I was born and have not died yet. That covers all of the high points.
Back to the matter at hand.
I was curious as to how someone with 40 years experience in journalism could have had such a stupid lapse in judgement. I mean, he fell for such an obvious play. I would love to play poker with this idiot. Or, perhaps not. Lets think about this for a little bit.
Dan Rather did not rise to the level of his field by being an idiot. Journalism is a very tough field. You have to be focused, intelligent and tenacious. Dan has the respect of many of the best in the business and you do not get that without proving yourself time and time again. Journalists are, by their very nature, very cynical. So what happened? I think it can be answered very simply and with one word. ETHICS. I think Dan's ethical focus became cloudy.
I know what you are probably thinking. BULL! He is nothing more than a LIBERAL! True. But there is more to it than just that. Remember, he has been considered among the best in a very opinionated field. You don't forget everything learned in a lifetime overnight. At least, not without a severe head injury being involved.
I think it started back in the 60's. Viet Nam was almost as divisive as the current Presidential race. Seriously, there was a lot of turmoil, both here and there. I think Viet Nam was as close as this country has ever come to another civil war. I think the civil unrest, the war and the pressure to find and report stories that reflected the views of the younger generation slowly changed his views on journalism. Young people are more idealistic. Us old farts know that the more things change, the more they stay the same. We have learned patience. Usually by being impatient.
Dan learned that he could shape events to the viewpoint of his target audience. Since his target was young, he would also be shaping events far into the future simply because those same young people would get old, but they would still be listening to him. I don't think it ever occured to him that WE would change.
You know what the biggest difference is between conservatives and liberals? Strip away all of the crap about issues and politics. The biggest difference is that conservatives want people to be responsible for helping themselves and liberals want to be responsible for helping people.
Back to the ethics thing.
I went to the Society of Professional Journalists website and printed a copy of the Code of Ethics. I was curious as to how many of the rules Dan had broken. I am only going to list the rules that I feel he has broken. Feel free to disagree if you want.
Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertant error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
I think he really screwed the pooch on this one.
Dilligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.
Is 3 hours fair? I don't think so, but you be the judge.
Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources reliability.
OOOPS!
Always question sources' motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
I think this one was broken also. But I may be too picky.
Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
Busted.
Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
Gotcha there too.
Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialogue with the public over journalistic conduct.
Gotcha!
Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.
Another one broken.
Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
And another broken rule.
Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.
Should he have told on himself and CBS? I think so.
Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.
I think we are in agreement about this one also.
Are you ready for the punch line?
I believe that Dan honestly feels that he has done nothing wrong.
WHAT!?! AM I NUTS OR SOMETHING? HE TRIED TO AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF A PRESIDNETIAL ELECTION!!! HE STILL REFUSES TO ADMIT THE MEMOS ARE FORGED!!! HE IS STILL STONEWALLING AND PASSING OFF THE BLAME ON MARY MAPES!! HOW COULD I THINK HE FEELS NO RESPONSIBILITY?
Feel better now with that off your chest? Take a deep breath and calm down.
Even though Dan has broken 11 of the rules of conduct, I think he feels that the end justifies the means. He is so afraid that Dubya will be reelected, he is willing to do anything to keep that from happening. In his mind, he has done nothing wrong.
For this reason and this reason alone, he should be retired as soon as possible. He should never sit in a news office again. He should never be allowed to influence public opinion via the national media.
Tell me what you think. Honest opinion is always welcome.
It's not like this revelation is the 1st time Dan has done something like this. It's just that this time he hit the crescendo of his manipulations and he refused to let go. Dan was exposed years ago to most of us here, it just took him awhile to start the coffee grinder and wake everybody else up.
Of course there are still some people that are very groggy after waking up and still refuse to believe the reality of the situation. Which is CBS attempted to manipulate the results of an election with forged documents. These people may be referred to as sleep walkers although they sometimes go by the nicknames, "liberal" or "progressive".