Larry (D-TX), Curly (D-MA), and Moe (D-GA)
Interesting. From the WaPo:

In an Aug. 21 posting, Burkett referred to a conversation with former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) about the need to counteract Republican tactics: "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back."

In e-mail messages to a Yahoo discussion group for Texas Democrats over the past few months, Burkett laid out a rationale for using what he termed "down and dirty" tactics against Bush. He said he had passed his ideas to the Democratic National Committee but that the DNC seemed "afraid to do what I suggest."

Was Burkett so obsessed with Bush that he went ahead and sent the fake memos on his own?

Of course, Staudt reaffirms the memos are all crap.

"He didn't use political influence to get into the Air National Guard," Staudt said, adding, "I don't know how they would know that, because I was the one who did it and I was the one who was there and I didn’t talk to any of them." . . .

He added that after retiring he was not involved in Air National Guard affairs. "I didn't check in with anybody - I had no reason to," he said. "I was busy with my civilian endeavors, and they were busy with their military options. I had no reason to talk to them, and I didn't."

Now, I had just assumed Staudt was dead, like some of the other people in this story. I hadn't even thought to look into it, but his statement makes sense.

It sure makes a hell of a lot more sense than CBS's argument, when asked how Staudt could've been pressuring people at the time, having been retired for a year and a half: Something like "Uh, well, he was a mythological figure in the TexANG, manipulating things from behind the scenes!"

So, given that he was alive and clearly available to make statements, Kevin wonders why Rather didn't bother to interview him. It's a good question, since you'd think if 60 Minutes was serious about investigating this, you'd think they'd have bothered to talk to the guy accused of making it all happen.

Of course, they weren't serious and knew full well they were full of it.