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Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Funniest line I've read tonight: Rather would like to expose Rathergate
The lede in WaPo's front-page article in tomorrow's edition by Howard Kurtz, who clearly has a well-developed sense of the ironic (boldface mine):
CBS anchor Dan Rather acknowledged for the first time yesterday that there are serious questions about the authenticity of the documents he used to question President Bush's National Guard record last week on "60 Minutes."
"If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story," Rather said in an interview last night. "Any time I'm wrong, I want to be right out front and say, 'Folks, this is what went wrong and how it went wrong.'"
Somebody buy Gunga Dan a computer and an internet connection, huh? We'll set him up with a blog and buy him some pajamas.
Kurtz also knows how to finish with a fine ironic quote:
As Rather signed off to rush back into the studio last night, he sounded a defiant note.
"I try to look people in the eye and tell them the truth," Rather said. "I don't back up. I don't back down. I don't cave when the pressure gets too great from these partisan political ideological forces."
There you have it: In Gunga Dan's world, anyone who objects to promulgation of forged evidence is a member of "partisan political ideological forces." He won't back up, he won't back down, he's going to defend his participation in this national fraud to the bitter, bitter end.
Posted by Beldar at 10:45 PM in Humor, Mainstream Media, Politics (2006 & earlier) | Permalink
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Comments
(1) The Drill SGT made the following comment | Sep 15, 2004 10:58:42 PM | Permalink
Those Gunga Dan quotes demonstrate both that:
1. the intern responsible for doing Dan's www surfing hasn't been doing her job.
2. Dan is losing it and nobody gave him Howie Kurtze last 4 articles to prep for the interview.
(2) The Drill SGT made the following comment | Sep 15, 2004 11:07:54 PM | Permalink
Speaking in a round about way bout Kipling, Dan's situtation reminds me of some lines of kipling text that I read once. His situation seems about the same,, I just wish I could find them, The entry went something like:
When you're lying wounded on the afhgan plain,... roll over on your rifle, stick it in your mouth and end it quick.
apparently the local tribesmen turned English wounded over to their women who had sharp knives. Better to shoot yourself.
Dan, Go quickly and quitely into the night
(3) Moik made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 12:15:42 AM | Permalink
Obfuscation, it's the name of the game.
(4) Hunter made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 12:48:21 AM | Permalink
- So now he wants to investigate himself?...
- at the risk of being a little indelicate I seem to remember something back in my youthful college days about going around in circles until you got your head stuck up your ass....
(5) Dan made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 4:57:23 AM | Permalink
Hunter,
Not sure why this didn't post last night. But wanted to tell you that you inspired me to add something to my own blog.
http://itsjustdan.blogspot.com/2004/09/rather-finds-new-memos.html
(6) Dan made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 5:07:48 AM | Permalink
Sorry about that last post to a mysterious "hunter." I actually DID make the post last night ... to a Wizbang thread. Guess I'm just too "rathered" up about all this.
(7) d made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 6:51:20 AM | Permalink
Looking at the bigger picture, Dan Rather is dominating the news with his stonewalling. Is Kerry still running for some office? The longer Rather stonewalls and hogs the news, the worse it is for Kerry. His stonewalling is more damaging for Kerry than it would be if he revealed his sources.
I wonder if Rather will stonewall right through November 2?
(8) J_Crater made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 9:39:59 AM | Permalink
I guess Dan, in the footsteps of OJ, will be searching for the real culprit.
(9) MaDr made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 9:52:43 AM | Permalink
Beldar
"Gunga Dan" - until reading the Kurtz article, I'd always thought this moniker referred to his water carrying for the liberals. In which sense do you use it?
(10) jack white made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 10:04:32 AM | Permalink
If Dan wants to redeem himself, he will reveal his source and his connection to the Kerry campaign and then resign. That's the only way for Rather not to be rememebered in years to come as a media whore who got part in a partisan smear.
(11) David Blue made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 10:11:30 AM | Permalink
"When you're wounded and lying on Afghanistan's plains And the women come out to cut up what remains, just roll to your rifle, and blow out your brains And go to your God like a soldier."
- "Barrack Room Ballads" by Rudyard Kipling
Good advice, as opposed to purchasing a slightly longer life at the price of castration and bloody torture under the knives of Afghan women.
But the pajamahadeen aren't that mean.
Besides, the CBS team aren't really being held responsible by anybody with power yet. Since the rules against what they have done and are doing seem not to be in force, why not hang on longer and see what they can get away with?
Dan Rather's comment about wanting to break the story of what went wrong reminded me of O.J. Simpson's promise to hunt down the killer of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. In two ways. The first is, the killer was promising to solve his own crime. The second is, O.J. got away with it. He ceased to be a celebrity, as Dan Rather may cease to be a celebrity (but then he's old and retirement looms for him anyway.) But really, he got away with it. And I suspect they, the CBS team, will get away with it too.
Future generations of media crooks may be encouraged to see how stupid you have to be to get caught (this was a really feeble forgery and they still might have gotten away with it if not for those darn blogs), and that the penalties for trying and failing are not severe or as inexorable as one night have thought.
(12) David Blue made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 11:33:35 AM | Permalink
On reflection, on the good side -
The best situation is: you can't do stuff like this, everybody knows it, and the rules are really in force. The second best situation is, broadcast news is liable to contain anything including forgery, fraud and cold-blooded defamation of character, all with effective impunity, and people (other than the untutored young, the retarded and so on) know this and allow for it. The worst situation is, people assume there are rules in force and give the news credence appropriate to that assumption, but they're wrong.
In about a week, the Americans may have gone from the worst situation to a middling situation.
(13) BurbankErnie made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 12:13:36 PM | Permalink
This sounds eerily like Sadaam, and how his henchmen were afraid to give him any bad news for fear of death. Can't anyone in the CBS News Division show him what is going on in the real world?
(14) Dave made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 5:56:07 PM | Permalink
I'm not sure 'rather' I should thank you or not.
I quit watching the networks years ago because of their ommissions, lies and distortions.
I would not even be aware of the smell wafting out of New York on this one had not you "Sleepwear Knights" been on duty.
Keep up the good work,
A Hot Story
(16) Martin Perkins made the following comment | Sep 16, 2004 9:51:43 PM | Permalink
If not for all the publicity about the latest CBS, 60 Minutes snafu ... I would never have known about it!
I do not watch CBS news and I no longer watch 60 Minutes either. There are too many credible news sources / magazines without having to watching CBS! Dan's been a dinosaur for years now. It's a shame nobody at CBS News has the cajones to make the call.
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