Ha ha, yeah right! Thanks for nothing, whoever the hell you are.

Sounds to me like they're just trying to cash in on the phenom. Shame on them.

CP (Canadian Press) wire still relaying *nada* on this story from AP or Reuters after initial item a week ago.

Hey, at least they were accurate in reporting that there is a problem with the fake memos.

It was only a matter of time before the wannabees, hangers-on and gold diggers flocked to steal some credit.

When the CRC president is being fellated by his trend forecaster he should probably learn to operate his PC.

Uh, posters here linked to that CNS story on the 3rd or 4th thread you had showing how you recreated the memo in word -- does that count?
:-~

{jackals!}

“We were immediately in contact with [Matt] Drudge, who loved the story.”

So basically they sent a link to Drudge via the anonymous box, and they were probably the ten thousandth people to do so on this story. Cute how they put [Matt] in there. As if anyone didn't know Drudge's first name. I think they did it to imply more closeness to him than they really had.
I'd like them to name one of the major bloggers that drove this story that they really were "communicating" with. They can't and didn't because they didn't communicate with anyone. They just sent Drudge an anonymous tip, if anything at all.

#2

Sounds to me like they're just trying to cash in on the phenom. Shame on them.

They are a PR firm after all.

Well, since Al Gore invented the internet, maybe he should get credit.

Who is Greg Mueller? is he one of the regular blogers?

I can see it didn't take long for someone to try and cash in on the success of others. Washington sucks.

It is vital that all the anti-idiotarian bloggers debunk this nonsense quickly.

They were also in contact with several unnamed foreign leaders.

Who does this guy thinks he is? What a joke.

Yea right ,sure, we'll give you all the credit, instead of Charles Johnson Creative Response Concepts..? Get lost ASSHOLES !

Cue up Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel.

A Free Republic poster, Power Line, and LGF started this wildfire in the blogosphere. I'll wager (large amount of $) that none of those sources has even heard of CRC. This is the point of the story when the old powerbrokers get angry and try to jump on the bandwagon.

What a pant load. If someone wanted to start and Internet blog rumor they don't need a PR firm. What you need is a factual argument, a good favorites menu, and strong fingers. Then you have to survive the fact-checking.

I guess you know you've arrived when the jackals of marketing are taking credit for your accomplishment.

OT

Excellent Mark Steyn column on the dangers of creeping polygamy.

LOL ... that firm is pathetic.

You know how journalists refere to PR hacks?

As jouralist majors that couldn't make it in the real world. :D

"Second-handers".

Scum.

What a crock! CNS was, in fact, the first source to show up with this story on the Google News page (big deal), but their info and evidence were way behind what was already up here and at Powerline, INDC and Allah. Who do these guys think they're kidding?

The shitstorm is just getting started. Who knows who these people are representing? I fully expect someone to come out of the woodwork and try to rescue CBS. And who is this guy who takes his little girl to "democratic" rallies? That's not a very safe thing to do.

Being in contact with Drudge is a huge accomplishment. His anonymous tip box is too complex for the average user.

"Tonight on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather reporting : " A DC right-wing PR firm was instrumental in “driving” the CBS Killian memo story, and that they were “in touch with bloggers:” .....

This dovetails with the Salon piece I referenced a few days ago, where Eric Boehlert accuses CRC by name of "pushing" the story.

My guess is that CRC found the story at Powerline, Instapundit, or LGF, and then took it upon themselves to alert the mainstream media. I have no idea if this is why the story gained attention from ABC and the New York Times -- probably not -- but apparently CRC are not above claiming credit.

“After the CBS story aired, [CNS] called typographical experts, got them on the record that these papers were fishy, and posted a story by 3pm Thursday,”

Charles' first post on this was several hours before 3pm, so they have proved themselves wrong.

It is also interesting that the CRC no-talent wannabees waited over a week to take credit for their special relationship with bloggers everywhere.

To add to #27: it's apparent that at least some media outlets found out about Rathergate from CRC, including Boehlert at Salon.

I think this is a grap for coattails because they want publicity.

You mean it's not part of some big neo-con, right wing cabal of Zionist bloggers and p.r. flaks?

I knew that.

Charles, they're trying to piggyback on your fame.

Swat 'em.

I personally would like to award both these PR firms a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, and a Victoria Cross for such bravery in breaking this news story!

