Who Can Really Say?

Dan Would Rather Retire

Dan would Rather retire, it seems. It was overdue for all sorts of reasons, and overstaying his welcome now results in having to retire under under a cloud.

Jim Brown famously retired at his peak. Had Rather done the same, it would perhaps have been after this exchange.

Rather attracted notice in 1974 for an exchange with Richard Nixon. At a National Association of Broadcasters convention in Houston, Rather was applauded when he stood to ask a question, drawing Nixon's query, "Are you running for something?" Many saw Rather's quick retort, "No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?" as an affront to Presidential dignity.

Rather may have been rude, but consider the target. If you like ugly, you really really need to engross yourself in Nixon's Presidency in 1974. But I digress.

Still hanging in the air is the CBS internal investigation of L'Affair de Memo, a/k/a Rathergate. Considering that Rather won't actually leave the anchor desk until March and that he got a cushy landing spot at 60 Minutes, I'm guessing the results of the investigation will be more whitewash than anything else. But to be fair, I don't know why we should expect CBS to indict itself, even if that's what's called for.

More blogosphere roundups here and here.

[Linked to the Beltway Traffic Jam.]

Posted by Peter at November 23, 2004 10:53 PM