[Cincinatus' Wife]

Those Web sites and conservative critics who fed the memo story controversy will also claim their measure of credit for clipping his career.

Indeed they will!

[clee1]

And very rightfully so.

[Lurker]

As they should. Friend Buckhead should be taking a very deep bow.

Lord knows he's earned it.

I applaud in his general direction.

TFTP ma'am.

Regards,

L

[JohnG45]

And thankfully so!

[weegee]

He reported the death of John F. Kennedy

Yes he made an "early call". He has shown much more reluctance to ever announce a George W. Bush Presidential victory.

[MikefromOhio]

he is more likely to be remembered for a series of controversial memos whose validity he was never able to prove.

---

pssbbttttt ..... It should read more like "...whose validity he NEVER tried to prove, much less care about."

[weegee]

Those put off by Rather's quirky behavior (an election night press release from CBS quoted Rather calling the presidential race "hotter than the Devil's anvil") or convinced he has a liberal bias may cheer the anchor's impending retirement.

Is there ANY doubt in America about Dan Rather's liberal bias?

[weegee]

But as Dan Rather prepares to leave the top anchor chair at CBS News in March, he is more likely to be remembered for a series of controversial memos whose validity he was never able to prove.

But as Dan Rather prepares to leave the top anchor chair at CBS News in March, he is more likely to be remembered for an attempt at "gotcha journalism" coordinated with the DNC to tank President Bush's re-election effort. The memos were quickly exposed as frauds but Dan insisted that we still consider the questions raised by the content of the memos EVEN IF they were proven to be fakes. He also attacked his critics for a week rather than dropping the issue and moving the memos to the "back burner" while their authenticity was examined more closely.

[wayoverontheright]

I too feel a since of vindication at Rather's embarrassment and ouster, but this is not capitulation, and we must know going forward that we might have been better off with an exposed, tainted mouthpiece in that position than a replacement.

We are truly dealing with a regenerative monster here, with the mainstream media, the battle is not won and they will continue to fight, as the left REQUIRES constant affirmation for the lies they must live, and outfits like CBS will continue to provide it IMHO.

[.45MAN]

And well deserved!! And Dan will leave the cloud behind to keep the C-BS! eye from seeing the un-biased truth..

[albee]

"By leaving this way, Rather ends the longest run of any network news anchor under a cloud, mostly of his own making, that threatens to tarnish the entire industry.

Mostly??? Mostly??? MOSTLY???

How about "TOTALLY"???!

[monocle]

I think that virtually all the analyses of the Rather fiasco are at best poorly performed charades. Journalists or journalist professors have their careers at stake and will not utter a single word that would derogate one of the card carying members lest it would reflect on their entire profession and endanger their livelihoods and the pedestals upon which they have placed themselves.

[Caipirabob]

Has anyone been following what Rush said about Rather retiring? It sounded like he wasn't associating it to the effort of FReepers and other kindred spirits on the net.

The next time I listened to Rush, he was quoting an article I read posted on FR three times the day before his show. Was Rush wizzing on our parade and telling us it's raining? Just curious...

[Jaxter]

".. memos now widely believed to be fake."

That's like saying that the sky is widely believed to be blue.

[stevem]

Rather and CBS executives say the decision to focus on work as a 60 Minutes correspondent was prompted by soul-searching over the summer, not the 60 Minutes story.

I'm not sure what this means. First, I don't think you can seriously search souls that you don't believe exist. Second, if the fawning Rather did over Bill and Hillary and Saddam Hussein never embarrassed CBS puppeteers nothing that 60 Minutes could do would so embarrass them.

If CBS has been searching the hollows where souls should be, I find it interesting they and other networks continue to run news organizations as hobbies. I admit that "News" is sort of an intangible product. Still, a product that many have sacrificed their lives gathering ought to be treated with more respect than network executives give it. If any other business lost market share the way the network news organizations have, the house cleaning that would take place would be awesome to see. Yet for decades, the networks have sauntered along oblivious and uncaring.

[alloysteel]

Dan Rather's departure - almost abrupt, and with relatively little ceremony.

As a sop, Danno was "kicked upstairs" to 60 Minutes II, the same venue in which he was poised to reveal the great calumny concerning George W. Bush's failure to discharge his responsibilities in the Air National Guard.

Walter Cronkite must feel a little torn.