Posted on 12/01/2004 10:05:53 PM PST by STARWISE
Excerpt .. balance at link
The Education of Dan Rather
From the golden age of network TV to the end of its hegemony.
Thursday, December 2, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST
Life is complicated, people are complicated, and most of us are a jumble of virtues, flaws and contradictions. I like to try to understand the past, try to put it together in a way that makes sense to me. This can involve judging not only your own actions and decisions but those of others, which can be hard. I have a friend who once said in the middle of a conversation, "Don't understand me too quickly." Don't categorize me; don't decide you broke the code. Sit back and watch; it's more interesting than you may know.
Which gets me to Dan Rather, who was once my boss, and who of course has announced his retirement from the anchor chair at CBS News. Everyone I know is asking me what I think of it. I think a lot of things.
I'm going to use the past tense in speaking of him because I'm speaking of his career, and speaking of when I knew him in the past.
My first thought: It is a hard world. We all know this in the abstract, but it can take you aback in the particular. In public life the entire body of your work--an entire career of almost 50 years--can now essentially be summed up and dismissed by the last headline on your career, which in this case is "Rather Retires Under Cloud After Forged Documents Story." If Dan had retired of his own volition a year ago, that would not be the headline. "Long Career Reflected Stunning Rise of U.S. Media" would be more like it.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Bueller?
Bueller?
Bueller? ;^)
Was it you? If so, thank you for a really good laugh.
"The Sheeples expect nothing less. They will get nothing more."
With all due respect, in light of the last election and the fact that the MSM is going the way of the dodo, I think we might reexamine whether the term "sheeple" is valid.
I "rather" suspect it is not.
:-)
Worth reading for what she says ... about Richard Nixon.
Except this show she wrote for him was a daily 5-minute radio commentary...not his evening news broadcast.
Was the *programmed* response of a quisling.
"...allowed him to think he was rising in the right way and with the right crew and the right thinking."
Yea well the damage he inflicted upon the nation, culture, and so many other facets of American life were all the result of what he'd thought.
If this clown's remembered by me, a'tall, it'll be for that damage.
Noonan's being very charitable, having a forgiving tone almost, of the traitorous shill.
A "keeper"?
No thanks.
...& that's all I'll say.
Rather reported from a open-air desk set with his back to a collapsed California two-stack freeway, waiting for them to pull the crushed and mangled bodies out.
He was obviously very distressed. Why? Because, thank G-d, there were only a couple or so. Not the dozens and hundreds he had pumped and stroked his followers for.
Day after day, hour after hour, he sat there selling soap and cars packaged in a promise of human blood and guts to come.
An article you might enjoy.
Arrogance takes people down, indeed. It is written: Pride goes before a fall. I'm expecting more of the media leads to fall by the wayside. May people of true honorable character surface and be a positive influence in the liberal minds who love to adopt the thinking espoused by the news.
('At's a lot 'o sheeples, bud.)
Bottom line, Dan was an elitist liberal and his shaping of stories and teleprompter reading reflected that. America moved away from him.
Different than my usual pings, but this is a wonderfully crafted piece. A great read.
Regards,
TS
Whoops, you're right. "What you said!"
I wouldn't agree that she "captures" it.
I think it's an almost even-handed essay. The credit she gives him is, I think, fair. But she goes too easy on the fault he deserves, and the blame and reproach he has richly earned.
Dan (not Rather)
Agreed. I was even a little put out with some of her, uh, charity. But after all this is Ms. Noonan. She's allowed some emotionalism, eh?
A "keeper"?
No thanks.
...& that's all I'll say.
I'm NOT gonna take THAT to the bank ;^)
FGS
HA!!
*Familiarity*
...how contemptuous. ;^)
I am not as kind to Dan Rather as Peggy is. I was at the press conference Nixon held at the NAB convention in Houston Texas. It was during Watergate. Rather instead of asking Nixon a question went into a long accusatory speech. Rather ended his long diatribe with a "When did you stop beating your wife?" type question.
Nixon asked Rather if he was running for office. It was a mild rebuke because Rather was acting like a candidate running against Nixon not a journalist trying to learn what was going on.
Rather replied, "NO. Are you?" Rather's weak reply told me two things. Rather is not quick on his feet and he is not very smart. If he doesn't have a Peggy Noonan to put words in his mouth, he is up the creek with out a paddle.
Rather can best be described as a dishonest reporter on one of the big three networks. His goal back then was to GET Nixon. Later his goal was to get Reagan. His goal was to get G.H.W. Bush. His goal was and is to get G. W. Bush. He has never tried to make the nation better. He has never been about getting the story for the people. He has always been about the destruction of Republican Presidents of the USA and advancement of the socialist agenda.
In my opinion Rather and ilk are enemies of freedom and of our nation. They are all about power, control, and the leftist agenda.
They are being destroyed by their own bias. But more can and should be done to expose the over the air networks for what they are.
What needs to be done is for government to investigate the ratings scandal. For over a decade the three networks have leaned heavily on Neilson to pad the rating results in their favor. The three over the air networks and their stations pay the lions share of the rating fees. They do their best to see that ratings are massaged to favor the networks.
Go to one hundred homes and note what they are watching. Now look at the ratings. You will find that far fewer people are watching the three over the air networks than the ratings show.
We need a congressional investigation to document the fraudulent ratings that cause advertisers to over pay for spots on the network shows.
Note that the Swift Boat Vets bought Cable networks and had a huge effect. Kerry's 527s bought the over the air networks and their stations for far more money and had far less impact.
That is one media scandal that congress should expose and it would solve the network news bias problem. Rather and all the rest would be out of business.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
