kerry 44%
Nader 1%
Unsure 6%
Minnesota Strategic Vision (R). Sept. 12-14
Bush 45%
Kerry 48%
Nader 2%
Unsure 5%
CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Sept. 11-14
Bush 48%
Kerry 46%
Unsure 6%
New Hampshire Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for Knight
Ridder and MSNBC. Sept. 13-15
Bush 49%
Kerry 40%
Nader 3%
Unsure 8%
Ohio Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for Knight Ridder and
MSNBC. Sept. 14-15
Bush 49%
Kerry 42%
Nader 2%
Unsure 7%
Teresa’s "scumbag" wrongly quoted
Channel 4 in Pittsburgh reports that Teresa Heinz Kerry was quoted out
of context when she used the word "scumbag." She used the word in
another context, according to the station:
"I believe there is a nobility in public service. I believe every
citizen can be a public servant. And should be," said Heinz Kerry.
Sally Wiggin asked, "Do you think some of the nobility has gone out of
public service?"
Heinz Kerry said, "Oh, there is a lot of scumbags everywhere. Not just
in politics. In everything. There are a lot of immoral people
everywhere."
Navy opens 2nd probe into Kerry
medal flap
According to NewsMax.com [LINK],
the United States Navy in launching a second probe into John Kerry’s
Vietnam medals. This time, it involves the Silver Star citation Kerry
received. On Friday, Navy Inspector General Adm. R. A. Route closed
out a superficial probe into the circumstances of Kerry's war
decorations; one that verified only that appropriate procedures were
followed when the commendations were issued.
At issue: Navy Secretary John Lehman -- whose signature appears on the
Silver Star citation document -- says he never signed the award:
"It is a total mystery to me," former Navy Secretary John Lehman told
the Chicago Sun-Times in August. "I never saw it. I never signed it. I
never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not
written by me," he complained.
The Lehman document is the last of three versions of Kerry Silver Star
citation that have been posted to Kerry's campaign website.
But Monday's New York Post reported: "Lehman's disavowal of citation
No. 3 has prompted a separate investigation."
Kerry has persistently refused to sign a Standard Form 180 which would
authorize the release of all his military records. Though Kerry states
he has already released all his records, dozens of pages remain
undisclosed according to several news reports.
"Senator
Kerry's contradictions on Iraq are the wrong signal to send to our
troops on the ground, to our coalition partners, to the Iraqi people
and to the terrorists seeking our destruction. On the eve of Prime
Minister Allawi's visit to the United States, Senator Kerry today said
that America and the world are 'less secure' now that Saddam Hussein
is out of power.
"The
American people disagree and last December, so did Senator Kerry. At
the time he said that those who believe the world was safer with
Saddam Hussein in power 'don't have the judgment to be president.' I
agree."
to read past Daily Reports