August 17, 2006
| Rather Pushed to Friday |
It was unfair. And there are plenty of conspiracy theorists who will tell you that Dan Rather was taken down by "the man."
So it seems only right that after his speedy exit from CBS News, they throw a tribute together for him. The network has scheduled a prime-time salute to Rather, with the newsman talking about what it was like to leave as ''CBS Evening News'' anchor after a quarter-century.
But they’re putting it on at 9pm the Friday night before Labor Day weekend, where nobody will ever watch it.
We should be clear about Dan Rather. Yes, he says some absolutely nutty things. He has a folksy colloquialism for everything. Some choice expressions (found on About.com) include:
On the 2004 Election night: "This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex."
On Bill Clinton: “They may have turned this up, whether you had the Paula Jones case or not. But again, that's like if a frog had side pockets he'd probably wear a handgun."
We love this about Rather. It was like getting the news from your Grandpa, which we can certainly understand that some people don’t like. But history is being made with a tribute to a man who graciously saw us through every tragedy of the last 25 years.
CBS promised the special as a good faith gesture when Rather stepped down. The reason for the lame duck airing is that CBS wants to show the special before Katie Couric's debut as anchor on Sept. 5.
''The CBS News audience, they stuck by me through sunshine and storms, and through the good times and bad times,'' he says in the show.
Too bad CBS didn’t.
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