The Black Rod

If you blinked you missed it. Starring Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett and screen veteran Robert Redford, the movie titled "Truth" came and went and nobody noticed. Despite opening in more than 1100 theatres, this certified stinkeroo, which cost $9.6 million to make, has grossed barely $2.5 million. So why mention it? Because its the celluloid apologia for Rathergate, the infamous scandal where CBS tried to influence the 2004 American presidential election by smearing George Bush with a phony story on 60 Minutes (Wednesday edition) hosted by Dan Rather.   When the documents used by Rather to attack George Bush proved to be fraudulent, show producer Mary Mapes was fired and Dan Rather's career was over.   The only thing left behind was the mantra adopted by bad reporters everywhere: the evidence is false, but the story is true. The real heroes of Rathergate were the bloggers and internet commenters who rose up together to take the false story apart, line b...

Shoe...meet foot. Now, meet other foot. Reporters and columnists at the Winnipeg Free Press were all high and mighty during the Taman Inquiry. They looked down their noses and lectured Winnipeg and East St. Paul police officers about cover-ups, honesty, justice, yadda yadda yadda. Now listen to the deafening silence as they are caught up in a cover-up of their own. And don't confuse it with the deafening silence from the other reporters in town, who were part of the mob attacking the honesty of the police but who have turned a blind eye to the cover-up in their own ranks. It was revealed yesterday on a local radio talkshow that city health authorities have started trying to trace the source of three-quarters of a ton of minced pork that the Free Press employees union bragged about getting during the recent strike at the newspaper. Oh, would that be the same union that represents most of the other reporters in town as well? Health officials fear the meat might be contaminated and a ...