A reader sent me the following press release.
AP NEW YORK (parody, not forgery) – CBS apologized Monday and said it was misled about the authenticity of documents used to support a “60 Minutes” story that questioned President Bush’s Vietnam War-era National Guard service, after several experts denounced them as fakes.
In an exclusive interview CBS News President Andrew Heyward said “This was a terribly regrettable case of shoddy journalism by our senior news journalist, Mr. Dan Rather. The only thing I can say in his defense is that at 72 he is probably suffering from ‘male menopause’.”
When asked about Mr. Heyward’s comment Mr. Rather chuckled and said “hey, I like that! It was MEMOpause! Then it�s not my fault after all. So take that Brit Hume,” an apparent reference to the Fox News Channel Special Report senior news anchor.
We contacted Dr. Ira Silverman, a clinical and research professor of medicine at Harvard University Medical School Center for Male Menopause, to see if Mr. Rather’s behavior exhibited early signs of the disease. Dr. Silverman said “well, certainly we would have to perform a full series of tests concentrating on Mr. Rather’s cerebral logic and self reality functions in his brain. A series of MRI and other sensitive diagnostic tests would need to be performed. However, it is very clear from Mr. Rather’s behavior and continuing departures from reality that some form of mental breakdown may be occurring. I would urge Mr. Rather to seek treatment as early as possible.”
Male menopause affects a small part of the male population. Extremist cases have been documented among U.S. coastal males between the ages of 45 and 95. A December 2000 British study of 2,225 men showed that there was a high correlation between males advocating feminism and other liberal agendas and the severity of the disease. The first case of male menopause was documented during the late 1960�s. There is no known cure but treatments, including intensive reality counseling, have shown effectiveness in slowing the progress of loss of reality and logic functions.
