Another Bush Letter: Maybe Dan Rather is Right?

George C. Landrith

Dan Rather and CBS News have been roundly criticized for using forged documents as the foundation for a “gotcha” story blasting President George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard some 30 years ago. The facts were pretty bad for Dan & Co. Even their experts denied authenticating the documents and said that Rather was warned about serious questions before he ran the story and conveniently failed to mention the experts’ concerns.

But Dan Rather has released one last letter from his collection that may require us all to rethink our criticism. Perhaps we owe an apology to Dan and CBS. You decide. Here is the text of the 1973 letter from George W. Bush to his parents.

“January 12, 1973

“Dear Mom and Dad,

“With my plans to head off to Harvard to earn my MBA, I should tell you that I’ve had a great time in the National Guard flying fighter jets. I feel fortunate that I could get into the Guard. Thanks, dad, for exerting your powerful influence to get me in the Guard. I guess when your dad is a future president, you get special privileges. Heck, with me being a future president, maybe I didn’t need your powerful influence. Maybe my influence would have been enough.

“They worked us hard in flight training, but we had time for fun too. I bought an Apple iPod MP3 Player. I can download music on the Internet (DSL is way better than dial-up) and hook up the iPod to my wireless network. The iPod is way cooler than my Bose Wave radio or my old Sony Walkman.

“I’m sorry I haven’t sent you any pictures lately. Now that I’m in rural Alabama, my cell phone doesn’t get a good enough connection for me to send you all the pictures I’ve taken with the very cool camera that’s built in.

“I spoke with Lt. Col. Killian and he told me that he had written several unflattering memos about me. But given that dad and I will one day be presidents, he said he had cut me some slack. He very cleverly made the memos look like forgeries so that when Dan Rather, CBS News and John Kerry attack my Guard service during my second presidential campaign 32 years from now, I will be able to deflect the heat.

“He said he used fonts, spacing formats, superscripts and other typographical elements that have not yet been invented. He also said he asked his widow and son to deny that the memos were written by him after his death in 1984 to further lend me credibility. I told Lt. Col. Killian that I was very appreciative for his help. He said it was no problem -- he does this sort of thing all the time for people who will be president in 30 years.

“I’ve got to run to meet some friends at Starbucks. Then we’ll grab dinner at the new ESPN Sports Zone. I’ll let you know how the food is.

“Love,

“George

“P.S. Make sure you destroy this letter because if John Kerry or Dan Rather get a hold of it, they will learn of Lt. Col. Killian’s very tricky plan to help my 2004 presidential campaign.”

Now that you’ve read the letter, it seems Rather’s “unimpeachable” source is either George or Barbara Bush. This letter changes everything. I guess we all owe Rather and CBS News an apology.

Let’s be serious for a moment. Dan Rather and CBS News are now a laughingstock for their absurd claim that the documents are genuine despite all the evidence against them. This is precisely as it should be. Their “smoking gun” turned out to be a fraud. If Dan Rather’s memos are genuine, so is the above Bush letter. You be the judge.

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Mr. Landrith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Business Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. He had a successful law practice in business and litigation. In 1994 and 1996, Mr. Landrith was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. He served on the Albemarle County School Board. Mr. Landrith is an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law. He is recognized as an authority on constitutional law and jurisprudence, federalism, global warming, and property rights.

george@ff.org