I'd Rather Not

In less than an AbsoluteOpinion publish cycle 24 years of broadcast anchoring will be over. However, my source on the date of Rather's retirement is CBS - so take it with a grain of salt.

"Be careful. Journalism is more addictive than crack cocaine. Your life can get out of balance."
-- Rather quoted in the Boston Herald

You and I may know of Dan as a rather wacky Texas born, gun pulling, bizarre quote saying, shotgun chambering, heroin testing, anchor desk leaving, memo finding, extremely biased newsman - which may all be true.

"With that I rammed a shell into the chamber of a shotgun. There is no mistaking that sound. Within seconds the intruders, or whatever they were, had fled."
-- From Rather's Book, The Camera Never Blinks

His bias is perhaps transparent to all but himself. Rather apparently saw Anita Hill as a victim during the nomination hearings for Clarence Thomas. Yet when Juanita Broaddrick leveled similar charges against Bill Clinton, his position was slightly different. He suggested that even if true it happened a long time ago, perhaps we should just move on. Another example - in Rather's eyes Oliver North is a liar, and Bill Clinton is an honest man.

"Now respectfully, when you start talking about a liberal agenda and all the, quote, 'liberal bias' in the media, I quite frankly, and I say this respectfully but candidly to you, I don't know what you're talking about."
-- Rather speaking to Mike Rosen of KOA Denver

But maybe it's just that he has a special place in his heart for the Clintons. In an interview with then California Gubernatorial Candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, he came out swinging with questions about Schwarzenegger's past. That never happened with Clinton, in fact one of Rather's hard-hitting questions to Clinton was, "Given the year plus what you and our First Family have been through, tell us what you can about how the three of you are doing." That question was asked during Clinton's first interview after the impeachment.

"Thank you. Mr. President. If we could be one-one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been together in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners."
-- Rather quoted in Columbia Journalism Review

It could be said that Rather has seen both the rise and the fall of broadcast news in his lifetime. I doubt the rise had much to do with him, but I think he made contributions to the fall. The only perspective I have of Rather as a man is obviously not first hand, but from what I can tell he was a pleasant, genuinely caring, humble man. And yes, a bit weird at times.

"You can sooner expect a tall talking broccoli stick to offer to mow your lawn for free."
-- Rather quoted in the Los Angeles Times

Perhaps Rather's problem was that his view of reality was flawed. Of course we all view life through the tinted glasses of our bias and our history - I just don't think Rather ever realized how tinted his glasses were. He really loved the news, he loved being a reporter, he loved the rush of breaking news.

"Every reporter's prayer, or at least this reporter's prayer, is: 'Lord, if you can see your way clear, give me the big story. And by the way, if you do, please let me be at or near my best on it.'"
-- Rather in an interview for Texas Monthly

Unfortunately that love probably won't be what's remembered about Dan Rather. In short, we'll miss you Dan, just not the way you hoped we would. We'll remember you too, but not in the way you wanted to be remembered.

"If people watch you every night, they can see right into your soul."
-- Dan Rather quoted in USA Today

Courage.