So why is CBS delaying the "explanation"?

According to Matt Drudge, CBS has delayed their "Rather Embarassing" press conference with regards to the bogus 60 Minutes II documents relating to President Bush's servcie in the Texas Air National Guard (TANG). Originally scheduled for 12 noon EDT, they pushed it out to 3:30 EDT.

Why?

Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough. However, As Andrew Sullivan opined, this little dustup has the potential for doing a lot of damage:

WHY ARE WE WAITING? This Rather story has the potential to become huge. We can have a few ideas about what's going on behind closed doors at CBS. Rather is refusing to apologize or quit. Or he's threatening to bring others down with him. Or the sources for the forgeries are political dynamite - whether they're connected to the Kerry or the Bush campaigns - and so decisions have to be made about whether to expose them. It's like a good Washington thriller. And it has the potential to transform the election.

I disagree about the political damage even possibly being from the Bush campaign. Indeed, why would Dan Rather (D-TX) not immediately disclose that the forged dosuments where from the Bush Camp. This would simple add to the mythology that Karl Rove is the sinister genius puppetmaster pulling the string of both the President and the country at large and by extension amke Dan into a knight in shining armour saving we the down-trodden from the clutches of the barbarians. If he could do it, it would have already happened.

No, Davespeak breaks the possibility of the revelation into two pieces. They are:

1. Dan hits the fan.
2. The forged documents in question came from John Kerry's staff.

CBS picks the later if they want to save their sinking reputation (and keep Bob Schieffer on the Presidential debate panel). Here, they could blame the entire thing on Kerry and walk away from the table, knowing he was going to lose anyway. That way Dan could keep his job until he retires sometime next year. If Dan hits the fan -- and pulls a full-tilt-bogie Howard Beale -- CBS still gets their reputation back, up to a point. But who wants a loose cannon rolling around?

Either way this shakes, CBS is in the toliet. The only variable left is whether or not revenge is on the mind the Andrew Heyword, the head of CBS news. Then the good Mr. Heyword would want to hammer the buckethead that put him in the mess to begin with. If this is the way things break, Mr. Kerry might as well cash his check.