It seems to me that once CBS hired an accredited expert, they covered themselves. It’s the due diligence tapdance. And once the expert said the documents look real, that was the green light and it was off to the races for Dan and “60 Minutes”. Why not? Rather isn’t posing as an expert, he’s merely taking the word of someone who is. How can Dan be blamed if the expert later turns out to have been mistaken? As long as Rather does not substitute his own judgment for the expert’s, he’s fine.

On another level, this is Old media against New, and I can imagine Ol’ Dan chuckling tonight over his glass of Jack Daniels: “I got your internet right here, blog boy! Log onto this!”

But it’s a rearguard holding action, Dan. Distributed knowledge is the better model, just like Hayek said.