TO: CRC

(to quote one of my favorite movies):

"Who went and made you leader of this outfit?"

Ah, guys.........
They work for Swift vets and taking credit and saying they informed the bloggers. Crap? YES! But the LLL will be screaming that they planted it to bring down Kerry.

"mainstream"
What do they mean by that?
The NYT's in the USA?
The Independant/Guardian in the UK?
CBS/BPS or the BBC?
I think I know that the mainstream is a stream of Pi.s

No bloggers will ever enter Baghdad! They are killing themselves at the gate!

/Bob of CRC

Here you go, gang...

PRWeek Contact UK
Contact: Celia Raw
Directories Editorial Dept.
Haymarket Publishing Ltd
174 Hammersmith Road
Hammersmith
London W6 7JP

Tel: 020 8267 4023
Fax: 020 8267 4107
Email:celia.raw@haynet.com
Website:www.haymarketpublishing.co.uk
PRWeek Contact US
Contact: Emma Broderick
Emma Broderick
Advertising Manager
PRWeek Contact
114 West 26th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001

Tel: (646) 638-6013
Fax (646) 638-6110

Email:emma.broderick@prweek.com
PR Compendium
Contact: Kerstin Jarosch
Contact: Kerstin Jarosch
HAYMARKET MEDIA GmbH
Mexicoring 33
D-22209 Hamburg
Tel: +49 40 69 206 104
Fax: +49 40 69 206 333
Email:kerstin.jarosch@haymarket.de
Website:www.haymarket.de
All Asia PR Guide
Contact: Roger Searl
Advertisement Director
Tel: 852 2135 3556
Fax: 852 2576 9171
Email:rogersearl@prweek.com.hk

[squishy sounds combined with rhythmic bedspring squeaks]
Keith Appell: *hyena yowl*
Greg Mueller: *tiger growl*
[an earthquake happens, 6 on the richter scale]
Keith: do you think that was us, honey?
Greg: we were instrumental in driving that earthquake! I was in touch with your butt from the beginning!

Beagle -

Actually it would be kinda cool if Rather's replacement was Baghdad Bob.

Maybe these firms should change their labels to B.S. Firms.

How many days before we see a refutation of this malarky?

It's okay, Charles. We know what a service to the Republic you've performed this month. Like the sign at CIA hq says, "Someday They'll Know."

I was in the hospital for two and a half weeks, nursing a loved one. I just lay on the fold-out bed and watched cable TV, which I don't have at home. So, I saw this imbroglio play itself out on Fox News. I had to guffaw in delight when I heard John Podhoretz enunciate "Little Green Footballs Dot Com" to Bill O'Reilly, while talking about Memogate. Wish I could have been here at my keyboard to join in the cheerleading.

Hey, I'm an LGFer. Even though I wasn't even here for this story, maybe I should issue a press release crediting myself for breaking it!

ot
anyone watching fox's coverage of sudan

#44 Jimmy,
Yes

After the CBS story aired, [CNS] called typographical experts, got them on the record that these papers were fishy, and posted a story by 3pm Thursday

Charles, according to your original entry you posted your suspicion of the Killian memos being forgeries several hours before CNS. So credit is all yours and we know it.

Of course, if CBS can trade 'false but accurate' statements, CNS can do so too, no?

How do you crush a PR firm?

Quit talking about them.

(#27) E. Nough

Boehlert has zero credibility

Once you shill for a "suspected" Palestinian terrorist, and don't apologize when he's indicted - well, it's pathetic.

Eric's so-called "shoddy tale of guilt by association" is just a ridiculously under-researched, ignorant, quasi-libelous account.

And at the end of the day, al-Arian's going away for a long, long time. And Boehlert, sadly, still has a job.

They wish.

If there were any one species of dinosaur more endangered than legacy media geezers, it's PR hacks. Who needs some PR person when you've got the blogosphere.

The old school press release feeding cycle is to the blogosphere what mimeograph machines were to xerox copiers.

FOX, Hume show, is now blasting any "fake but accurate" theme.

Globular Cluster (#29)

It is also interesting that the CRC no-talent wannabees waited over a week to take credit for their special relationship with bloggers everywhere.

That was my immediate thought too. Now that it's safe to say that the memos were fraudulent and nobody's ass or job is on the line, they all want a part of it.

