Sorry, CBS, but that section B, page 6 apology tacked into the Andy Rooney position of last week’s 60 Minutes? It doesn’t even begin to address the problem. Let’s review..
You paraded an absolute fabrication in front of the world and gave assurances that it was the verified, vetted truth. The subject of this report was so serious, and the accusations it made so vile, that the story made a deep and immediate impact on the business of the nation. In a Congress already beset by deliberate stalling and obstruction, this one report provided succor to those trying to halt the gears of government. It acted as an excuse to delay appointments from the courts to the FCC. It is not an exaggeration to say that the cost of this mistake can be measured in lost jobs, lost dollars, and lost opportunities.
The cost can also be measured in the horrible emotional blows it landed. A swift kick to the families of those who lost their lives in Benghazi, who could easily conclude from this report that their loved ones had been cruelly abandoned. A slap in the face of those in the military and State Department who did all they could to help, and whose motives and actions were again called into doubt.
Your story brought on anguish, misery, and political turmoil. For a lie. But if that was the worst of it, if being “mislead” was your only failing, this pared down apologia might be sufficient.
The thing is, the story itself was the least of it…
