Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

On his show yesterday, Lago had Gary, the creator of many political graphics you’ve seen. Check this one.

And we can smell the fear. Jennings, Brokaw, and Rather are not happy about the spotlight being directed at them by the new media. In particular, the Media Research Center is the main villian.

After years of being able to say anything and get away with it, they are having difficulty adjusting to the requirement for integrity.

I want to brag on Kevin Sites for just a bit. MSNBC just aired his report from Baghdad regarding all the activity in Fallujah, Baghdad, and Samarra. Kevin explained just what had happened in the finest of journalistic tradition. He explained Who, What, When, Where, and How. He made no judgements, and gave complete factual report, good and bad.

Kevin also does well in relating personal interest stories on his blog. I’ve had him linked since almost the beginning. His posts there are hit and miss, as he has to work for a living, often far from internet access. But I believe he has what it takes to be another Ernie Pyle in reporting life in a combat zone for the troops and civilians.

UML Guy is on a roll!

He takes aim at what is, admittedly, a very large target.

Jim has posted the absolute best Dan Rather photo ever.

Last night O’Reilly had an interview with Kerry that was taped in December 2001. I didn’t pay close attention, but Kerry sounded then like he sounds now–he would do something, although he can’t quite put his finger on it. This segment was a prequel to O’Reilly’s interview with Dubya, which will air next week.

I understand I’m going to take some heat from all sides. In fact, I got a letter today that told me the interview was dumb, even though nobody’s seen it yet.

You can be sure that O’Reilly will have a tough talk. He is determined to not be perceived as partisan. But he will also be respectful. That respect will be viewed by some as fawning.

He still hasn’t received a commitment from Kerry. Kerry will wait to see how Bush does. Don’t expect to see him enter the No-Spin Zone any time soon.

We can only hope that Les Moonves takes Hugh Hewitt’s advice. I think this would be the start of a good thing for television news.

I am not firing Andrew Heyward, Dan Rather, or Mary Mapes, though Heyward is no longer CBS News president and Dan’s not our anchor anymore. These three, and a few others involved in this meltdown, have been given an assignment to produce a one-hour special detailing what happened. It is scheduled to run in two weeks. I will review it before it airs. If it doesn’t answer every question, then that will be the end of some fine CBS careers. I am not interested in retribution. I am interested in reputation. Ours is toast, and it deserves to be. Dan’s in charge of the first step in the rebuilding process. I have confidence in him.

Can Moonves bring himself to admit that bringing in [Someone Else] is the smart thing to do?

Will hiring [NAME] turn us into Fox News? Fox News is a fine news organization, and if you haven’t figured that out yet, you are in denial. They owned the Swift Boat story because we were sniffing about the fact that this or that didn’t seem appropriate to us. They owned the Republican convention because people trust Hume. I’d hire him tomorrow to anchor but he won’t come. So get over this “Fox News is a right-wing carnival” crap.

This morning after my segment, Jim Lago had on the GM for the local CBS affiliate. (HINT: They are not to blame for the problems. But it is affecting them.) And affiliates are not real pleased about the whole thing. They are loyal, however. It was clear that the fake documents do carry legitimate questions in the minds of many. Looking at facts, I don’t know why.