Here's a good sum-up of the Ra^therGate story so far by Howard Kurtz & Co. The trouble with such accounts is, of course, that you don't get the sense of what it all meant as it was happening - just how much CBS was and is becoming a laughingstock as the fraud became clear, and thereby really understant how bad CBS looks. Again, it's not just the crime, it's the cover-up - and CBS has done plenty of that.

Further, after four pages of describing how a CBS story fell to pieces like a dandelion in the wind, they still allow the final word to end on a note of, "It sure is a shame people are getting hooked on the document thing and missing the real underlying story," when the fact is that to date, even with all the months of Bush Guard allegations, the "story" remains so devoid of substance that it belongs in the gossip rags and nowhere else. The only difference between the two being that the MSM covers politicians and The Star covers Hollywood celebs. Of course, even the Washington Post can't bear to throw this story out with the Dan Rather bath-water, since it's something they themselves want to continue to peddle - calling for a bit of CPR and an adrenaline drip at the end. This is the kind of smeary nonsense they used to accuse the internet of peddling. How things have changed.

In Rush to Air, CBS Quashed Memo Worries (washingtonpost.com)

Update: Tom points out an instance in which the press (& Co.) will be only too glad to accept the vagueries of records over 30 years old.