September 20, 2004: In response to the outcry of the 60 Minutes II story about the Killian memos, showing that George W. Bush never showed up for duty in the Air National Guard from May 1, 1972 to April 30, 1973 (an entire year), CBS News admits that it cannot prove the authenticity of the documents, and that airing the story was a "mistake" that CBS regretted. The source for the documents is named as Bill Burkett, and Burkett admits to having lied to CBS about how he got them.
It is worth noting that CBS never said that the information wasn't true: Bush didn't show up for duty. This story should have destroyed him years ago, never mind this year, in his battle for re-election against John Kerry, an actual war hero who was getting his war record smeared by actual lies.
But CBS didn't point this out. Instead, they forced anchor Dan Rather into retirement, throwing him under the bus after 43 years, including the last 23 as the anchor of The CBS Evening News.
The result? Bush's 2nd term was even worse than his first, while The CBS Evening News has never recovered from firing Rather: Neither Bob Schieffer, nor Katie Couric, nor Scott Pelley, nor Norah O'Donnell has given the broadcast the effect that Rather, and before him Walter Cronkite, gave it. In other words, had CBS stood up for Rather, they, the country, and the world would all have been better off.
Within a few months, Tom Brokaw would retire at NBC. A few months after that, Peter Jennings would die of cancer, vacating the anchor's chair at ABC. The era of great network news anchors was over.
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September 20, 2004 was a Monday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3 at Yankee Stadium. Derek Jeter went 1-for-5. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-6 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* A doubleheader was split at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Chicago Cubs won the opener, 5-1. The Florida Marlins won the nightcap, 5-2.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The Anaheim Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* And the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Colorado Rockies, the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Montreal Expos, the New York Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled.
And on ABC Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-16 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
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