"This is another example of liberal bias. Dan Rather is free to defend a program that used false documents, but a conservative businessman can’t even pay to offer a contrasting point of view,” said Forrester.

Yesterday Forrester announced that he would begin running television and radio spots on New York and Philadelphia stations calling for Dan Rather’s retirement.

Forrester also has begun an Internet campaign to collect signatures in support of his effort. By noon today the Web site, www.danrathermustgo.com, had already received nearly 2 million hits – a truly extraordinary number in such a short time.

"As a public entity CBS should disclose exactly why our ads failed to meet their standards," said Forrester.

"But more importantly if the standards pertain to accuracy or fairness one has to ask why these same standards aren’t applied to CBS’s news programs. Is CBS willing to air news programs that don’t even meet the standards for their paid ads?"

Dan Rather and CBS continued to stand by the forged documents for nearly two weeks after they had been judged by dozens of experts to be obvious forgeries. Later, questions were raised about possible coordination with high-ranking members of John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

"A free press is essential to a free America. But news must be fair and balanced. Dan Rather failed that test and violated our trust. It’s time for Dan Rather to go," concluded Forrester.

Editor's note: