cross-posted at SSG

Alright out of the ordinary for my blog, but as all of the political blogs are hopping on the possibility that Dan Rather may have reported on what may be faked documents, I went ahead and took a peak at the daily Nightline email with the subject line, “Truth and Politics.”

If you haven’t caught up on this brewing story take a look at Powerline, Command Post, LGF, Allahpundit, Spacetown, and Wizbang.

Now take a look at what Nightline’s daily email had to say~~

Tonight we’re going to look at two issues, separate but related. The first centers on new questions about whether or not President Bush really did complete his service in the National Guard. Our friends over at CBS News were the first to report on new documents that raise new questions about President’s service. One of his former superiors, who is now deceased, wrote a memo to his file saying that then-Lt.Bush apparently disobeyed a direct order in not undergoing a required physical. The White House fired back of course. Chris Bury will report on the new documents, coming out at the same time as a new ad campaign by a group calling itself Texans for Truth. Sound familiar? Of course. Does this issue resonate with the voters?

Also tonight, Dave Marash will report on a statement made by Vice-President Cheney earlier this week. In essence, the Vice-President said that the election of John Kerry could make it more likely that terrorists would attack the U.S.

(Full text of Nightline email can be found in the extended entry)

Regardless of how you lean during this election, this can be rather troubling for big media. Clearly, if the faked documents story bears out, it can (and probably should) be devastating to Dan Rather’s credibility. The second issue they claim to examine is a clear case of taken Cheny’s quote out of context. Here’s what he really said: (emphasis mine)

“If we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we’ll get hit again — that we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States,” Cheney said.

“And then we’ll fall back into the pre-9/11 mindset, if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts and that we’re not really at war. I think that would be a terrible mistake for us.”

He’s clearly talking about the way in which we respond to terrorist attacks, not that a Kerry presidency would bring additional attacks.

UPDATE: NBC’s First Read has this~~

• Thursday, September 9, 2004 | 9:30 p.m. ET
From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray, Huma Zaidi and Aaron Inver

First glance (54 days until Election Day)
As the whole Swift Boaters episode proved, to the extent either side has to spend a news cycle or three explaining their man’s military records from the past, they lose the cycle. New documents released by the White House just shy of 10:00 pm last night, after first being reported on CBS, add more fuel to the Ben Barnes/Boston Globe-revived debate over whether Bush fulfilled his National Guard obligations, which is likely to overshadow Bush’s focus on the economy today and Kerry’s focus on health care.

UPDATE2: For what it’s worth, I sent the following to Nightline’s staff via their webpage~~

I received your daily email about tonight’s broadcast and am certainly intrigued. I am especially intrigued considering today’s developments regarding the possibility that the documents cited by Dan Rather may well be fakes. While there has been a great deal of documentation into what more and more appears to be the likelihood that the documents are indeed forged, the question becomes how will you deal with the story. I’ve added my thoughts at the web log The Command Post. You can read the whole thing at http://www.command-post.org/2004/2_archives/015176.html.

The people will be watching, do us proud.

UPDATE3: Fred Barnes on Fox News’s Special Report with Brit Hume is attacking along all of the lines mentioned in Powerline’s and others posts and notes that Gary Killian, son of Lt. Col. Killian is disputing the documents.

UPDATE 4: Hannity and Colmes will be discussing the authenticity of the documents shortly, per their promos.

Nightline Daily E-Mail
September 9, 2004

TONIGHT’S FOCUS: New allegations about President Bush’s service in the National Guard. Vice-President Cheney makes a statement that many in his own party consider over-the-top. Looking for the truth, but in politics these days, does the truth really matter?

————————————————————————————————————————

Negative attacks work. No matter how much voters say they only want to hear about the issues and all, the reason that campaigns put so much effort into defining their opponents in negative terms is that it works. You have only to look at the impact of the attacks on John Kerry’s record in Vietnam. A rebuttal, even when it has the advantage of being accurate, never seems to have the same power as the original attack. And if you repeat something often enough, it takes on a life of its own.

Tonight we’re going to look at two issues, separate but related. The first centers on new questions about whether or not President Bush really did complete his service in the National Guard. Our friends over at CBS News were the first to report on new documents that raise new questions about President’s service. One of his former superiors, who is now deceased, wrote a memo to his file saying that then-Lt.Bush apparently disobeyed a direct order in not undergoing a required physical. The White House fired back of course. Chris Bury will report on the new documents, coming out at the same time as a new ad campaign by a group calling itself Texans for Truth. Sound familiar? Of course. Does this issue resonate with the voters?

Also tonight, Dave Marash will report on a statement made by Vice-President Cheney earlier this week. In essence, the Vice-President said that the election of John Kerry could make it more likely that terrorists would attack the U.S. This is, as many Republicans were quick to point out along with Democrats, over the top. The campaign, as campaigns are designed to do, immediately began explaining what he really meant. But does that matter, does anyone really pay attention to what comes after a charge like that? The Democrats are, of course, guilty of similar attacks. And these will certainly not be the last ones we see in the next two months or so.

Ted will anchor tonight, we’ll look at the truth, or lack thereof behind these two stories. There is a football game tonight, so we’ll be delayed on the East Coast. I hope you’ll join us.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
ABC News Washington Bureau