Kenneth, What Was the Frequency?

Nick Gillespie | June 20, 2006

Dan Rather has worn his last sweater-vest for CBS News, reports Reuters via AOL.com. And the "veteran newsman" (read: venerable laughingstock) did not go gentle into that good night (though he did, alas, spare us the antics of former co-anchor [read: ratings dead-weight] Connie Chung):

The 74-year-old Rather, who has complained of being virtually forgotten at CBS Corp. since his exit as anchor last year, six months after a discredited story on President Bush's military service, is considering an offer to do a weekly show at the HDNet high-definition network.

Dan Rather in HD? Truly a world of wonders. Courage, Dan, courage.

Back in 2004, long before he became a self-described mainstream media piss-ant, former Reasonite Matt Welch eulogized Diamond Dan thus:

He's a great character in an era that could always use more, and I'll certainly miss his inspired Election Night poetry slams. But journalism standard-bearer he is not, and never was.

As a philosopher once said, "if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun."

Whole Welch RIP here.

Comments

|6.20.06 @ 11:41AM|#

What I'll always remember Rather for was his on-location coverage of the 1993 Mississippi floods -- he started out wearing a tie and then he removed the tie the next week and then each week after that he would have one more button undone on his shirt. My parents and I were so relieved when the floods ended because we were concerned that if they had gone on much longer Rather would have been doing the newscasts shirtless.

Dirk Plantinga|6.20.06 @ 3:06PM|#

I had the pleasure to meet Dan Rather several times over a number of years and on every occasion he was a real gentleman. In person, Dan is extraordinarily personable, gracious and humble. He went out of his way to compliment or encourage. I am a proud fan of Dan Rather's. He'd be the first to say everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

|6.20.06 @ 3:44PM|#

"He'd be the first to say everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

Some would argue he would be the first to say everyone is entitlted to there own facts.

|6.20.06 @ 5:15PM|#

I have a GREAT idea for jump starting Rather's career. Find the guys who beat him up while inventing R.E.M. lyrics and do a special. Obviously, he'd have to waive the charges (to the extent that he can still file a claim), unless he wanted to run his own America's Most Wanted. That would be pretty cool, too. Each week, a different show on how Dan wants to hunt these bastards down.

|6.20.06 @ 6:22PM|#

I hear NPR's into hiring washed up old network news hacks.