THE WASHINGTON POST has been doing some investigative journalism where Bill Burkett — thought by many to be the source of forged CBS RatherGate documents — is concerned:
The former Texas National Guard officer suspected of providing CBS News with possibly forged records on President Bush’s military service called on Democratic activists to wage “war” against Republican “dirty tricks” in a series of Internet postings in which he also used phrases similar to several employed in the disputed documents. . . .
In e-mail messages to a Yahoo discussion group for Texas Democrats, Burkett laid out a rationale for using what he termed “down and dirty” tactics against Bush. He said that he had passed his ideas to the Democratic National Committee but that the DNC seemed “afraid to do what I suggest.” . . .
The CBS documents include several phrases that crop up in Web logs signed by Burkett, including “run interference,” and references to a pilot’s “billet.” Former Air National Guard officers have pointed out that “billet” is an Army expression, not an Air Force one. Burkett has also used the expression “cover your six,” a military variant of the vulgar abbreviation “CYA,” which appears in one of the CBS documents.
In a somewhat less impressive feat of investigative journalism, the Los Angeles Times has discovered that a poster on Free Republic is a “conservative activist.” (“Stunning news!” — Patterico). They need to get out more. . . .