I've spent a fair portion of the afternoon on the phone with reporters. One of the frequently asked questions is something along the lines of:
Is their a sense of accomplishment?
[Depending on the interviewer the bold word changes to happiness, relief, joy, celebrations, etc..]
I've formulated my answer thought the day. It's something to this effect:
Not really. Todays announcement that Dan Rather is retiring in March is anti-climactic.
The CBS 60 Minutes II Bush ANG memo episode was, perhaps, the pinnacle of the mainstream press attempting to tip the election to John Kerry. There were countless other lesser remembered incidents, but the Rathergate affair was the climactic moment.
The real moment of satisfaction was November 3rd, when is was clear the President Bush had won re-election. That was the day that I knew that Rather and his CBS co-horts had been defeated. They set out to destroy the President in the waning days of the campaign, and in the end (ironically enough) they had mostly destroyed themselves.
There's still work to be done in holding CBS accountable, but by exposing their intense partisan hate of Bush, decades of goodwill toward CBS News was erased. History will write this as Rather's folly.
Todays "retirement" is just the opening act in CBS's Perfect Storm. The confluence of desperately sagging ratings, an aging anchor exposed, and a network void of leadership meant that Rather walked the velvet-lined plank today, so that others might survive.
Elsewhere
The portion of the blogosphere that worked day and night on the Rathergate story is decidedly unimpressed:
- At Little Green Footballs, Charles Johnson has more details on the Thornburgh/Boccardi investigation, and from the wording it appears like a whitewash is coming.
- Jim Geraghty at The Kerry Spot says CBS is a day late and a dollar short, and "We just had our intelligence insulted."
- Rathergate says, "This is NOT a victory"
- RatherBiased notes that there was no mention of when the "independent" panel investigating the lead up to Memogate would be releasing its report.
- INDC Journal notes that it smells like something, just not victory.
- Ace of Spades HQ has not called for more cowbell, so this can't be big news...
- Protein Wisdom celebrates in verse
Update: Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice has an excellent roundup of reaction from bloggers and media observers.
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Comments (8)
This is still no news. And ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by mshyde | November 23, 2004 4:14 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
This is still no news. And it's still not good.
It's really tiresome hearing about the arrogance of entities as cbs.
Then I remember the arrogance of PanAm, and where are they today?
1. Posted by mshyde | November 23, 2004 4:14 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2004 16:14
2. Posted by Debra | November 23, 2004 4:50 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Outsting Rather on the sly.... no mention of replacement...giving him until March and then he will quietly disappear...hhmmm....I've smelled cow dung that was sweeter than this. (ewww) It absolutely wreaks with the stench of a coverup to save CBS.
I want accountability as well. This can't be allowed to be swept under the rug. Memogate was an attempt to destroy GWB and for that Rather needs to be accountable to the American people (those of us who actually care that is)
Inquiring minds want to know..Details about the memos please....ALL the details...how why when who..
Friggin coward..Blather needs to held accountable and so does CBS
2. Posted by Debra | November 23, 2004 4:50 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2004 16:50
3. Posted by dick | November 23, 2004 5:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The pinko bastard doesn't deserve such a sweet escape. I wrote CBS that I would no longer allow their programming in my house until Rather and his producer are fired or they admit unequivocally on the prime time news that they had an agenda to smear Bush and that the dubious National Guard "documents" were rushed to air because they fit the agenda.
3. Posted by dick | November 23, 2004 5:37 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2004 17:37
4. Posted by ZuDfunck's Sampler | November 23, 2004 7:35 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I grew up admiring Mr. Rather for how he stood up to Nixon. I will never forget those confrontations as the nation waited anxiously every news report he made. Lets not loose sight of his contribution in that era...Z
4. Posted by ZuDfunck's Sampler | November 23, 2004 7:35 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2004 19:35
5. Posted by Just Don | November 23, 2004 8:11 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Ironic, isn't it?
For Dan so loved Bill Clinton that they both leave the same legacy?
5. Posted by Just Don | November 23, 2004 8:11 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2004 20:11
6. Posted by profligatewaste | November 23, 2004 11:56 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
So, did CBS shove Rather because of unethical conduct, or was it because he failed to prevent the re-election of President Bush.
6. Posted by profligatewaste | November 23, 2004 11:56 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2004 23:56
7. Posted by Aakash | November 24, 2004 1:45 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I commented about this topic a couple of hours ago at " No Left Turns"... As I said there, I would normally be glad at something like this happening, but the nostalgia in me fosters a resistance to things changing.
Perhaps that's one reason why I'm so conservative...
7. Posted by Aakash | November 24, 2004 1:45 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 24, 2004 01:45
8. Posted by -S- | November 24, 2004 2:23 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Rather left a long time ago. Sad thing is, CBS never noticed.
Unless CBS makes self reflective revisions and pretty much rebirths itself, I don't anticipate Rather's "retirement" resulting in much of anything except Rather gets more time in shorts.
8. Posted by -S- | November 24, 2004 2:23 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 24, 2004 02:23