Simply put, the CBS debacle has become a scar on this entire election.  Things could not have gone better for the Republicans.  The fact that this happened is miniscule compared to the media circus that followed promoted to the hilt by all the right-wing pundits on all the conservative talking-point-led television and radio shows.  This is what all of the meat-heads needed to keep the real issues out of the public eye (I have a feeling that this media circus has gotten more air time than the two medieval beheadings of American contractors this week).  Dan Rather is the fall guy for an insidious plot to distract America once again.  All I seem to hear, even on the centrist news outlets, is:

Dan Rather lied about this, Dan rather lied about that.  CBS is going down.  Those liberal bastards.  See?  The liberal media does exist!

This media and political folly has even led a certain CBS affiliate (WNIS) in Virginia to drop CBS due to the outcry of the people that listen to this particular station (of course overflowing with conservative right-wing “news” talk shows).  Here is an excerpt from an article posted on MSNBC:

“WNIS carries a number of opinion-based talk shows, including those of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly.

But WNIS wants “unbiased, simple reporting of the news without any kind of political agenda or any other agenda,” Sinclair said.”

Based on this, it seems as though they were waiting for a reason to kick CBS to the curb.  This is okay, tough, as this does not seem to be an epidemic across the country, thankfully.  I’m no fan of the media in general, but so much has been done to manipulate what we hear and see within these outlets and behind the scenes by partisan operatives.  The outrage should lie with the underhanded individuals that forged these documents in the first place. 

In turn, my question, then, is if there is such an outcry in Virginia concerning the “lying Dan Rather,” why is there no outcry about the lying George W. Bush?  Dan Rather’s mistake did not cost anyone any lives; George W. Bush’s mistakes (and outright lies) have. 

—–