Dan Rather and the Ego Hall of Fame

by on January 10, 2008 · 10 comments

I’ve missed Dan. Four years ago, as Techliberation was just getting started, Dan Rather provided us (and most of the rest of the blogosphere) with a rich source of content and amusement as he tried to pawn off forged documents regarding George Bush’s National Guard service on viewers. PhotobucketIn the end, Rather ended up with omelette on his face, and soon thereafter was ushered out of his anchor seat at CBS News.

Well, he’s now back in the news, thanks to his $70 million lawsuit against CBS for dropping him. Denying that he did anything wrong, the unashamed Rather says that CBS took him off the air in an attempt to pacify the White House. Right.

CBS is arguing — among other things — that it was under no legal obligation to keep Rather on the air. CBS lawyer Jim Quinn yesterday compared the situation to the New York Jets benching their star quarterback: saying that while he might not like it, but there’s nothing he can do about it.

According to the New York Post, Rather responded by pointing out that there’s a difference between him and the Jet’s QB. “I’m in the Television Hall of Fame,” he said.

And so humble too.

Stay tuned for more — the trial judge yesterday ruled against motions to throw the case out, meaning there’s much more fun to come.

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About James Gattuso

James Gattuso is a Senior Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy in the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Gattuso also leads the Enterprise and Free Markets Initiative at Heritage, with responsiblity for a range of regulatory and market issues. Prior to joining Heritage, he served as Vice President for Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and also as Vice President for Policy Development with Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE). From 1990 to 1993, he was Deputy Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy at the Federal Communications Commission. From May 1991 to June 1992, he was detailed from the FCC to the office of Vice President Dan Quayle, where he served as Associate Director of the President's Council on Competitiveness. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Dana, 8 year-old son, Peter (whom he relies upon to operate his VCR), and his four year-old daughter Lindsey (who does the DVD player.) He has no known hobbies, but is not nearly as boring as he seems.

Read more articles by James Gattuso.

  • http://cabalamat.wordpress.com/ Cabalamat

    I think CBS should just pay up the seventy dollars; it’d be cheaper than defending the suit.

  • http://cabalamat.wordpress.com/ Cabalamat

    I think CBS should just pay up the seventy dollars; it’d be cheaper than defending the suit.

  • James Gattuso

    Good point. Thanks for participating in my wikiproofreading system…

  • James Gattuso

    Good point. Thanks for participating in my wikiproofreading system…

  • http://enigmafoundry.wordpress.com/ enigma_foundry

    Yes, to have a commentator who actually criticized W, boy that’s off balance.

    BTW, CBS’s own experts vouchsafed the authenticity of those documents, so Dan was reporting what the expert said–as he should have. By doing so, the conflict between two opposing point eventually resulted in the truth coming out.

    Of course, only the “truth” that compliment W is allowed to come out. Anything that would describe him as a war criminal and a terrorist, which are the most fair-minded and reasonable descriptions I can think of for W, is not given much play.

    See Noam Chomsky’s excellent book Interventions for dozens of Op-Eds criticizing W, not one of which was ever carried by a mainstream American newspaper. Freedom of the Press, Yeah Team!

  • http://enigmafoundry.wordpress.com eee_eff

    Yes, to have a commentator who actually criticized W, boy that’s off balance.

    BTW, CBS’s own experts vouchsafed the authenticity of those documents, so Dan was reporting what the expert said–as he should have. By doing so, the conflict between two opposing point eventually resulted in the truth coming out.

    Of course, only the “truth” that compliment W is allowed to come out. Anything that would describe him as a war criminal and a terrorist, which are the most fair-minded and reasonable descriptions I can think of for W, is not given much play.

    See Noam Chomsky’s excellent book Interventions for dozens of Op-Eds criticizing W, not one of which was ever carried by a mainstream American newspaper. Freedom of the Press, Yeah Team!

  • http://linuxworld.com/community/ Don Marti

    Showing the documents in the first piece was a mistake, but an understandable one. The problem was the failure (by Rather and producer Mary Mapes) to get a qualified person to address the bloggers’ point that “hey, this looks like Microsoft Word” in subsequent pieces.

  • http://linuxworld.com/community/ Don Marti

    Showing the documents in the first piece was a mistake, but an understandable one. The problem was the failure (by Rather and producer Mary Mapes) to get a qualified person to address the bloggers’ point that “hey, this looks like Microsoft Word” in subsequent pieces.

  • Fong the Invincible

    Thank Gawd for clear-headed posters like Enema-Foundry. That GWB is the REAL terrorist and criminel! But O’Billary will bring justice to the entire crony Administration. Iron Coffins with spikes on the inside would be too good.

  • Fong the Invincible

    Thank Gawd for clear-headed posters like Enema-Foundry. That GWB is the REAL terrorist and criminel! But O’Billary will bring justice to the entire crony Administration. Iron Coffins with spikes on the inside would be too good.

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