McAuliffe Blames Karl Rove For Documents
And Yet John Edwards, Apparently Not Having Received the Talking Points, Demands Bush Respond to Rove's Forgeries
A lot of people predicted this was coming:
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe today said neither his organization nor John Kerry´s campaign leaked to CBS documents questioning President Bush´s service record, which may have been forged.
He suggested White House adviser Karl Rove could be behind the documents.
"I can unequivocally say that no one involved here at the Democratic National Committee had anything at all to do with any of those documents. If I were an aspiring young journalist, I think I would ask Karl Rove that question," Mr. McAuliffe said.
Asked later if he believed Mr. Rove or Republican operatives were involved, he said: "I am telling you that nobody — Democratic National Committee or groups associate with us — were involved in any way with these documents. I am just saying I would ask Karl Rove the same question."
He did not explain how the White House would benefit by providing forged documents trying to undermine Mr. Bush´s service record, but emphasized that he "can unequivocally speak for the Kerry campaign" in saying they had nothing to do with the documents either.
Although he does not quite admit the documents are forged, his Karl-Rove-Planted-Those-to-Discredit-Kerry theory only makes sense if they are, in fact, forgeries. If they're real-- Karl Rove wouldn't disseminate them, now would he?
Okay. So if Terry McAuliffe is tacitly admitting the documents are forged (and blaming it on Rove), can anyone explain why, precisely, John Edwards is out on the hustings demanding that Bush "answer" the charges contained in the forged documents?:
NASHUA - President Bush should have to explain newly released records that reveal his former Texas National Guard superior was asked to “sugar coat” performance records after finding Bush failed standards to be a trained pilot, Sen. John Edwards said Thursday.
“I think they are reasonable and legitimate questions the White House ought to answer,” Edwards said during an interview with The Telegraph.
I realize the Kerry-Edwards team favors taking as many positions as possible. But can they really simultaneously claim that the documents are forgeries and that President Bush is obliged to respond to the allegations contained in these admitted forgeries?
Nuance or nonsense? You make the call.