Posted on 06/06/2004 3:37:10 AM PDT by RatherBiased.com
Former president Ronald Reagan died Saturday at the age of 93 at his home in Los Angeles. CBS briefly interrupted its regularly scheduled programming with a brief update from the previously off-duty Dan Rather. The short report sent a mixed message, focusing heavily on liberal criticisms of the president as someone who was "playing a role" but also featured a short essay written by Rather which praised Reagan as a person. At the end, Rather appeared to be overcome with emotion.
Unlike some of Reagan's opponents (including actor Danny Glover), Rather was at least somewhat respectful of departed president. But Rather was very much an opponent nonetheless.
Like many liberals, Rather was a steadfast critic of Reagan's budgetary priorities. During his very first broadcast of March 9, 1981, Rather and his associates stressed how much the president wanted to "CUT" government programs. After airing two soundbites critical of Reagan's 1982 budget, reporter Phil Jones declined to air any in support of it.
That night's program proved to be a pattern according to moderate Reagan adviser David Gergen:
"This Administration has felt that of the networks CBS has more frequently than the others written stories that were thought to be slanted or unfair," he told the New York Times in 1983.
Rather felt the same way five years later:
"President Bush said last night our first obligation is to the most vulnerable: infants, poor mothers, children living in poverty. Those sentiments clash with the reality of a decade which has found the federal government offering school children less food for thought."
The anchor also was a strong believer that Reagan was deeply involved in the Iran-contra scandal. He was a strong supporter of Lawrence Walsh, the independent counsel appointed to investigate the matter. Years later, during the presidency of Bill Clinton, however, Rather reversed his tune about presidential lying as he attacked independent counsel Kenneth Starr almost nightly.
Covering Walsh's 1992 resignation after seven years of investigating both Reagan and his successor George H. W. Bush, Rather saw unanswered questions and justice denied:
"The special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, kept digging tirelessly, seeking convictions and, when convictions weren't to be had, seeking justice. He had the proof that wrongs had been committed," Rather wrote in his 1994 book The Camera Never Blinks Twice. "If crimes are committed in the government, then someone ought to be held accountable--that's the American way. So Walsh kept pressing."
Rather took a decidedly different attitude toward Starr's attempts to investigate, repeatedly questioning the former judge's partisan loyalties, something he never did with the Democrat Walsh.
"New disclosures are fueling questions about whether or not Starr is an ambitious Republican partisan backed by ideologically motivated, anti-Clinton activists and judges from the Reagan, Bush, and Nixon years," the anchor opined during his August 12, 1994 broadcast.
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I loved how he closed his little bromide yesterday with " we mourn his presidency..(pause) and death"; no lie, my eyes got steely at that one.
Courage, Dan.
You old drama queen.
Rather was on one of the late night shows (I think Letterman) saying how he was not a liberal because he believed in "tight money". (Roll eyes)
IMUS: Now, Bernard Goldberg, your former colleague in the Wall Street Journal the other day said that you possess a liberal bias that you’re even unaware of. What did you think of that? Well, first of all, do you? And second of all, what did you think of his comment?
RATHER: Uh, do I what?
IMUS: Possess a liberal bias.
RATHER: No. I don’t think so, but other people have to judge that. And, you know, he’s entitled to his opinion and that’s, [sighs] uh, [sighs] you know, I’m, [sighs] I’m in favor of a strong defense, tight money, and clean water. I don’t know what that makes me. But whatever that, if that makes me, that’s what, you know, what I am. But when you’re on television every night people are going to take their shots.
rather's appraisal of reagan's death was disheartening... every praise was accompanied by a disclaimer... reagan was for smaller gov't but spent the most causing the biggest deficit ever... like that... some will say he was responsible for the fall of the ussr but his star wars scheme was never built...
it was sad...
i cannot wait until rather's eulogy airs...
teeman
I've heard several people on FOX comparing Reagan with some of Bush's traits .. punctuality, a diverse cabinet (giving the Presidents a variety of opinions), conviction, stood his ground, optimism .. and then this morning Bill Bennett was the second person I've seen on FOX who said he believed the attacks upon Reagan by his adversaries are not unlike the attacks and comments made about Bush .. dunce, cowboy, reckless .. and Bridget agreed with him.
<< At the end, Rather appeared to be overcome with emotion.
Courage, Dan.
You old drama queen. >>
Rather's not a drama queen.
There's not a scrap of drama in his makeup.
Just a queen!
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