Photo by Billy Smith III
Posted on 03/09/2005 9:35:35 PM PST by Doctor Freeze
Photo by Billy Smith III
Blogger sheds no tears for Rather
By MARLON MANUEL The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 03/10/05
Amid the wafting smells of spicy meatballs and wine, in front of a Sony projection TV in Sandy Springs, Harry MacDougald clutched a Samuel Adams in his left hand Wednesday night as Dan Rather bid adieu after 24 years at the anchor of the "CBS Evening News."
But MacDougald did not cry in his beer.
Along with 50 guests, including many prominent Fulton County Republicans, the Atlanta attorney cheered the final night of Rather's anchor reign in a basement entertainment room usually used to watch Georgia Bulldog football games.
MacDougald is better known to Web aficionados as "Buckhead," the conservative blogger who first noticed that Rather used forged documents in a Sept. 8 "60 Minutes" story that questioned President Bush's Air National Guard service during the Vietnam War.
"For conservatives, he's been a black beast," MacDougald said Wednesday as a coat-and-tie crowd circulated around a GOP hero. "In conservative circles, Dan Rather has been viewed as an enemy."
Which is why on the night of Sept. 8 — at 11:59:43 — MacDougald clicked the submit button on the iMac in his bedroom and posted a message questioning the documents Rather used, ostensibly from the 1970s.
He noted that the proportional spacing and typeface of the documents could not have been produced by a '70s-era typewriter, but must have come from a modern-day word-processing program.
Shortly after his post to Free Republic, a hub of conservative viewpoints, other bloggers and news organizations also impugned the authenticity of the documents. Rather, though, defended his reporting — a stubbornness that helped lead to his exit from the anchor's chair. The network, and Rather, eventually apologized for the blunder.
"It's satisfying to have been part of a movement to defeat a smear based on a forged document," said MacDougald, 46, an Atlanta native and civil litigation attorney who once defended whistle-blowers in the administration of former Mayor Bill Campbell.
He also helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Cary Ichter, whose law firm represents Gov. Sonny Perdue, offered his home as the Rather farewell spot at the urging of mutual friend Phil Kent, former president of the conservative-tilted Southeast Legal Foundation.
Ichter said he typically watches Georgia football games or boxing in his entertainment room. Wednesday, his guests watched a knockout of a different kind — the toppling of a news icon for nearly a quarter-century.
"It was a triumph over the left-leaning media agenda," Ichter said.
Despite the controversy, Rather has had a storied career. The anchor who considered himself a reporter first has been on the scene for big stories ranging from the Kennedy assassination to the Iraqi elections last month.
Ken Auletta, who interviewed Rather for an article in the New Yorker, said his work should stand the test of time, particularly as one of the most aggressive TV reporters covering Watergate.
But none of that mattered to the partygoers, including former Fulton County GOP Chairman Jack Winter and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson — who munched hors d'oeuvres on napkins and paper plates decorated like the American flag.
"Congratulations, fella," Winter told MacDougald as he entered the party.
MacDougald sees himself and other bloggers as part of band of citizen journalists who have upset the order of corporate media giants.
"The information oligarchy that TV had, that's gone," MacDougald said. "They'll never be as powerful as network anchors once were."
As Rather signed off, the crowed filed out — MacDougald with them.
Said MacDougald, "The wicked witch is dead."
— News services contributed to this article.
No long time for this basher....Rather, the blather, was
into his spitefal mood since his trashing of Nixon
through the Watergate fiasco...was resentful of Bush (41)
and showed it throughout his administration..and it
carried over to Bush (43). He was blinded and actually
obsessed with his vitriolic view of these men...I don't
think he ever had a bad thing to say about Kerry and
his Vietnam service., even when the Swift Boat vets came
down hard with facts..where is the fairness? He never
had it and it showed..courage, my A$$$.,,Jake
Yea, notto say your old or anyhthing and I was not implying that but like 5 years ago I was not even watching news. To be honest I still don't watch the news - and it seems fewer people do. I get most of my news online and on the radio as I work through the day. At night I am watching The Simpsons at the time the news is on.
"Buckhead isn't a blogger, but the MSM seems to use that term to refer to FReepers and other posters on bulletin boards. It seems to be a shorthand way of describing anyone who posts on the Internet."
I think it's a combination of igorance of the "blogosphere" and condescension by reporters. They don't think bloggers are "real" journalists, so they can't even bother to get it right. They do that with the military also, constantly calling Marines soldiers and reporting erroneous facts.
Rather gone, Bush won and is being vindicated, economy going good.
Man, what's next, the falcons winning the Super Bowl?
After all, Rather has shared some of the most traumatic moments of the past 44 years with us, from the John F. Kennedy assassination to Vietnam to Watergate to Sept. 11
Dan Rather: Absurd until the bitter end:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/television/11095576.htm
Is he a a FRogger or a blEEPER?
Great photo and article! It was an honor to meet you and I enjoyed our discussion at the Ball. FReep On!
You got that right. The implication that I did it to get Rather is an artifact of the writing and editing of the piece.
On the subject of bête noirs, I used that phrase to the reporter, and he didn't know what it meant! I had to translate it for him - and it doesn't carry quite the same meaning when literally translated as it does when properly used. I think perhaps I should have used "boogey man" or something like that.
I do not have my own blog.
It was a blast meeting all the cool folks I met at the ball, and this party was fun, too. Everyone was so kind.
Now that Danno's hung up his spikes, I think it's fair to say that my 15 minutes are officially up.
The guys from Powerline got some kind of an award last night, and they posted this comment today, which is exactly how I feel about it:
"We get a lot [of credit for Rather's retirement]," said John Hinderaker, a Minneapolis attorney and Power Line co-founder. "Probably more than we deserve. We were by no means the only site that was involved in this. We view ourselves as symbolically standing for them all. In our view, the real story is in the medium, in the power of the Internet."
Best regards to my all my FRiends,
Buckhead, thanks for clearing that up for me.
No problem;I have no hangups on age, but I do know most dirt is older than me... But you don't have to be any certain age to know a bit of history.
I don't watch the mainstream news either as a general practice, only when there is something of particular interest on to document.
Your Simpsons comment makes a lot of things clear...:>)
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.