I continue to be amazed at how much coverage this fiasco has gotten. I feel as though I'm watching a cat fight that is being simulcast on every medium available, all in the name of distraction. I'll ask again, how many people are getting killed as a result of these false documents? Bush definitely has the advantage there.
I think Dan Rather is a big dork. I also don't watch news on the big networks anymore because I think they are all pretty weak (for the record, I prefer MSNBC lately, despite the MS part). That being said, I don't think Dan Rather should face termination (resignation or otherwise) unless he was the final say on getting that story through. If he was, well, maybe his days should be numbered, but whoever had the final say on vetting that package for the story should be in a very big room with a lot of angry faces looking at him or her.
I heard the opinion somewhere that Dan Rather was standing up for the team, and I tend to agree. The real problem is with the news organization as a whole for not handling the crisis properly. If there is some doubt and the evidence mounts as quickly as it did here, standing by the story and acknowledging the potential problems seems like a better way to go than discounting detractors as though they were incapable amateurs... that sort of thing always seems to go the same way, as it has this time. In the end, the ratings books will tell the real story.
Dan and Silicon Valley to Re-Unite
