Sidney Blumenthal: Dan Rather Stands By His Story

[Hissyspit]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/09/27/dan_rather_suit/index_np.html?source=rss

Dan Rather stands by his story
His lawsuit will attempt to show that CBS tried to suppress the report on Bush's National Guard Service and the Abu Ghraib abuses.

By Sidney Blumenthal

Dan Rather's complaint against CBS and Viacom, its parent company, filed in New York state court on Sept. 19 and seeking $70 million in damages for his wrongful dismissal as "CBS Evening News" anchor, has aroused hoots of derision from a host of commentators. They've said that the former anchor is "sad," "pathetic," "a loser," on an "ego" trip and engaged in a mad gesture "no sane person" would do, and that "no one in his right mind would keep insisting that those phony documents are real and that the Bush National Guard story is true."

Once the court accepts his suit, however, launching the adjudication of legal issues such as breach of fiduciary duty and tortuous interference with contract, it will set in motion an inexorable mechanism that will grind out answers to other questions as well. Then Rather's suit will become an extraordinary commission of inquiry into a major news organization's intimidation, complicity and corruption under the Bush administration. No congressional committee would be able to penetrate into the sanctum of any news organization to divulge its inner workings. But intent on vindicating his reputation, capable of financing an expensive legal challenge, and armed with the power of subpoena, Rather will charge his attorneys to interrogate news executives and perhaps administration officials under oath on a secret and sordid chapter of the Bush presidency.

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[liberal renegade]

1. i hope he prevails.

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. As well he should

The neocon spinmeisters did a masterful job on Rather, turning the story from W's TANG record to the "phony" document. The document wasn't "phony," of course; it was simply not verified, but CBS caved to the pressure and the story was dead in the water.

Rather should keep in mind the words of Ben Bradlee on reporting a red herring given him by a LBJ aide: "I screwed up — but I wasn't wrong."

[Cha]

3. Recommended!

This is one story we thought was dead and buried but here comes Dan(after we cheered him on when he started working for Mark Cuban at HDTV) a ghost from the past, and files a lawsuit against freakin' c-b-s.

Dan is David and he's going against the Giant Corporation.
snips..
"When CBS replaced the edgy Rather with the sugary Katie Couric as anchor of the "Evening News," it imagined it had solved its problem, its "errors." The news would get softer, the Republicans in control of the White House and Congress would be nicer, Viacom would grab more media, and ratings would climb. Thus, dismissing Rather would yield untold dividends. Unfortunately for CBS's visionaries, none of that has worked out as planned. Couric simply lacks basic journalistic instincts and skills, and the "CBS Evening News" is at rock bottom in ratings and sinking farther.

Rather could have simply allowed the statute of limitations to run out, lived off his millions, and faded away. But the incident ate at him. On one level, the Bush National Guard story is about Bush and the National Guard. On another, of course, it is about Rather's reputation. But on yet another it is about CBS's overwhelming desire to please the Bush White House and censor itself. The White House campaign against Rather has been so successful that many in the national press corps behave as though in mouthing its talking points they are demonstrating their own independent thought.

On Sept. 20, the day after he filed his suit, Rather said, "The story was true." Rather's suit may turn into one of the most sustained and informative acts of investigative journalism in his long career. He is not going gentle into that good night."

[madeline_con]

4. Go, Dan!

:yourock:

I hope they have to pay!



edit: K&R, BTW!

[Blackhatjack]

5. This will definitely be worth watching... Bush folks are probably shaking in their boots

If Rather's lawyers do this right, we will witness the exposure of the corporate takeover of MSM News.

This may get ugly fast, but it is bound to reveal a lot that the public needs to see.

[AtomicKitten]

6. He always has because it's the truth.

[sbyte]

7. To get to the Truth, many avenues need be traveled.

suppression, regression, depression, rejection, confession! >>>TRUTH.

[G_j]

8. sounds positive

The corporate media are complicit in war crimes.
Their decision makers should be on trial for crimes against humanity, & that is not a joke.

[bleever]

9. This is THE article to read for Our Story So Far.

:thumbsup:

[Mojorabbit]

10. They are already starting

the attacks on him. Donald Trump of all people was on tv calling him a loser on I think CNN today.
I applaud him doing this but the MSM will pull out all the stops to further trash his reputation and credibility

[DemReadingDU]

11. from the article

Most cases of this sort are usually settled before discovery. But Rather has made plain that he is uninterested in a cash settlement. He has filed his suit precisely to be able to take depositions.

[roguevalley]

12. he used to sit in the mud in the front lines of Viet Nam getting shot

at every night for the news. these panty waisted bastards don't scare him. GO, DAN!