Posted on 03/05/2005 2:37:42 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
........."This was a man who moved with a surefootedness and determination that if it wasn't ruthlessness, it was just short of it."
Terrence Smith.... said that for two decades the take on Rather was "great reporter, awkward anchor."
"And, yet, nobody said it in public.... "Now you hear some of the most senior and respected voices at CBS - Andy Rooney, Mike Wallace and Walter Cronkite - saying these things. ... So, the question is: Why the bruising comments as he goes out the door?"
Smith suggests that while the flawed story on Bush is a key part of the explanation, the "real answer" goes beyond that: "In the end, I think it goes to a very deep-seated anxiety in people who spent their entire career at CBS News about where the institution is headed. I think they really fault management for all the trouble and uncertainty, but the comments are being laid at Dan's door."
Susan Zirinsky, a staunch Rather supporter and executive producer of Wednesday night's retrospective, also attributed some of the negative assessments of Rather to the volatility of a news division in transition. "This is a hard time at CBS. People feel very sad that Dan is leaving. His leaving has pushed CBS to take a look at where the evolution of news is, and I think some people may not be prepared for that."
....many television journalists say that it is sad to see Rather's tenure ending in this manner. "I think it's tragic that a guy who worked as hard as he did would have his career capped like this, because the Bush report is going to be what he's remembered for," Fenton said. "He'll carry this with him to his obituary. ... Tragic - that's the only word for it."
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Now see what you've done!
Rather deserves each and every word of condemnation he gets and continues to make a fool of himself in public. The latest being his absurd performance on Letterman.
Thanks for reminding us of Rather's suckup performance with Saddam. He deserves far worse than he's getting.
The idiotic excuses made in this article, by the dying and deceased, for a dead man, leave me gasping for air.
1. Rather's MSM media colleagues are furious with him because they see the MSM in a terrible crisis, losing market and prestige, and blame Rather for accelerating the decline. The problem goes way beyond Rather, but he is a convenient target for their anxiety and rage.
2. The most despicable remarks were those of John Roberts, unctuously praising Rather. Rememember, Roberts is hoping that the bosses at CBS will choose him as Rather's replacement. So, in his best Uriah Heep imitation, Roberts sucks up to the CBS powers-that-be, praising their discredited anchor as others condemn him.
And he won't be the one writing the history on this episode. Suffice to say that history will not be kind to rather.
Nice post Dio.
Yes, that is a great question.
How does one "taint" a forgery, anyway?
He outed them and that is his intolerable sin.
True I think for those that really pay attention to such things. Now when I hear someone like my sister-in-law, who rarely watches the news, describe the alphabet channels as "crooks" I know they are done.
THht show will be a black hole in the ratings..
Scathing? This was a puff piece! The guy single-handedly drove the final stake into the heart of the MSM and brought down all of CBS news and the worst thing they can say about him is that he was a little arrogant and biased??
For decades this jerk terrorized conservatives, Republicans and drove public opinion. The only reason he LOST his throne is because people got smart and other news outlets gave them options (Fox, the Internet, etc, etc.)
THIS GUY TRIED TO BRING DOWN A PRESIDENT WITH A FORGED, BOGUS STORY, AND HE FACES NOTHING BUT A TEARY EYED WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE, He still wont even admit those docs were forged!! All that was said was that he got a bum rap, history will redeem him and the worst that could be said was that his newscast was boring (Cronkite.)
What a disgrace. These people should have been jailed for trying to rig a national election, for slandering our commander in chief, for outright malicous fraud.
This article wasn't scathing, it was a teary obit. You can be sure Columbia Journalism School and academicians are busy rewriting history as we speak, excising the whole ugly business as just a footnote, and explaining how the document was a "plant" by Andrew Card.
Rather's cohorts know they are tarred by the same brush of bias and would prefer not to be closely aligned with the man.
Spare me the pathetic whining.They did`nt have one ounce of concern when it came to President Bush.They were trying to destroy a man personally,they were trying,to in a sense,overthrow the US government through false accusations and yet they plead for sympathy when they got caught.
Rather was like a man blinded by love who walks into a crowded restaurant and proposes to a woman that views him as something she would scrape off the bottom of her shoe.In Rathers case it was hatred,not love, for the President and the Bush family as well as all Republicans in general.
Either way the result is the same,a fool.He deserves whatever scorn and ridicule he receives.
Thank you. I couldnt agree more. "Scathing"? What Rather, Mapes and Burkett did was scathing. This article was revisionist crud. ("People are just afraid for their jobs". Pul-eeze.)
Post 39 was to N. Beaujon
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