Charles-
What did I tell you? They are trying to pretend they broke this story. They have enough gall to be divided into three parts. I have been saying for two days that this was coming. Next John effin Kerry will be saying he challenged the memos and algore will claim credit because he invented the internet.
Arghhhh.

SoCalJustice, I certainly wasn't praising Boehlert's story. On my blog and in the comments here at LGF, I called it a hit piece, and dismissed it as irrelevant.

My point was that he mentioned CRC in connection with the Memogate story early in its development, which leads me to conclude that CRC made some PR releases to the press (including Salon) about the story.

I could be wrong, but I doubt that CRC had much to do with John Podhoretz talking about that Little Footballs thingy on O'Really.

Hugh Hewitt, who is very blog savvy and probably the first media guy to grasp the impact and import of blogs, immediately jumped on the story that day and I would bet the IUP-AT annual budget that CRC had absolutely nothing to do with that. Hugh mentioned Charles and Powerline, and even had one of the Powerliners on. It was a great show.

To be honest, I don't think people give Hugh enough credit for his part in this phenom. He just pounded and pounded this issue that day, and if his regulars didn't catch the blogs that until then they certainly were persuaded to do so that afternoon. In fact, on his show was the first time I heard Ra^thgate being coined.

^dy/_dx

Good summary of Rathergate in the Scotsman.

They draw a parallel with the BBC fiasco over the false Andrew Gilligan story - "too good to check"

[Link: news.scotsman.com...]

And isn't it odd - the BBC has virtually ignored Rathergate, even though it has been headline news throughout the US media for over a week !!!!

Smells like a great stock for a liberal media "kill the messenger" soup.

OT:
On FOX, Kerry said he would take reporters questions this week (36 days and counting since last news conference) now it will be sometime next week.
BUT, once in the Oval Office, said Kerry, he will have one every week.
*whew* Glad that is settled ;)

#55 JohninLondon

"too good to check" is rather like it is.

Not only is this false, but it allows the Moonbat crowd to claim "powerful forces" were behind a grass-roots effort.

Also, I remember Greg Mueller from a couple of campaigns I volunteered on. He's a fair-to-middling political consultant but a top notch self-promoting dickwad.

Oops.

Another stab at a link to hughhewitt.com

OT...

Just went over to electoral-vote.com/ and noticed that Colorado just switched from barely Kerry to barely Bush. Of course, this is FWIW but I'll take it anyway.

^dy/_dx

Didn't see anyone at CRC making the "rounds" - but I sure as hell heard Scott Johnson and Charles' name mentioned continually in the past week.

I think this is a "genuine but inaccurate" press release. Woo hoo.

P.S. Ya'll -- where's the drinking thread!??

Well, Charles, you know the old maxim, "Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan." Seems to me like this CRS, CNC and the Media Research Center are trying to claim paternity for your success.

Don't you just love ex post facto self-professed "creators"/"heroes"? (This is reminiscent of when al-Gore dubbed himself creator of the Internet, innit?)

CJ, don't worry: We lizardoids know the score. ;^)

Joel T.

#34 zombie

I thought only one Purple Heart was the going rate for getting hit by your own shrapnel?

Lt. Dan shoulda got some more river between him and the Bush sampan before launching his grenade....

Copied both Celia Raw and Emma Broderick.

Subject line: I think it is called plagerism.

You need to tell your hacks that they didn't break anything. I suggest you both visit LGF and see how long ago that story broke. It was Charles Johnson who broke this story and did the first experiment with the memos in MS Word. Everyone who was in on it knows that. There were 80-100 thousand people on line that first day. So this is no secret.

What a bunch of thieves!

I think I may be getting a little too wrapped up in this election.

My mother is touring Ireland and 'phoned me this morning. She gave me a quick update on what she'd done so far. I started to say something and before I could she said "And before you say anything, I haven't been following the news, and no I don't want to know what that idiot Kerry did wrong this week." Maybe I'm talking politics too much...

;-)

# 61 C G

To Charles, who has more class and humility in his little finger than CRC could ever hope for

Salud!!

#59 Buzz

I don't visit the Moonbat blogs but I can hear it now.
The PR firm works with Swift Vets, they (Swift Vets) planted it and then had their PR firm enter the blogs to cast doubts.

