The Demise of Dan Rather

Dan Rather has left CBS. Good riddance.

It's time we got a few things straight about Dan Rather. He was not beloved at CBS. There were those who believed that Rather should never have succeeded Walter Cronkite at CBS, but the job should have gone to Bob Schieffer. I am in agreement with those people. Schieffer is a classy guy, and his improved ratings in Rather's absence indicate what could have been.

Rather likes to think he is a newsman in the Edward R. Murrow mold. Well, Mr. Rather, you are no Ed Murrow, and you certainly aren't a Walter Cronkite. Dan Rather injected himself into the news. He clearly had an axe to grind against people he disagreed with politically, and this was his undoing. It wasn't Rather's mistake on that news story about Bush's military service that torpedoed his career. It was the cover-up. The man stood by a story that he knew was flawed, but his hubris and hatred of Bush fucked him up. He couldn't admit the error until he had made an ass of himself.

Don't get me wrong. I have no love for Bush. But I believe that journalists should adhere to a certain code of professionalism which Rather lacked. People have decried the "voice of God" nature of the evening newscasts, but as ratings indicate as well as the recent lineup changes at ABC News, people want the voice of God. Ultimately, they want an anchor that they both respect and trust.

I don't know how Katie Couric will do in her new job, but she won't do any worse than Dan Rather. That's for sure.

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