On the Rather issue, the memos were investigated at length by CBS and never shown conclusively to be faked.  The Thornburg investigation left conservatives furious when the panel failed to conclude that the memos were forgeries and that the National Guard story was fueled by anti-Bush bias inside CBS.   However, the panel concluded that the National Guard story was rushed to the air for competitive reasons and characterized the story as a train wreck: "Basic journalistic steps were not carried out in a manner consistent with accurate and fair reporting, leading to countless misstatements and omissions."

While the PROCESS was questionable, THE MATERIAL IN THEM WAS AUTHENTIC, as cooberated by three people most in a position to know at the time of Bush's "service".  One of those, Marian Carr Knox, the secretary to Lt. Col. Jerry Killian who was Bush's immediate commander in the TANG, told CBS that she believes the documents are fake but that they reflected the sentiments of Kilian.  "I know that I didn't type them. However, the information in those is correct".  Rather has said repeatedly - and apparently no one is listening - that the material in the documents is accurate.  

It was an important story because it showed how Bush had been reprimanded for failing to keep current on his medical exams which caused him to be removed from flying status and how the superiors in the unit leaned on Col. Kilian to "sugarcoat" Bush's records.  Most guard units at the time were a ticket out of the Viet Nam war and, as such, were next to impossible to get into.  So, part of the CBS story was how Bush's family connection helped him get in the unit and avoid Viet Nam.  And, even after using the TANG to avoid Viet Nam, the Boston Globe found that Bush fell well short of meeting his military obligations in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.  The story also put Bush's history during Viet Nam in stark contrast to Kerry's record.  

To make sure that Bush's records were never going to be a problem, a team under the direction of Karen Hughes, Governor Bush's Chief of Staff, contacted the TANG while Bush was governor of Texas and requested Bush's files.  The conversation was overheard by Col. Bill Burkett, who at the time was the assistant to the commanding general.  Burkett says they wanted to remove anything that might be embarrassing. When Burkett later went public with this, the Guard retaliated.  He was shipped out on a foreign assignment and returned over a year later with a serious disease.  At that point, the Guard refused to cover his medical expenses.  You might find it interesting to know that Burkett was the CBS's source for the questionable documents.  You can see why he might be a little bitter and why he might have an axe to grind.

  I don't support Hillary both because I don't trust her and because I think she is the one candidate the republicans have a very good chance of beating.