# 65 Cam

Is she having a good time? Hope so ...

Hmm, I wonder if your despair at living in a de facto Euroweenie state is causing you to live vicariously through our election!
:-)
:-)

“We were immediately in contact with [Matt] Drudge, who loved the story.”

Hey, I informed Drudge, too. Do I get extra credit??
(And if you'll wait a couple of hours, I'll show you a fax
from Abiline confirming not only that, but also my silver
star with "v" from Vietnam.)

Let's all take a deep breath here.

Does it really matter who gets the credit for proving Dan Rather is a moron?

I mean, as long as the American people realize Dan Rather is a moron?

#68 Buckaroo:

LOL! Much as I despise the direction my country has taken since '68, I do still love my country. Another ten years of Liberal dominance, though, and I may consider changing my citizenship.

And mother is having a wonderful time. She called because she'd been on a walking tour of Dublin's historical sites and wanted me to know that I would have loved it.

She also claims that she has been unable to locate the bottle of authentic Irish uisghe that I had requested, but I don't think that she's looking very hard.

;-)

Success has a thousand fathers
Failure is an orphan born

Charles you nailed this. Cybercast News Service's clamoring for a piece of the credit will not change that. It just feeds the tinfoil had brigade's conspiracy theories. They alone will give this statement credence.

#70 Beamish: it's not about "taking credit" - it's about credibility and truth. This PR outfit is not being truthful, and everyone associated with a non-truth loses a little bit of credibility. As legacy media loses credibility, the blogosphere - or, more specifically, certain bloggers - gain credibility every day. This is a very precious, precious commodity - hard to build up and easy to lose (just ask CBS or the Times). Now that Charles has built up a certain degree of authority and credibility within the mainstream, he has to defend it - and part of that defense is making sure that this whole Dan Rather episode can't be spun as a "Republican dirty tricks" campaign by leftists, because some PR dolt decided to take credit for "breaking" the story.

This is just another 'ploy' to try to discredit the story. All one has to do is look at the time on the posts: from Free Republic to Powerline to Charles at Little Green Footballs and Charles was the only one to have the tools and practical expertise in typography and line spacing to do the overlay and absolutely PROVE that the CBS memos are false. These guys are just trying discredit the proof and muddy the waters for posterity. Remember, a year or six months from now, people will have forgotten who said what and this PR firms hopes to get their names into the mix while the getting is good.

Your statement that you never heard of them and had no contact with them is good enough for the lizardoid minions. We know what happened and the sequence.

I can't wait for the movie! I vote for Keannu Reeves as Charles, the lizardoid master from the nitrogen-filled cave deep beneath Denver Airport--BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

This sounds highly suspicious to me. Not its obvious falseness, but its timing. This looks more like an attempt to discredit this story by associating it with known political operatives.

Charles,

Might I suggest a Class Action Law Suite with the other bloggers who are being dragged through the mud by this lame publicity stunt to discredit you all as independant sources. I think that sounds dandy.

Charles:

Another blog-bust?

[Link: www.freerepublic.com...]

John Ridley is the alleged swing-voter who is being interviewed regularly by NPR's Renee Montaigne as he makes up his mind about who to vote for this year.

As claimed in the Free Republic post, Open Secrets does indeed list a John Ridley of Los Angeles as a contributor to the Kerry and Clark campaigns.
According to NPR, their swing-voter recently moved from Los Angeles to Milwaukee.

Unfortunately, according to Peoplesearch, there are 16 John Ridleys in California, any one of which could be the contributor.

Another Freeper claims that the NPR ombudsman has acknowledged in an e-mail that their Ridley is in fact the Kerry/Clark contributor.

I have written to the NPR ombudsman but have not yet received a reply so there is no way to verify the Freeper's e-mail from the ombudsman. It seems a bit ambiguous anyway.
I believe the ombudsman's e-mail is authentic, but much more proof is needed.

This is just the Olde Media Model of corporate news organizations and their symbiotic public relations agencies (who supply a lot of stories through their clients) trying to recover their authority and power.
Neither wants you, me or Charles to become an integral part of the New Media Paradigm.

# David2 9/17/2004 02:33PM PST

And who is this guy who takes his little girl to "democratic" rallies? That's not a very safe thing to do.

