I agree. CBS will throw Mapes under the bus in order to save Rather's pathetic ass.
I'm not to sure about that. Those 8.1 Million viewers on CBS's 60 Minutes Wednesday Edition saw Dan Rather, the "host", and not Mapes, the "producer", on their TV. Another 6 to 7 million saw Dan, the "anchor", on the CBS Evening News still go after Bush43 night after night and explain those docs were real. Then a few more million viewers see another CBS's 60 Minutes Wednesday Edition with Dan Rather, the "host", and not Mapes, the "producer", interview an old lady any no one else over the fake document.
After seeing all of this, I think the millions of viewers made up their collective minds last week what they thought by tuning out in the millions. They identify Rather with bogus information and not the producer. A few, like me, might also conclude that this is a man who was trying to unsit a President during a time of war for political/personal gain (and sadly I suspect only a few would figure that out). Thus, Rather is now not "quality" TV for many millions of viewers since he cannot be trusted. And, as an anchor, that is very fatal - kinda like the Martha Stewart issue where she was what the company relied on.
As such I suspect Rather is burnt toast.