What about a Clintonite mole in the Kerry camp?

Hillary '08 ...

Wouldn't that also mean that illegal coordination is going on between the DNC and Move On?

One aspect of this story that has received too little attention is just how lame these forgeries were. I have enough confidence in the evil genius of Karl Rove that he would not put out such crappy hoaxes and expect CBS to self immolate with them. This story required
a) people with such a grudge against Bush that they would lie to ensure his defeat
b) that these same people be so dumb/lazy that they couldn't either craft a competent forgery or buy a damn IBM Selectric and
c) a left leaning media giant who so wanted the documents to be true that they would be willing to stake their careers on their validity.

What are the odds?

While many in the blogosphere are busy patting themselves on their pixels, I think we should realize how much worse this could have been. I have been expecting a document dump closer to the election (desperation probably prompted this). How much damage could a well done set of forgeries have done in a tight election? It is possible that the TANG fakes will serve as a needed vaccination against media credulity, but I would still prepare for worse to come.

I don't believe it was Moveon.org for the following two reasons:

(1) This was the opening salvo of a highly orchestrated DNC-based campaign. We had Terry McCauliffe promising we would hear all about Bush's National Guard record until the election; we had Susan Estrich promising dirty tricks; and we had John Stasso, a noted dirty-trickster, joining Kerry's camp--all in the past two weeks. I don't think they would allow the timing, etc. to be removed from their hands by the flakes at Moveon.

(2) CBS has repeatedly declared its confidence in the provenance of the documents. They might trust their friends at the DNC, but I can't see them putting their necks on the line for the goofballs at Moveon.

These docs definitely passed through the hands of either someone like Bill Burkett, the Kerry campaign or the DNC, IMHO.

The eventual admission of forgery is a race between CBS and USA Today. With the major papers saying they are outright forgeries now, or casting serious doubt - CBS has to worry that USA Today, with none of the stakes in this that CBS has will say they were duped. Worse, identify the common source.

Anyway you look at it, the WHODUNIT part will dominate the rest of the story. Some in the media think "shielding the source" is an automatic given - but I differ, in that other media have disclosed the hoaxer they were duped by to show they weren't in on the conspiracy - as in the Hitler Diaries, the falsely accused Border agent who was victimized by false documents signed in his name by a disgruntled subordinant. (Another hoax CBS was duped by).

I suspect there is mounting pressure in the CBS Entertainment Boardroom and in their owner, Viacom's, Boardroom to do what is needed to protect the CBS brand. I suspect the legal exposure for covering up Federal election tampering by shielding the forger's name in the name of "journalistic 1st Amendment Rights" is high, since if CBS admits forgery occured, they really can't stand on the freedom for them to use fake documents to deceive the public and keep the forger(s) safe from consequence. That would just open up the door in state and Federal elections for others to freely use forged or faked documents in an effort to dupe other media, deceive the public, and tamper with an election outcome.

I anticipate both the Bush and Kerry campaigns to put pressure on CBS to come clean on the source after they admit they were scammed, as well as pressure from CBS shareholders, CBS news advertisers, and the public. Kerry's people? Yep, them more than anyone, assuming they were innocent of this and it involved liberals from outside the campaign.

"I have enough confidence in the evil genius of Karl Rove that he would not put out such crappy hoaxes and expect CBS to self immolate with them."

Aha! See, if they were good forgeries, people would naturally suspect that the DNC, Moveon, ACT, PETA, whoever, would be behind it. But, they are so pathetic that no one suspects the DNC. (Or the Spanish Inquisition. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.) Instead, the conclusion is that someone wanted the forgeries to be found, and that naturally puts the spotlight on the RNC, NRA, AEI, Ralph Nader, evil-Garth Night Rider, etc. So, we have to ask, who would gain from this? John Kerry, of course! This is the old double-reverse-23-skiddoo operation. Quite obvious when you think about it.

Unless, Karl Rove already thought of that...