February 24, 2005
HincheyWait Continues
So it has now been four days since I sent an email to Congressman Maurice Hinchey, asking him to explain his conspiracy theory that Karl Rove and the White House tricked CBS News into running a story based on false documents. I don't think the congressman plans to answer his constituent.
For those of you who might need a refresher, CBS News jumped at a chance to run a false story they thought would be damaging to President Bush's reelection, even though three of their own experts told them that there were major problems with the documents before the story ran.
The story's sole apparent source was a Bush-hating conspiracy theory-addicted man named Bill Burkett. The blindly partisan story with direct ties to John Kerry's presidential campaign was discredited within 24 hours, leading to the firing of one CBS News producer, the call for resignation of three other CBS News executives, Rather's replacement as the network's anchor, and the destruction of the credibility of CBS News.
This past weekend, in front of a crowd of partisan supporters in the leftmost major city in his district (politically and geographically), Hinchey made claim that Karl Rove was behind this incident.
What makes this story extraordinary is not that a politician played to a partisan crowd.
What makes this story extraordinary is that once caught in this tall tale and pressed for evidence, Hinchey admits that he has no proof for his allegations, but that he plans to continue making the slanderous statements, regardless any evidence supporting his position.
When pressed to defend his statements, Hinchey instead tries to redirect attention elsewhere.
We aren't buying it, Mr. Hinchey.
Nobody else made outrageous unsubstantiated claims here. You did. When offered chances to support your claims with facts, you flatly turned them down.
Mr. Hinchey, you are an embarrassment to New York's 22nd District, and are now the butt of jokes literally halfway around the world. Back up your conspiracy theories with cold hard facts, admit you were wrong, or resign.
