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Lots of news today folks...Kerry came out of the box blasting President Bush this
morning over Iraq...President Bush has an "Ask the President" forum in New Hampshire
and Vice President Cheney has a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania...Expect a strong
counteroffensive today on Iraq and Kerry...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6055030/
President Bush is striking back at John Kerry's increasingly aggressive criticism on
Iraq, asking Americans to stick with him on the war in the face of surging violence
there. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040920/D857C42G0.html
CBS News has acknowledged that those controversial Bush/National Guard documents were
bogus...Here's an excerpt from a just released statement by CBS News President Andrew
Heyward: "CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only
acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not
have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6055248/?8
Dan Rather statement
"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."
We'll talk to The Washington Post's TV critic Tom Shales, David Gergen, Wall Street
Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz, former Bush speechwriter David Frum and Democratic
strategist Tony Coelho about this explosive controversy...We'll also talk to Emily
Will, one of the folks who analyzed the CBS documents...Plus Andrea Mitchell and
Newsweek's Jon Meacham
Please join us tonight for a heady mix of gravitas and sizzling hot politics...
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC
Religion and Politics backgrounders
Openly Religious, to a Point...Bush Leaves the Specifics of His Faith to Speculation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24634-2004Sep15?language=printer
Kerry wears faith prominently, if not on his sleeve (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-09-19-kerrys-faith_x.htm
The God gap...How religion divides the Democrats (The Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/09/19/the_god_gap?mode=PF
Catholic Voters Given Leeway on Abortion Rights Issue (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A3534-2004Sep7?language=printer
A trio of top Republicans criticized the Bush administration's handling of the war in
Iraq yesterday - just as Democrat John Kerry is refocusing his campaign to slam the
President over the blossoming anarchy there. (NY Daily News)
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/233977p-200906c.html
Senators from both parties urged the Bush administration on Sunday to make a realistic
assessment of the situation in Iraq and adjust its policies aimed at pacifying the
country. But Bush readied a firm defense of his Iraq policy - and a sharp new attack
on rival John Kerry's stance - for a speech Monday. (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040920/D857EFGG1.html
CBS to Say It Was Misled on Bush Guard Memos...Network Plans to Issue Statement on
Disputed Documents Used on '60 Minutes' Broadcast (The Washington Post)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6052080/
Curry: Kerry making scant progress in crucial states...Polls show Bush faring well in
states he narrowly won in 2000 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6038211/
Poll results from 'red' battleground states...MSNBC/Knight-Ridder polls conducted by
Mason-Dixon Polling and Research from Sept. 13 through Sept. 14, 2004
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6038808/
Bush, Kerry tentatively agree on 3 debates...But final agreement not in place yet (The
Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6049364/
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards on Sunday accused House Speaker
Dennis Hastert of stooping "to the politics of fear" when he said al-Qaida terrorists
may launch another terrorist attack to swing the Nov. 2 election in Democrat John
Kerry's favor. (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6049313/
Fineman: War Leaves an Opening for Kerry...If enough voters see Iraq as a blunder, the
Dems could win http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6029653/site/newsweek/
Muslim cleric gunned down in Baghdad...Gunmen killed a Sunni Muslim cleric as he
entered a mosque in Baghdad, the second slaying of a cleric from the influential
Association of Muslim Scholars in as many days. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6021654/
Deadline nears for Americans, Briton held hostage...Relatives seek release, say men
were aiding Iraq (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6015597/
'Distraught' Saddam begging for mercy, Iraqi PM says...Allawi's portrait of toppled
leader differs sharply from N.Y. Times report (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6053746/
Bomb narrowly misses Afghan politicians...U.S. warns of plot to disrupt vote;
separately, 2 GIs killed in battle (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6052395/
Bush Must OK Clinton's Document Release (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&u=/ap/20040918/ap_on_go_pr_wh/clinton_library_archives&printer=1
Opinion/Editorial
Novak must read: Quick exit from Iraq is likely
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak20.html
Pat: Dan Rather: The final days http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40529
Fund: Dukakis II...A sequel to a Democratic horror show.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005643
Landfield: One of New Jersey's most unusual legislative partnerships has come together
in support of a common sense compassionate piece of legislation, which is long overdue
for consideration-permitting the medical use of marijuana in New Jersey.
http://www.practicalpolitics.net/landfield/9_19_04.html
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