CBS's External Coverup, er..... Investigation

So news junkies: are we on pins and needles, waiting with baited breath, to see what oh what the results of the CBS external cover-up, er... investigation into Dan Rather's Memogate might reveal? Well, apparently we'll be waiting a little longer.

From today's Reuters:

"Les Moonves, the co-president of CBS parent company Viacom, told an analyst meeting that the review of the CBS "60 Minutes II" report being done by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press chief Louis Boccardi had no timetable for completion. But he said he did not want it to interfere with the Nov. 2 election.

'Obviously, it should be done probably after the election is over so that it doesn't affect what's going on,' he told a Goldman Sachs media conference in New York."


Let me get this straight: CBS, Dan Rather, and 60 Minutes had no problem airing a one-sided smear piece attacking a sitting President with fabricated evidence less than a month before his bid for re-election. That "affect" on the election they don't mind. But it's apparently unthinkable that they would conclude an investigation into this sloppy and unprofessional "reporting" in a timely manner before the election because it might affect it.

Well, yes if the results of the investigation show that there was, as it appears there was, collusion between the CBS staff and the Democratic National Committee and/or the John Kerry campaign to smear the President. I'm guessing that is a result they would rather announce after the election.

The question is: Where is the rest of the media on this story? Are they going to let CBS get away with stonewalling this "investigation"? Is any news organization going to do independent reporting on the key remaining questions of the scandal?

- Where did Bill Burkett get the fabricated documents if he wasn't the original source?
- Is it just coincidental that the broadcast of the 60 minutes story was coordinated to the day with the DNC's "Fortunate Son" ad campaign?
- Is it coincidental that the DNC chairman was using specific language ("sugar-coating") from the fake memos early in the day before the CBS broadcast aired?

Are there any journalists out working independently on this critical election related scandal? Or are they all sitting in the press room at CBS waiting for the handout from CBS on the results of the "external" investigation?