Lights Out: Update

Morning, folks. If you're just checking in, you should start by reading the post right below this one entitled "Lights Out." Then this one will make more sense.

The Washington Post has written a well-researched, balanced article that provides yet more evidence that the documents are fake. More importantly, it quotes a "senior CBS official" saying one of the anonymous sources who helped CBS verify the documents was "retired Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Hodges, the immediate superior of the documents' alleged author, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian."

The article notes that Hodges is "a Republican who acknowledged that he did not want to hurt Bush." CBS thought that made him more credible. But if you agree with me that this whole story is a Karl Rove-orchestrated setup, Hodges' Republican credentials makes him seem less credible, don't they?

I'm not saying Hodges mislead CBS. In the past, he's come off as a straight shooter about Bush's military record, answering questions whether or not his answers helped the president.

But CBS' reliance on Hodges gives us an interesting insight into how they made decisions about a given source's believability. You have to wonder who else they relied on. Did the network get its phony documents from another "Republican who acknowledged that he did not want to hurt Bush"?

And is it possible that this trusted Republican was someone with an agenda? Someone who had a boss, who had a boss, who had another boss, whose name was Karl? A boss named Karl who was thinking a few moves ahead of everybody else?