Say It Ain't So, Joe

Kerry's nailed his own coffin--there's been coordination between CBS, bogus source Bill Burkett and the Kerry campaign. The link is top Kerry campaign aide Joe Lockhart:

At the behest of CBS, an adviser to John Kerry said he talked to a central figure in the controversy over President Bush's National Guard service shortly before disputed documents were released.

Lockhart, former press secretary to President Clinton, horsetraded with CBS, according to USA Today:

Burkett told USA TODAY that he had agreed to turn over the documents to CBS if the network would arrange a conversation with the Kerry campaign.

The network's effort to place Burkett in contact with a top Democratic official raises ethical questions about CBS' handling of material potentially damaging to the Republican president in the midst of an election.

The Dems, remember, hounded Ben Ginsberg out of providing legal advice to President Bush because Ben also was counseling the Swiftvets "527" organization. But the "crime" of "coordination" doesn't apply to Democrats:

Kerry ally Max Cleland, a former Georgia senator, also said he had a brief conversation last month with Burkett, who told him he had information about Bush to counter charges against Kerry's Vietnam War service. Cleland said he gave Burkett's name and phone number to the campaign's research department.

NRO's Jim Geraghty details the Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance ball-handling between CBS, the DNC and Kerry:

The CBS story based on the memos the evening of Sept. 8. Are we to believe that the Democratic National Committee put together "Operation Fortunate Son," in which these memos are front and center, entirely in the hours after the CBS report, and yet had their campaign ready so that these memos are referred to in the first words of the AP story Sept. 9?

Serious corruption, says Hugh Hewitt:

Wow. A senior Kerry aide phoning the forgery-passer at the request of CBS? CBS is advising the Kerry campaign? And the Kerry campaign is following the advice? Fire them all.

This suggests both that the media is merely an extension of the Democrat party, and CBS's news budget is nothing more than a disguised Kerry contribution. (Instapundit asks "Shouldn't CBS just register as a 527 and have done with it?") Plainly this should be investigated, but who could be impartial? Remember Rather's now revealed Kerry's election was more important than Dan's career. And Paul Begala remains both a CNN correspondent and a Kerry campaign advisor.

The media not only coordinates with Democrats--they jointly plan campaign strategy and appropriate coverage. They're not watchdogs--they're champions for Kerry. Ra^therGate will generate more than just libel suits--it may scuttle campaign finance laws as well. Excellent--call McCain-Feingold "reform" Dan Rather's fourth victim.