The article I'm going to refer you to here is quite long and detailed and
filled with hyperlinks to many othe documents and sites. Some are "right"
and some are "left". I found it to be a very good analysis of "Rathergate"
and how the whole thing has developed and evolved. The article is called
"What Blogs Have Wrought: How the guys sitting at their computers in pajamas
humiliated the suits at CBS News". I think there's an interesting parallel
between the evolution of the "Rathergate" meme and the way technical issues
are resoved on this list - especially since our former vendor of choice has
abandoned us.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/640pgolk.asp?pg=1

I'm not posting the full text because I don't particularly like it when
someone does that (it causes my daily summary to truncate prematurely)and
because you really need to follow the hyperlinks and read them too. As many
blog entries end "Read the whole thing".

Before any partisan screaming starts let me clarify (if possible) my
conflicted feelings about the candidates, their behavior, et al:
I've been a registerd Democrat for approximately 50 years.
I beleive the CBS memos have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be fakes.
I don't like most of Bush's economic and social policies.
I think that all the shrill screams about Bush's TANG service are
irrelevant, including the DNC's new "Fortunate Son" spots.
I served in the USNR during VietNam.
No special strings were pulled to get me in the USNR. I went to the head of
the line based on education and test scores.
I never went to Viet Nam, but again being from a lower middle class famile
with no political clout there were no string pulled.
The Navy ordered me to spend most of my active hitch in Coos Bay, OR.
After active duty, I went back to college, got married and my drill
attendance was less than perfect.
I still received an Honorable Discharge after 8 years of service.
I'm not sure Gore would have behaved any differently than Bush after 9/11 -
given the same intelligence.

I think questioning Kerry's medals is just as irrelevant as questioning
Bush's TANG service.
Then again, as a Viet Nam era vet, Kerry's "Winter soldier" antics make me
want to throw up. I can't make sence of where he has sttod on anything since
Viet Nam and I don't trust him to effectively defend our country.
I'm tempted to write in "Mickey Mouse" in November.

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