Bill:
It isn't certain if Dan Rather knowingly introduced forged documents on national TV. What we do know is that his so-called investigation into these memos was shoddy and inept. This wasn't the work of a seasoned journalist, it was the work of an old man who has wielded too much power in the news industry, for too many years. It was the manipulation of facts in pursuit of a poltical end. I thought journalists were supposed to be detectives, to follow each lead and search out the truth, no matter where it took them, or what the outcome. Some people have said this fiasco is something you'd expect from a newly graduated journalism student. I disagree. A new journalist would have been trying to prove themselves, would have pursued every angle and presented the most thorough investigation they could. Instead, what I saw was an angry, biased man who allowed his political beliefs to run amok. If Rather isn't guilty, then why is he so rabidly defending the horrid research job he knows he did? Dan Rather's biggest mistake was putting his political affiliations ahead of his reporting. What's worse, he never even tried to hide it.