Checkmate!

Howard Kurtz writes the mainstream media account of how the blogs beat CBS. I've always liked Howard Kurtz's reporting, and I think his reporting on this story over the past two weeks has been fair and objective.

Let me tell you, the mood in the campus faculty lunch place (conveniently named "Le Bistro") was grimmer than the siting of Paris Hilton in a convention of epidemilogists: let's just say the "huff" factor (the "well...hmmpph..Bush is still the bigger liar!") was rampant. I was quite diplomatic and saved the "Neener!" for later.

UPDATE: It's official! Here's Kurtz's account.

Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY story about President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question -- and their source -- vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome.

Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where -- if I knew then what I know now -- I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.

But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.

Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.

I'm at work and I don't have pshop on this machine, otherwise I would do a evacuation of the Saigon embassy as CBS HQ-esque thing. In the meantime, I think this is a great time to launch the Llamabutcher line of TShirts with the picture of Dan Rather's head stuffed and mounted on a nice wall plack.

UPDATE: The Commissar has the leads on where the story goes next. Because this aint over yet....

Also, I haven't been able to link into INDC Journal yet. Congrats to Bill, I hope he's getting beaucoup traffic out of this, which he completely deserves. And I hope that mounting the head of a liberal icon on your cubicle wall isn't a career no-no in Bill's neck of the woods....

Ace of Spades has a new Top Ten Mottos for CBS News, plus the latest from Teh-RAYY-zah "Lovey" Heinz Kerry Howell III (note to Rob's mom: don't follow the link, as T-Ice calls your son a "scumbag").

DIGITAL LYNCH-MOB UPDATE: Annika has the all the linkety about how to contact CBS affiliates to demand Dan's head on a platter.

I think this is what they invented "tar and feathering" for...