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HDNet's Dan Rather, in a piece for the Huffington Post, apologized for his use of the word "watermelons" during a segment about Barack Obama's ability to pass health care, that was aired on the March 8 Chris Matthews Show. In his explanation Rather offers his Texas background as an excuse saying, "I used the analogy of selling watermelons by the side of the road. It's an expression that stretches to my boyhood roots in Southeast Texas" but then goes on to plead "I'm sorry people took offense." The following is the most relevant portion of the statement, from the...

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, speaking on the GOP's expected strategy against Democrats in elections this fall, said Republicans would describe President Obama as "a nice person ... very articulate" but an ineffective leader who "couldn't sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic." Rather prefaced the comments, made Sunday on the "Chris Matthews Show," by saying, "The Republicans will make a case and a lot of independents will buy this argument." Rather is known for his homespun anecdotes, though his choice of language in this instance already is raising some eyebrows on...

HDNet's Dan Rather stepped on one mine after another in the racial minefield that exists when talking about the nation's first black President as the former CBS anchor, on the syndicated Chris Matthews Show over the weekend, uttered the following take on the President's ability to get health care passed and how the GOP and independents would view it. DAN RATHER: Part of the undertow in the coming election is going to be President Obama's leadership. And the Republicans will make a case and a lot of independents will buy this argument. "Listen he just hasn't been, look at the...

Chris Matthews tries to save Dan by interrupting, here is Rather's remark regarding President Obama: "He couldn't sell watermelons if you gave him a state trooper to flag down the traffic..."

Video clip of Danny boy from an earlier Hot Air article: Rather on Chris Matthews show: "He's a nice person (only because he's a Democrat), he's very articulate but...he couldn't sell watermelons if it, you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic."

Dan Rather: 'Articulate' Obama Couldn't Even 'Sell Watermelons' By Geoffrey Dickens Created 03/08/2010 - 14:41 HDNet's Dan Rather stepped on one mine after another in the racial minefield that exists when talking about the nation's first black President as the former CBS anchor, on the syndicated Chris Matthews Show on March 8th, uttered the following take on the President's ability to get health care passed and how the GOP and independents would view it. DAN RATHER: Part of the undertow in the coming election is going to be President Obama's leadership. And the Republicans will make a case and a...

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute. “I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said. Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep news organizations alive. At stake, he argued, is the very survival of American democracy.

Fake but accurate rides again! The same lame defense Dan Rather used in Memogate has been trotted out on ClimateGate by Columbia Univ. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs. Appearing on Morning Joe today, the author of Common Wealth [note play on words: your money is our money] alleged that the real victims in this scandal are . . . the number-fudging scientists. People are attempting to "Swiftboat" those poor CRU guys, sighed Sachs. For good measure, the good professor asserted that "what happened is not a very big deal." View video here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration says it's treating CBS New as a political opponent, and executives at the top-rated news network are responding that the White House can't tell straight reporting from opinion. White House communications director Karen Hughes recently told Time magazine that she thinks CBS offers "opinion journalism masquerading as news," and kept up the criticism on CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday and in The New York Times Monday. CBS News president Sean McManus issued a statement Monday, saying: "It's astounding the White House can't distinguish between news and opinion programming. It seems self-serving on their part." And...

Radio's Don Imus on Friday attacked a litany of present and former CBS personalities including Katie Couric, David Letterman, and Dan Rather. In an interview with Fox News's Neil Cavuto, Imus called CBS "Evening News" anchor Couric "a little rodent," the "Late Show's" Letterman an "angry, mean-spirited jerk," and former "Evening News" anchor Rather "crazy." The outspoken shock jock also said the thought of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin becoming the Republican nominee for president is "horrifying" because "she's a dope." Imus also had some very interesting things to say about his own controversy with CBS surrounding the Rutgers women's...

Soooo, Dan the man stands behind his Bush hit piece in '04. O.K. The story was well researched, it was not biased, it was not timed politically and it just happened to break within a week of a closely contested presidential election. OKAY. And besides, the source and the timing were all dictated from higher ups at CBS. YEA, RIGHT. Dan, Why don't you quietly go home and await the NY appeals court ruling on your 70 million dollar lawsuit against your former employer. You are so past your "Use By Date". P.S. I'd like to start a petition to...

Unbelievable ... his lawsuit is in appeal, and "he's a long way from being done yet." He's discounting any partisanship regarding this. Claimsng Viacom/CBS shut down the whole thing, and powerful political and corporate forces are controlling the news.

Dan Rather's legal wrangling slogs into its third year: His lawyer vows he will appeal a New York court ruling Tuesday that tossed out the former evening news anchor's $70 million breach-of-contract suit against CBS Corp. The complaint "must be dismissed in its entirety," ruled the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, saying there was no breach of contract because CBS had honored the "pay or play" clause in Rather's contract. That is to say the company had continued to pay Rather his annual salary -- $6 mil -- even after he left the "CBS Evening News"...

NEW YORK – A New York court on Tuesday dismissed Dan Rather's $70 million breach of contract lawsuit against CBS Corp., noting that the network continued to pay the anchor $6 million a year even after he left the evening news broadcast.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York state appeals court on Tuesday dismissed former TV newsman Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS Corp in which Rather claimed he was made a scapegoat in a scandal over a 2004 report on then-President George W. Bush's military record. The ruling by a panel of judges of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division said Rather's $70 million complaint should be dismissed in its entirety and that a lower court erred in denying CBS's motion to throw out the lawsuit. CBS said it considered the legal fight "effectively over" and put an end...

Breaking: The New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division has thrown out Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against his former employer, CBS Corp. "We find the complaint must be dismissed in its entirety," reads the decision. The Appellate court found that the motion court "erred in denying the defendants' motion to dismiss the claims for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty."

Dan Rather to Headline Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Event St. Paul, MN -- Most viewers can easily pinpoint the pro-abortion bias in news reports by the so-called mainstream media, but former CBS newsman Dan Rather is confirmation what they already know. Rather will headline a fundraising event for a local affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4465.html

Bad news for Dan Rather: His $70 million lawsuit against CBS is no more. In a 19-page decision made public Tuesday, a state appeals court dismissed the legendary newsman's suit against CBS. Rather, 77, sued the Tiffany network in 2007 after his career at CBS collapsed in the wake of a "60 Minutes II" report about former President George W.Bush's Vietnam-era military service. The folksy newsman accused CBS executives of caving to Republican interests, coercing him into a public apology after the controversial report aired in September 2004. The report claimed "high-level political influence" kept Bush out of combat by...

Former CBS News anchorman Dan Rather claims that the network won't release archived film footage of his career that he requested. From the Daily Beast The titanic legal struggle between Dan Rather and CBS seems to get pettier by the day.

If you want some indication of the disarray that the "progressives" find themselves in, consider that disgraced broadcaster Dan Rather will be keynoting a September 23 event sponsored by The Nation magazine on "What Will Become of the News?" The Nation calls Rather "legendary," ignoring how he was put out to pasture by CBS News after he used fake documents in 2004 to smear then-President Bush. Tickets to hear and see Rather are $200 each. Rather is a legend in his own mind-and apparently the minds of those left-wingers who appreciate his effort to defeat Bush's re-election bid and throw...