He's getting as much as he deserves.
Posted on 11/30/2004 10:01:51 AM PST by Roberts
Rather deserves respect
By Ray Richmond There was a telling moment in a telephone interview I conducted with Dan Rather a little more than a year ago in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of CBS.
"I'm not a large part of the legacy (of CBS)," Rather offered. "But whatever part of it that I am and have been, I'm very proud of. At the same time, I'm humbled by the fact that I know that I'm undeserving. I know that I'm still working to be worthy of it."
Anyone who knew Rather will tell you this wasn't false modesty. He meant it. And so on the eve of the longtime "CBS Evening News" anchorman's announced departure from the chair he's occupied for nearly 24 years, it's unfortunate that the man who succeeded a legend named Walter Cronkite will leave with a taint firmly etched beside his name.
In the wake of the fiasco that found Rather initially defending the veracity of apparently forged documents used in a September "60 Minutes" report on President Bush's stint in the Texas Air National Guard in the early 1970s, Rather has been on borrowed time. That CBS News allowed Rather to exit the "Evening News" anchor chair on his own terms is appropriate.
It was a given that Rather had long since devolved into something of a jokey caricature, what with his homespun wisdom, his pomp-rich demeanor, his windbag-y tendencies and his overall weirdness.
Of course, the guy has always been a little bit out there. There was his decision to sign off his newscast with the word "Courage" for no apparent reason three times during a single week in 1985 as well as the bizarre 1986 incident in which Rather was roughed up by attackers who reportedly asked, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" -- a line later immortalized in an R.E.M. tune.
It also didn't take much to prompt certain peculiarities to exit Rather's lips, such as during my interview with him last year.
Describing his love of CBS and CBS News, Rather observed in the interview last year: "In my mind and the minds of the people I work with, this is a magical, mystical kingdom -- our version of Camelot. And we feel we are working at a kind of roundtable of King Arthur proportions. Now, it may be that this kingdom exists only in our minds. But that makes it no less real for those of us who live it every day."
And then there was this: "Ed Murrow's ghost is here. I've seen him and talked to him on the third floor of this building many times late at night. And I can tell you that he's watching over us."
If Rather has been spending too much time of late yakking with the ghost of Murrow and too little confirming the veracity of his sources, maybe we need to cut the dude a little slack. He's earned the right to be eccentric by continuing the quest to be a real journalist when he didn't have to.
We forget that long before he became a right-wing punching bag, he was a true pioneer as an anchor who insisted on continuing to go out, get his hands dirty and report. There have been no ivory towers for Rather, who famously placed himself in harm's way in war zones and the path of hurricanes. And it wasn't just for the photo op.
When Rather assumed the anchor desk from Cronkite in March of 1981, Ronald Reagan had just begun his first term as president, and people still looked to the nightly network newscasts as almost public trusts. In the age of 24-hour cable news, they've been reduced to mere afterthoughts.
But as Rather prepares his final hurrah as the face of CBS News in March, we need to remember that this guy is a towering figure in the TV news pantheon and a man who's earned far more respect than he's getting.
Kenneth needs to retire.
He's getting as much as he deserves.
"But as Rather prepares his final hurrah as the face of CBS News in March, we need to remember that this guy is a towering figure in the TV news pantheon and a man who's earned far more respect than he's getting."
Lets ask Richard Nixon how he feels about that.
I don't think Otis Redding had Dan Rather in mind when he wrote "Respect".
Rather deserves nothing but our complete disdain and disgust. Same goes for all elitist liberals wherever they may be found.
blather needs a kick in the butt and don't let the door hit you on the way out, see yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
...I know that I'm undeserving.
...That should do it. Straight from the mouth of Dan Rather, master of the selective quote.
(Turnabout is fair play, Mr. Rather.)
How about Bush? He doesn't deserve any? Rather reported blatently untrue statements aimed at demeaning the President and destroying his reputation. It's almost like a doctor getting drunk before an operation -- although in that case the doctor is just being irresponsible not malicious.
I love that quote. If Ed Murrow's ghost was on the third floor of the CBS building, it would had punched Rather's lights out far better than the 'Kenneth' clowns.
Certainly a nominee for the "gets less respect than he deserves" award.
In the wake of the fiasco that found Rather initially defending the veracity of apparently forged documents used in a September "60 Minutes" report on President Bush's stint in the Texas Air National Guard in the early 1970s, Rather has been on borrowed time. That CBS News allowed Rather to exit the "Evening News" anchor chair on his own terms is appropriate.
Actually it is indicative of why we should continue to boycott Viacom (SeeBS, Paramount, Infinity Radio, MTV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, et al...). They made an error in judgement in permitting that partisan hack to try to smear President Bush (and FReepers) during the waning days of the election. The woman who interrupted CSI to report on Arafat's death (truthful reporting, if ill timed) was shown the door.
Tome Brokaw made some comment about Not judging Rather based on one event in his career. It just displays the blatant double standard of these people.
For once, Rather was right.
As I said a few days ago, there are 2 things I hate about Brokaw...........his face.
The mainstream media (broadcast and print) has done a lot to betray that trust, especially in the past few years what with CBS, NBC, The New York Times, USA Today, The LA Times, The Boston Globe, and the Daily Mirror ALL running their own hoaxed news items. What other papers/networks have we not caught in the act?
Boo frickin' hoo.
I give people like Dan Rather, Kitty Kelly and Michael Moore the same respect hey give my country, my party and my president.
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