Proving once again to be the consummate sore loser, Dan Rather has filed a lawsuit against CBS and Viacom for $70 million dollars. The nerve!
Read all about Rather’s lawsuit.
Dan Rather blew what remained of his weak credibility and lackluster career on the Texas Air National Guard story which claimed that George Bush received special favors to avoid combat service in Vietnam.
Whether true or not, Rather’s “evidence” did not prove it. In fact, he used fake evidence that any 3rd grader could uncover as phony, something Rather later referred infamously as “fake but accurate.”
Rather blew it by standing by the story as it unraveled around him in the week following the 60 Minutes broadcast. He could have stepped away from it but instead made the critical judgement error to thrust himself into the middle and defended Marla Mapes’ indefensible story.
That judgement error, and the fake story itself, are two of the best examples we have of liberal bias in the media, and particularly the ideologically-motivated bias of Dan Rather.
Why CBS didn’t file a lawsuit against Dan Rather for poor ratings shall remain a mystery.
September 20th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Rather is a bitter old man with a tarnished legacy. In the end, all he will be remembered for is running a story with obviously faked documenys.
Jennings and Brokaw will be regarded as significant figures. Rather will be nothing more than a footnote.
September 20th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
That is interesting how you contrast the 3 anchors. That is an era in television history gone, isn’t it? Not the Golden era — that was earlier, but can we call Brokaw, Rather and Jennings the liberal bias era?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Cronkite was a liberal. I suspect the rest of the talking heads were as well. All I can say is that although both Jennings and Brokaw were clearly liberal, they at least seemed to try and be fair once in a while.
For what it is worth, I always thought that Jennings was a very smart guy. Conservatives like Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol and Bill O’Reilly share that opinion. Brokaw wrote The Greatest Generation which is the ultimate anthem to the World War II generation. That will live on in memory for generations. Rather, the sad old pathetic fool will be remembered for fake documents. A sad way to end a mediocre career.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
I have one more thing to add. Both Jennings and Brokaw would have terrific specials on complex topics. I did not always agree with their point of view on a particular topic but I always learned something. Their specials made me think.
As an anchor what did Rather do besides sink CBS News into permanent last place status?