Dan Rather's Long Goodbye From CBS News

Finally, CBS News found a way to get Dan Rather to “leave the building”. In many ways, Dan Rather reminds of a once superstar athlete who as “father time” catches up with his abilities, doesn’t have the common sense to really retire on his own. This kind of personality does not pick up on hints from an employer who desire only that their once superstar player leave gracefully. Dan Rather has been on the network news scene since the assassination of JFK in Dallas in the early 60’s. As he grew older, his career seemed to mushroom over night until he eventually took the helm at the CBS Evening News after the retirement of Walter Cronkite.

I was a big Dan Rather fan until he and his producers took some “pot shots” at President Bush late in the 2004 presidential campaign and in my view their actions at the CBS News program “60 Minutes” in reporting that story were disgraceful. Anytime a major network news anchor becomes more interested in effecting a presidential election than he is reporting the “cold hard facts” about a story, then it is time for him to “hang it up” and move on to something else in his life. It is unfortunately that Dan Rather had to be “shown the door” at CBS News, but in reality his bosses probably had no other choice because he would not leave on his own.

The positive side of Dan Rather on television was the way he talked “Texan” which made many people laugh with his odd “one-liner’s”. Also, Dan had a way of helping the viewers not only see and understand a story, but to feel it as well. I will never forget his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in the weeks after 911. Millions of Americans felt his pain as we were all recovering from that terrible day in American history. I also saw this personal pain expressed by Rather after the Oklahoma City Bombing and other emotional times during his days on the CBS Evening News.

Dan Rather’s daughter is deeply involved in Texas Democratic politics and unfortunately I believe this fact may have cause Dan and others on his team to report the now debunked George W. Bush National Guard Story shortly before the last presidential election without making sure they had their facts right. The downside to that whole event was how long it took Dan Rather to appear on television and admit they had made big mistakes in that story and admit his personal involvement. While I didn’t always agree with Dan Rather’s views on the issues, I did until that time respect his integrity. However, in the weeks thereafter I did start to doubt his objectivity and once a person loses that, it’s really hard to get it back.

I personally want to wish Dan Rather well because there is still one thing I do respect about this man and that is he never intended to totally retire and sit back on a lake somewhere fishing all day long. Dan will find a new place to work and the company which hires him will be lucky because even if his journalist judgments might have been wrong from time to time, he is still an interesting man who has something to say and millions of people what to hear his opinions about subjects that are dominating the news.

Two Soldiers Dead After Being Kidnapped By Insurgents

Early this morning the sad news was reported by all the major news networks that the two US soldiers who have been missing and presumed captured by insurgents in Iraq were found dead today in the Baghdad area. Two more brave Americans are now among the dead in Iraq and everyone that cares about these men and women soldiers feels sick when news like this is reported on the television news. The knee jerk response is usually one of anger and a deep desire to get our troops, the heck, out of this terrible situation in Iraq.

Unfortunately, pulling our troops out at this time would be a huge mistake and would ruin US credibility all over the world. The US intelligence community is already in “hot water” with many other countries around the world after the Bush administration assured the world there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the war. These assurances continued even when many of their own analysis disputed that intelligence because the sources for it were deemed to be unreliable. At this point in time I don’t know what else the American people can do except rally around the troops and encourage our politicians to keep the pressure on the new Iraqi government to continue to grow their new democracy and domestic military forces.

The killing of these two US soldiers can not be classified as anything other than cold blood murder. These terrorists we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan do not follow any of the traditional rules of engagement or war. What US troops are dealing with here are thugs with an ideological view of the world which most sane people would never agree with or follow. However, while their numbers are small they are able to create terror in the minds and hearts of the American people and at the end of the day, terror is what their attacks and cold blooded murder are all about.

There is now late word that the bodies of these two soldiers were mutilated and booby tramped with explosives in an attempt to kill more US soldiers who tried and come to their aid. US military officials say the small country road which lead to their bodies was lined with explosive devises which crews had to clear before fellow troops could reach the location of their bodies. It is hard for me to understand how people could do such horrible acts and claim that their actions are in some way praising God. However, that is exactly what these terrorist have done and most likely this terrible act will turn more citizens against these terrorist in the future because of their barbarism.

I hope all Americans will pray for our young soldiers in Iraq, daily and also pray for the people who call Iraq home. No one should have to live in a country, which is so filled with criminal elements and no real law enforcement or domestic military to fight against it at this time. People who commit these terrible acts will eventually be brought to justice and I hope someday that the people of the world, with different religions and faiths, will somehow find a way to get along without killing each other.

Related: General Pace Comments

Two Soldiers Dead