Dan Rather and The Bad Penny
Jim Kouri, CPP
July 15, 2006
Like the proverbial "bad penny" that keeps turning up, disgraced CBS News anchor Dan Rather told Associated Press on Tuesday he will be the ultimate authority on a weekly news program he'll begin in October on HDNet for owner Mark Cuban.
Dandy Dan is promising "independent journalism, which, to me means, he'll have his own way smearing conservatives with bogus documents and spinning stories for his comrades in the Democrat Party. Perhaps he'll employ his daughter Robin to assist him in selecting stories. I'm certain she will be able to take some time off from her activist duties for the Texas Democrat Committee.
The "difference here is the chain of command begins and ends with me. ... You could say it's like operating without a net, but I don't see it that way," Rather told a meeting of the Television Critics Association. Good. So when he tries to torpedo a political opponent on behalf of the Democrats, the ten people who'll watch HDNet's Dan Rather Show will know ho to blame for the forged memorandum and other documents.
According to Rather's interview with AP, "Dan Rather Reports" will feature field reports, interviews and investigations. Rather will produce the program, which will be up to an hour long, and be its host. He said he will have creative and editorial control. One can imagine whom he'll interview or investigate. Let's face it, Sherlock Holmes he's not.
"News at its best ... is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I'm not in the lullaby business," said Rather. One senses that Dan Rather needs a wake-up call. His credibility, outside of his circle of friends and coworkers, is zero. If asked for one thing Mr. Rather did as a newsman that was positive, I'd have to say at least he never revealed military and intelligence secrets.
Rather, who is now 74, packed his bags and left CBS News after 44 years at the end of June. The cover story was that he and CBS were "unable to agree on his future role at the network." Dan lost his job for doing what many politicians have done in stories Rather covered: he tried to cover-up a BIG mistake. He tried to hurt a sitting president with bogus documents and when faced with that fact he began to sound like Bill Clinton defining the meaning of the word "is."
While Dandy Dan attempted to portray Bush as a rich kid who hid in Vietnam to avoid service in Vietnam -- whether or not it's true, is not the point -- no one except for a couple of real war heroes mentioned Rather's military record.
According to former Marine Col. Oliver North, now commentator Fox News commentator, Rather washed out of Marine boot camp, although he still claims to have been a Marine. Yet, no one asked Dandy Dan to release his own military records. Could his failure at becoming a Marine soured him on the US military beginning with the Vietnam War right up to our current war? Only Rather knows the answer to that one.
Rather and Cuban, who owns the basketball team The Mavericks, said that their new venture on the high-definition network will be a breakthrough in news coverage and a reminder of TV's power.
"People are so fixated on the Internet, so fixated on digital media, they forgot about the opportunity that good old television presents," said Cuban told AP. One doubts Dan Rather will have any success getting people to turn off their computers. He can't expect those who really care about the news and how it's covered to spend their precious time watching and listening to a man who, while working as a news anchor, speaks at a Democrat Party fundraiser.
In the AP story, Rather took a slap at conservatives. He said that he had become a lightning rod for criticism, especially by conservatives who claimed they saw bias in his reporting.
"Yes, I'm biased. I've got a very strong bias toward independent journalism," he said.
Good thing he was shoveling the horse manure with an AP reporter. Anyone else would have told him he's full of...well ... horse manure.
Dandy Dan is promising "independent journalism, which, to me means, he'll have his own way smearing conservatives with bogus documents and spinning stories for his comrades in the Democrat Party. Perhaps he'll employ his daughter Robin to assist him in selecting stories. I'm certain she will be able to take some time off from her activist duties for the Texas Democrat Committee.
The "difference here is the chain of command begins and ends with me. ... You could say it's like operating without a net, but I don't see it that way," Rather told a meeting of the Television Critics Association. Good. So when he tries to torpedo a political opponent on behalf of the Democrats, the ten people who'll watch HDNet's Dan Rather Show will know ho to blame for the forged memorandum and other documents.
According to Rather's interview with AP, "Dan Rather Reports" will feature field reports, interviews and investigations. Rather will produce the program, which will be up to an hour long, and be its host. He said he will have creative and editorial control. One can imagine whom he'll interview or investigate. Let's face it, Sherlock Holmes he's not.
"News at its best ... is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I'm not in the lullaby business," said Rather. One senses that Dan Rather needs a wake-up call. His credibility, outside of his circle of friends and coworkers, is zero. If asked for one thing Mr. Rather did as a newsman that was positive, I'd have to say at least he never revealed military and intelligence secrets.
Rather, who is now 74, packed his bags and left CBS News after 44 years at the end of June. The cover story was that he and CBS were "unable to agree on his future role at the network." Dan lost his job for doing what many politicians have done in stories Rather covered: he tried to cover-up a BIG mistake. He tried to hurt a sitting president with bogus documents and when faced with that fact he began to sound like Bill Clinton defining the meaning of the word "is."
While Dandy Dan attempted to portray Bush as a rich kid who hid in Vietnam to avoid service in Vietnam -- whether or not it's true, is not the point -- no one except for a couple of real war heroes mentioned Rather's military record.
According to former Marine Col. Oliver North, now commentator Fox News commentator, Rather washed out of Marine boot camp, although he still claims to have been a Marine. Yet, no one asked Dandy Dan to release his own military records. Could his failure at becoming a Marine soured him on the US military beginning with the Vietnam War right up to our current war? Only Rather knows the answer to that one.
Rather and Cuban, who owns the basketball team The Mavericks, said that their new venture on the high-definition network will be a breakthrough in news coverage and a reminder of TV's power.
"People are so fixated on the Internet, so fixated on digital media, they forgot about the opportunity that good old television presents," said Cuban told AP. One doubts Dan Rather will have any success getting people to turn off their computers. He can't expect those who really care about the news and how it's covered to spend their precious time watching and listening to a man who, while working as a news anchor, speaks at a Democrat Party fundraiser.
In the AP story, Rather took a slap at conservatives. He said that he had become a lightning rod for criticism, especially by conservatives who claimed they saw bias in his reporting.
"Yes, I'm biased. I've got a very strong bias toward independent journalism," he said.
Good thing he was shoveling the horse manure with an AP reporter. Anyone else would have told him he's full of...well ... horse manure.
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