[mdlug-discuss] [mdlug] Is MS bribing bloggers?

[Ingles, Raymond]

> From: allen
> Ingles, Raymond wrote:
> >  As I said, it was stupid.

> Nope. Dan Rather, whatever his shortcomings, isn't stupid. He's 
> arrogant, unprofessional and petty but he's not stupid. Minimizing the 
> transgression by ascribing it to stupidity doesn't properly encompass 
> the scope and seriousness of that transgression.

 Even very intelligent people can make stupid mistakes. Look at Nixon.
On the other hand, one good thing about the U.S. is that, at least
sometimes, stupid mistakes by those in positions of authority actually
have lead to negative consequences for them. Nixon had to resign, and
so did Rather.

> >  Um, that's a rather slanted presentation of the actual timeline. The
> > blogs move a lot faster than the journalists, because of their very
> > natures. Doesn't mean that the so-called 'MSM' didn't investigate, and
> > *report*, too.

> As I recall, the story was replayed with nothing in the way of 
> contradiction and no evidence of competitive investigation until the guy 
> with Microsoft Word on his computer put up the infamous jpg making it 
> all but impossible to ignore questions of the credibility of 
> the story.

 Not according to this:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathergate

 "The initial skepticism appeared in posts by Buckhead also known as Harry W.
MacDougald, an Atlanta attorney who had worked for conservative groups such
as the Federalist Society and the Southeastern Legal Foundation and who had
helped draft the petition to the Arkansas Supreme Court for the disbarment
of President Bill Clinton.