Burkett's Paper-Trail of Dubiousness Ignored by Mapes and CBSNews

Pages 51-51:

In February 2004, Lietuenant Colonel Burkett Issued statements in advance of the release of James Moore's [anti-Bush] book, Bush's War for Reelection, in which Lietueant Colonel Burkett is cited as a source regarding the alleged "scrubbing" in the late 1990's of then-Governor Bush's TexANG records. Lietutenant Colonel Burkett's allegations, as well as interviews of Lieutenant Colonel Burkett, were reported in February by many major news outlets, including CBS News, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, USAToday, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, the Kansas City Star, the Detroit Free Press, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, MSNBC and CNN. The various interviews and statements revealed inconsistencies in Lieutenant Colonel Burkett's allegations, which led to questions regarding his credibility and whether his claims could be proven. Mapes told the [Boccardi-Thornburgh] Panel that she was aware of the news reports at the time, but that she was not involved in any of the contemporaneous reporting related to Lieuteant Colonel Burkett given that she was then investigating the Abu Ghraib Iraq prison scandal.

The Panel vies this news coverage as significant because, although such information could have been accessed nearly instantly through the Internet or Lexis-Nexis searches [like I, and others, did-- easily-- ed.], the Panel found that no one involved in the vetting of the September 8 Segment seemed to be aware of it. The Panel finds it unlikely that the Segment would have aired as it did if the vetters had been provided details of Lieutenant Colonel Burkett's controversial history.

[Emphasis added; footnotes deleted.]

Remember: they're better than us because they have "multiple layers" of "fact-checkers" who "thoroughly vet all stories for fairness and accuracy," whereas we morons (let's be honest: we're retards in pajamas) can't run the simplest Google search.

And yet-- Mapes and crew all claim that not a one of them knew of the rather extensive reporting on Burkett's dubious charges, inconsistent statements, and self-admitted animus against George Bush for (if I recall the quote correctly) "wreak[ing] havoc upon his life."