By now the scandal at CBS News over the documents that purported to show that Bush never completed his National Guard service has nearly played its course. Rumors are swirling that the venerable Dan Rather will be out of CBS by spring, a victim of his own courage to stand by his decision to air the story and his honesty and forthrightness in owning up to his mistakes. Neither Republicans nor their backers seem to give much love to true courage and honesty, preferring instead dress up games and fabrication, and so it seems that Rather is done on the news.
CBS, for its part, has done its level best to throw Rather out to the wolves. Hey it’s business after all. And so what that Rather has been the very public face of the network’s news division for over twenty years? So, in its own self-serving best interest, CBS has duly appointed an investigator to look into the breakdowns that led to such a boondoggle.
Here’s where it gets interesting. CBS’ appointed investigator is none other than former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, who served in that post under both Reagan and Bush the Elder. As Slate and other outlets have noted, not only does Thornburgh have a hard on against CBS — for broadcasting allegations that Thornburgh helped cover up evidence of U.S. arms deals with Iraq prior to Gulf War I — Thornburgh also has a personal connection to Karl Rove. Dicky T, it seems, stiffed the Dark One for services rendered on his (Thornburgh’s) failed Senate campaign in the early ’90s.
While it’s true that the only public records that exist of a previous Thornburgh/Rove connection suggest that the relationship was a contentious one that ended badly, the fact is that the two men know each other, worked together, and fight together for the Army of Darkness. Given what a small cadre of Republican hate-mongers it is that truly run this administration, it’s not terribly hard to make the mental connections between suspected Rove treachery and the oh-so-convenient appointment of a minor demon in the nomenclatura of hatred to lead the investigation into said treachery.
Think about it like this. All of us work with some people who’ve done us wrong — maybe an IT guy who doesn’t get your computer fixed when he says, or a supplier that misses a shipment that leads to some embarrassment. If such misunderstandings are managed well, the parties — far from being life-long nemeses — can forge bonds even stronger than those that existed before. It’s not hard for me to imagine Thornburgh and Rove sitting down at some point during their disagreement, realizing they both serve the same master, and agreeing to put an end to their dispute to better serve the greater evil.
And poor Dan Rather — all he did was provide a shining beacon of journalistic hope, and now to be “honored” with this setup in the twilight of his career.