You're right. The only thing more dangerous than that would be taking your teenage daughter to visit Bill Clinton in the White House.

Charles,

The five fundamentals of any engineering project

!. Enthusiam

2.disillusionment

3.Search for the guilty

4.Punishment of the innocent

5.Credit for the non-involved.

Up until this story broke 40,000 people per day believed in Charles' credibility. WE can vouch for him. We were here when it happened and watched this story unfold, carried along by our own investigation and indignation.

Lies have short lives here in LGF.

#82 FloridaHeat

Agreed!

Let's see now, what are they claiming?

"A CRC client, the Cybercast News Service (CNS), was among the first to voice suspicion that documents suggesting Bush had received preferential treatment in the Guard were forgeries."

So, CRC/CNS was "among the first"? "Among." That a nice, slippery preposition if you want to "pre-position" yourself. Let's look at the nitty-gritty:

"'After the CBS story aired, [CNS] called typographical experts, got them on the record that these papers were fishy, and posted a story by 3pm Thursday,' said CRC SVP Keith Appell. 'We were immediately in contact with [Matt] Drudge, who loved the story.'"

So, they think that 3 p.m. puts them among the first. Fine, me too. I logged on here is Osan, South Korea at 3:00 a.m. Friday Seoul time. Adjusting for time zones and the International Date Line, this means that I was adding my comment to Charles's post before noon Thursday. That puts me not merely among the first but among the 'firsters.'

And I think that we can safely state that Charles Johnson was among the 'firstest.'

Jeffery Hodges

P.S. Just watch. If my minor linguistic reform become widely accepted, then CRC/CNS will try to take credit for it.

Well, much to the consternation of Woodward and Bernstein, I guess the truth had to come out sooner or later.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you CRC Senior VP Keith Appell, aka Deep Throat.

Breaking every major news story since the Lindbergh kidnapping. Boy, those guys are sharp!

T

Is this Greg Mueller the same guy that publishes From The Donkey's Mouth?

I remember reading something recently on the Web about a Greg Mueller of CRC, and so I sent the Greg Mueller who publishes From The Donkey's Mouth an email asking, "Are you the same Greg Mueller in this story?", but I never got a reply back.

I guess it isn't a REAL scandal until it involves Washington. See-BS in New York isn't good enough.

#86 Ward Cleaver

Is this Greg Mueller the same guy that publishes From The Donkey's Mouth?

Well, I just answered my own question, and the answer is Yes.

Here's the staff (from the email):

Greg Mueller - Publisher

Mike Thompson, Jr. - Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Keith Appell - Contributing Editor

Patricia Jackson - Editor

Maureen Thompson - Editor

Can somebody check to see who owns the domain name donkeysmouth.com?

#4 toonman - they have moved new copy in the last few hours, leading with the Bush, Sr. letters to the ANG, but the "fake" memos story is buried after all the "questions about GWB's TANG service still an issue" stuff, with McAuliffie spinning the "child of privilege" angle — while Jean-Francois Kerry still gets a bye on the medal citations.

Donkey's mouth? Seems like he's talking out of his ass...

LGF est à l'avant-garde des nouvelles sur le net... Très souvent en avance sur les média classiques, les participants (trolls exclus) y exposent toujours les analyses les plus pertinentes, et les opinions les plus éclairées. J'ai l'honneur de lire ce blog depuis seulement quelques mois, et je suis édifié par l'impartialité et, dans de nombreux cas, l'érudition des "posters". Je rends humblement hommage à Charles Johnson pour son Nec-plus-ultra des "blogs", et j'exprime ma gratitude à tous les participants (trolls exclus) pour leurs efforts qui visent à faire éclater la Vérité au grand jour.

Sorry for the French, but I needed to express my feelings in the language I know best. Merci Charles! :-)

#92 Frank_Mtl :

De quelle parte de Montreal etes-vous?

J'aime le "trolls-eclus"...

#92
Center West. Let's not get into communicating in French... A simple courstesy for the wide majority of people here :-)

#94 Frank_Mtl :

LOL. One of my best friends was born and raised in NDG - is Chez Paris still around?

#95 That's cool... And not too far from where I am :-) I do not feel too inclined toward chitchat here ... This is a place where I usually come to seek (and always find) real substance :-) Thanks for making me feel geographically closer in the LGF Realm :-)