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Rather's career put in harsh light
Baltimore Sun ^ | March 5, 2005 | David Zurawik, Sun Television Critic

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 60minutes; cbs; cbsnews; danrather; msm; newsanchor; rathergate; wantfrieswiththat
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To: Diogenesis

Yes, rather being manipulated by the Dems and here all along he thought they really liked him. Heh, heh. These dips never learn do they. Work like heck for the dem/libs and they turn on you in a minute.


61 posted on 03/05/2005 6:09:22 AM PST by cubreporter (I trust and admire Rush. He has done more for this country than he will ever know. God bless him.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"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."

I guess one man's tragedy is another man's justice.

62 posted on 03/05/2005 6:10:28 AM PST by Maceman (Too nuanced for a bumper sticker)
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To: carlr

AMEN, AMEN, AMEN.


63 posted on 03/05/2005 6:10:29 AM PST by cubreporter (I trust and admire Rush. He has done more for this country than he will ever know. God bless him.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The insufferable Jack Nicholson anchor character in Broadcast News (Bill Rorich) was based on Cap'n Dan the Newsman.
64 posted on 03/05/2005 6:12:45 AM PST by Pharmboy ("Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God")
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"He'll carry this with him to his obituary. ... Tragic - that's the only word for it."

Well, poetic justice seems to sum it up for me.

65 posted on 03/05/2005 6:14:39 AM PST by iconoclast (Evening of July 16, 1980. T1 stage of cancer in the Republican body.)
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To: Maceman
More Dan Ra th er memory lane antics here at www.ratherbiased.com
66 posted on 03/05/2005 6:15:01 AM PST by demkicker (John McCain is a power hungry traitor and proved it on 2/19/05 in Iraq)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Tragic - that's the only word for it.

Not every hubristic self-undoing is tragic.

67 posted on 03/05/2005 6:16:56 AM PST by Graymatter
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To: kingattax; expat_panama

<< the other night Dandy Dan was on Letterman and told him that the papers could have been "authenticated if we'd had more time." >>

He's had until now -- and he has until the end of his life!


68 posted on 03/05/2005 6:17:17 AM PST by Brian Allen (I fly and can therefore be envious of no man -- Per Ardua ad Astra!)
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To: Steely Tom
And Al Jolson had one of the most important careers in the history of 78 RPM phonograph records.

Hey! Don't be talking about Al Jolson like that!

http://www.jolson.org/

69 posted on 03/05/2005 6:21:31 AM PST by Graymatter
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To: lainde

Rooney being from the other 60 minutes, the Sunday one, is going to be especially honked off at Rather. The discrediting of the Wed edition could negatively impact the reputation of the Sunday one in his view.

I don't know how you could negatively impact my opinion of either. Its all crap.


70 posted on 03/05/2005 6:26:41 AM PST by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

"Tainted" and "biased", whatever. How could the network continue to take seriosly a guy so full of tired cliches?
Couldn't believe my ears during the 2000 election night coverage:
Rather: "this election is as hot as a New York elevator in August". LOL

HE HE. If he had only known then what was ahead.


71 posted on 03/05/2005 6:29:50 AM PST by REPANDPROUDOFIT
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To: Blueflag

The forgery of the Bush "docs" is a fitting capstone to Dan Rather's career. It was the one where he was caught. Do you suppose this is the first time he tried to get awat with a phony story? Come on.


72 posted on 03/05/2005 6:31:15 AM PST by ontos-on
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Hah! Quite a TV era we've lived through, fellow freepers.

From Walter Cronkite, "The Most Trusted Man in America" to Dan Rather, "The Most Busted Man in America".

Gotta love it.

Leni

73 posted on 03/05/2005 6:38:04 AM PST by MinuteGal
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To: Blueflag

The forgery of the Bush "docs" is a fitting capstone to Dan Rather's career. It was the one where he was caught. Do you suppose this is the first time he tried to get awat with a phony story? Come on.


74 posted on 03/05/2005 6:39:00 AM PST by ontos-on
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To: kingattax

The crowning moment in the article for me was that Walter Cronkite doesn't even watch CBS News anymore. LOL!


75 posted on 03/05/2005 6:40:00 AM PST by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

There's no doubt that Rather was biased, but his biggest sin was ommission of facts and news stories that didn't fit into his tiny left wing world.

He sat on the tube and mugged it up for his socialist buddies, always seeking their back slaps and not caring a whit how he looked to rest of America. His tombstone should read: "Here lies an insipid man who left no exclamation point on this world."


76 posted on 03/05/2005 6:41:16 AM PST by sergeantdave (Smart growth is Marxist insects agitating for a collective hive.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"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."

Gee, kinda like how the MSM has only allowed Richard Nixon to be remembered for Watergate and his resignation.

Just remember, time wounds all heels.

77 posted on 03/05/2005 6:41:30 AM PST by Phsstpok ("When you don't know where you are, but you don't care, you're not lost, you're exploring.")
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To: Goodgirlinred

i know...LOL..wasnt that terrific ?


78 posted on 03/05/2005 6:42:41 AM PST by kingattax ( "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." -Thomas Jefferson)
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To: sergeantdave
his tiny left wing world

Bump

79 posted on 03/05/2005 6:49:05 AM PST by ontos-on
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Bah. A bunch of jackals, none any better than the corpse they are tearing into. Rather is a nasty psychopathic SOB who stabbed many in the back over the course of the disease he calls a career.

Payback is a MFer isn't it Danno.


80 posted on 03/05/2005 6:53:13 AM PST by hinckley buzzard
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