There is a plausible reason why Karl Rove would have wanted to release fake guard documents. It also happens to be a simple, brilliant, and utterly unpredictable strategy (especially if you have access to military bases):
The Setup: They forged documents that were entirely believable, and sold them to CBS under the pretense that they'd soon be released to rival news organizations.
The accusations against Bush are entirely plausible, and perhaps even true. Any intelligent observer will conclude that he is hiding something, and that he hasn't been forthcoming. But, even had the documents been true, they would have had little effect. The electorate is not paying any attention to Bush's guard service. So, in other words, its the perfect bait -- its news worthy, but not too news worthy.
So why did CBS take it and air it so quickly? All News organizations want to be the first to break stories -- and that desire, coincidently is probably the number one reason for inaccuracy in news broadcasting. It's likely that the scammer threatened to go to other news sources. By putting time pressure on the producers , CBS was esily duped; frankly, the scammers played them like a slut.
The Bait: There were obvious errors on the documents that any -- and I mean ANY -- scam artist would have avoided. This allowed the right-wing "new media" to quickly uncover the false hoods without actually having any knowledge of the plot.
Super script? Times New Roman? A true scammer would have probably used a type writer. Even I, at 22 (the only time I used a typewriter was when I played with one as a tottler) , know to use the Courier font if I'm trying to make it look like a type writer.
So, the right wing bloggers and talk radio hosts now appear to be "truth squads"; and Rove knew that they would figure it out. It was an absolutely safe bet. Hopefully, by now you are beginning to see the strategy.
The End Result- Discrediting News Sources that don't give Bush 100 percent support.
I'm guessing this is the intended message:
News Sources like CBS are sloppy, partisan, and not to be trusted. Fox News, and other organizations of "truth squads" uncover their lies and deceptions. It was good average Americans who uncovered these left-wing lies. As we all know, they'll go to any lengths to discredit Bush (Remember that the claims agains him are anything but wild -- but now they'll have no effect, as they say: the boy has already cried wolf). Don't read NYTimes! Read NY Post! Don't Watch CBS! Watch FOX! The Liberal media are liars, FOX and NRO represent the Truth.
Recap:
Rove decided not to directly attack Kerry, instead he attacked News Sources that were hurting Bush and helping Kerry. At the same time, he managed to frame Bush-loyal news as being "truth hunters". Its suttle, and if anything is to be learned, its that Rove is a lot sneakier than you think. The strategy was not directly related to making Bush or Kerry look better or worse -- its a long term strategy to gain better control of the public forum. Of course, I might just be giving Karl Rove too much credit. However, I'm not willing to take that bet.
Cross posted at Net Politik
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