Rather Bitter?

I would say so:

He may deny it, but Dan Rather is still hotter than a Laredo parking lot about CBS.

Sharp-eyed viewers may have noticed that Rather was not identified on screen with his network of 44 years when he appeared on Anderson Cooper’s 360 Wednesday to discuss his recent trip to North Korea.

CNN didn’t drop the ball, graphically speaking. Rather, ol’ Dan didn’t want CBS in the picture.

Literally.

In an in-house memo sent from a 360 staffer Thursday to CNN producers, they were told to “please feel free” to use taped snippets from Cooper’s interview with Rather the previous night, but with one glaring caveat:

“Mr. Rather requests that his font not associate him with CBS News. So no ‘Former CBS Anchor.’ We thank you and Dan thanks you.”

A CNN rep confirms the authenticity of the e-mail. Rather had no issue with being verbally identified on the show, she adds.

Rather was fishing in Upstate New York and couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.

Rather, 74, left CBS in a rage June 20, saying the network had not lived up to its obligation to allow him to do “substantive work.” His contract runs until late November.

Rather anchored CBS Evening News for an unprecedented 24 years before being forced to step down in March ’05 due to the Memogate scandal. He became a full-time correspondent for 60 Minutes.

Schadenfreude. It’s a wonderful thing.

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Greg Tinti
About Greg Tinti
Greg started the blog The Political Pit Bull in August 2005. He was OTB's Breaking News Editor from June through August 2006 before deciding to return to his own blog. His blogging career eventually ended altogether. He has a B.A. in Anthropology from The George Washington University,

Comments

  1. Zelsdorf Ragshaft III says:

    Rather is and was an individual who could not, or would not separate his opinion from facts he was trying to report. His long term display of intellectual dishonesty makes one wonder at those who employed him. Rather was not a journalist, in the strictest sense, but an actual propogadist. This was evident from his time in Viet Nam to his view on the Iraq war and the Presidency of George W. Bush.

  2. Mark says:

    You known what this means, don’t you?

    Every time you write about Dan Rather it is imperative you mention CBS, and include a picture of Dan with the CBS eye!

  3. Herb says:

    Rather was a cheap phony that thought he was the last word on everything. Rather showed his true colors years ago when he tried to cheat a Chicago Cab Driver out of his fare from O’Hare to downtown Chicago.

    Good riddance Danny BOY

  4. Robert says:

    Wasn’t Rather an anchorperson?

    What does that have to do with reporting?

    Me thinks both, Rather and those that “brought him down”, suffer from delusions of grandeur.

    BTW, THE story of “Memogate” is the whole idea that Papa Bush pulled strings to get his son in the champagne unit of the National Guard and kept away from harm in Vietnam was never followed-up on.