The ordeal of Dan Rather goes far beyond the man himself. It speaks to the presumption of guilt that now rules the day in America. Because of a ruthless and callow media, no citizen, much less one who achieves fame, is given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to allegations or personal attacks. The smearing of America is in full bloom.Er, Bill, Captain Dan got caught reporting an egregious fraud as fact. He did it just before the election when ordinarily it would have been hard to refute in a timely fashion. When caught red-handed he tried to stonewall. The "ruthless and callow media" presumed he was innocent until the obviousness of the fraud was manifest, although some are still in denial. Dan got a fairer "hearing" than he was providing to President Bush. The verdict went against him. End of story.
...
Rather was found guilty without a fair hearing. Charges that he intentionally approved bogus documents that made President Bush look bad were leveled and widely believed. It was chilling.
Of course, Bill may have another axe to grind:
All famous and successful Americans are now targets. Unscrupulous people know that any accusation can be dumped on the Internet and within hours the mainstream media will pick it up. A click of the Internet mouse can wipe out a lifetime of honor and hard work. Just the accusation or allegation can be ruinous. Let me ask you something: In the future, do you think potential public servants and social crusaders are going to risk being attacked within this insane system? I don't. I think many good people are simply going to walk away from the public arena.Somehow, I don't think he's really talking about Dan Rather or President Bush. Someone get the lad a loofah. (Beldar has a detailed analysis of ole Bill's settlement of his loofah problems.)
