Posted on 03/18/2005 5:05:09 AM PST by libstripper
Dan Rather deserves more than a kick in the pants on his way out the door to a fly-fishing stream in West Texas. With Tom Brokaw's retirement just ahead of Rather's, this is the official end of an era, not just in television but in the cultural life of the nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
When Henninger refers to the movie "Gladiator" he gets two things wrong. He says Maximus murdered the emperor Marcus Aurelius to force the succession. In both real life and the movie Aurelius was succeeded by his natural son, Commodus. In the movie Commodus murdered Aurelius and Maximus was the loyal general who fell out with Commodus, causing Commodus to imprison Maximus and force him to become a gladiator.
Henninger, while reluctantly admitting the liberal bias of the anchors, seems to have too much nostalga for them. Actually, their passing is bringing on a the dawn of a new age of truth, something Henninger is loathe to admit.
I am from West Texas. Not only are there few, if any, fly-fishing streams in West Texas, Rather would not be welcome there as it is one of the most politically conservative areas in the United States. He is from Houston.
Beat me to it.
I grew up in the Odessa/Midland area and travelled "West" Texas widely in my youth. Granted, it's been a while since I was there but the Pecos is the only West Texas river that comes to mind (other than the Rio Grande) and the Pecos can hardly be called a river. He certainly would be hard pressed to find anything in it that would be expected to go for a fly.
He is welcome to try to fish the Rio Grande but the constant drumbeat of feet crossing from south to north has practically stomped that mud hole dry and spooks the fish too much to make for good fishing.
Your other point, that he would not find a warm welcome there is nominated for understatement of the day.
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