YOU GO DAN RATHER EDITION

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Yo, yo, yo, MacYippers! What up?
Will Dan Rather actually call President Bush... both President Bushes... as a witness in his lawsuit against CBS? Or did the reporter on this story extrapolate a bit too much from Rather's limited response when asked about it?


EXAMINER.COM:
Former "Evening News" Dan Rather choked back tears on several occasions today when discussing his decision to file a lawsuit against CBS and he left many audience members with a sense that he may call President George W. Bush as a witness should the lawsuit proceed to trial (and Rather said he hoped it would).

When asked by Carol Joynt, host of the "Q&A Café" held at Nathans restaurant who worked with Rather at CBS in the 1970s, whether "he'd like to" call President Bush as a witness in the trial, Rather said "I'd like not to answer the question," leaving both Joynt and audience members wondering whether the newsman has Bush in his sights." Joynt later told Yeas & Nays, "From the look in his eye -- and he gave me a definite Ratheresque look -- I got the impression he will call the president as a witness. Possibly both of them: 41 and 43. He implied the suit is not against them, but what the suit is about stems directly from his antagonistic relationship with them."

In the lawsuit, Rather claims he was unjustifiably squeezed out of CBS by network executives following a 2004 story about President Bush’s service record in the Texas Air National Guard. After evidence emerged that the story’s primary documents were possibly faked or forged, Rather stated on air that “if I knew then what I know now, I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.”


http://www.examiner.com/blogs/Yeas_and_Nays/2007/9/26/Rather-chokes-up-and-hunkers-down

MacYapper - Here's what pisses me off about the whole Rather thing. Everybody knows that, to some degree, Dapper Dan is a nut's nut. Ego out of control. That whole "I'm a reporter" schtick gets old. I remember when he was doing a Q and A somewhere and held a reporter's notebook in his hand the entire time and I thought, are you going to start interviewing somebody at the Q and A featuring you as the guy with the A's? It was gimmicky. And gimmickry posing as folksiness or "newsiness" is a Rather trademark. Or hallmark. Or some kind of mark.

But here's the thing. Rather did get it right. Bush did go out of his way to avoid national guard duty. His father did make a call that made a difference. The former Speaker of the Texas House (and former Texas Lt. Guv as well) has written a book detailing the preferential treatment Dubya got... treatment in which he played a direct and personal role. I've talked to him about it on the air. There's no mistaking what happened here. Here's one version from, of all things, CBS News.

CBSNEWS.COM:

A few months before Mr. Bush would become eligible for the draft, Barnes says he had a meeting with the late oilman Sid Adger, a friend to both Barnes and then-Congressman George Bush.

"It's been a long time ago, but he said basically would I help young George Bush get in the Air National Guard," says Barnes, who then contacted his longtime friend Gen. James Rose, the head of Texas' Air National Guard.

"I was a young, ambitious politician doing what I thought was acceptable," says Barnes. "It was important to make friends. And I recommended a lot of people for the National Guard during the Vietnam era - as Speaker of the House and as lt. governor."

George W. Bush was among those he recommended for the National Guard. Was this a case of preferential treatment?

"I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get into the Air National Guard or the Army National Guard," says Barnes. "I think that would have been a preference to anybody that didn't want to go to Vietnam or didn’t want to leave. We had a lot of young men that left and went to Canada in the '60s and fled this country. But those that could get in the Reserves, or those that could get in the National Guard - chances are they would not have to go to Vietnam."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/08/60II/main641984.shtml

MacYapper - So if you were Dan Rather, and you got fired for screwing up a story on Dubya getting preferential treatment to keep him out of 'Nam, but the story you reported was actually correct, even if it turns out some of the documents may not have been genuine, wouldn't you still be infuriated?

Wouldn't you think that the important thing for the American people to know is that Dubya skated when he claims he didn't?

Unless of course you think the truth doesn't really matter any more. Which is tempting, but too depressing. At least for moi.

Or maybe this isn't something noble about Rather's good name. Maybe there's a technical contract violation, as Rather claims, and he wants his Imus money.

But it will always stick in my craw, and it's some kind of craw, that Rather had his facts straight even if his documentation turned out to be shaky. Because Dubya skating and lying to us about it all these years is the point. It is a point that seems lost on many if not most. Welcome to America.

DUDE, TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT TO COME TO SEE MAC-YAPPER COMEDY!

We appreciate all the venues we play. The Back Stage Bar is excellent. The Brillo Box is eclectic and cool. But the Improv is the premier place to see comedy in the city. The venue is designed for comedy, and that helps.

Tonight Susie Meister, of MTV Road Rules, will talk about her alcoholic father.
I will talk about my first marriage ending which, predictably, involved some naughty behavior on my part.
Gab Bonesso will talk about a little baby being sexually assaulted by a dog.
Gene Collier will talk about the strange custom in this country to require a license to fish but no license whatsoever to help choose the leader of the free world.

It's the Sex, Politics, and Religion Comedy show. $10 lousy bucks dude!
The Improv is at the Waterfront in Homestead.

www.improv.com

You gotta come. Gotta. Mandatory.

See yinz there.

THE JOHN MCINTIRE SHOW 1-4 PM 93.7 THE ZONE
Listen live at www.937thezone.com

Thursday's show will feature Vic Walzcak of the ACLU on why Larry Craig shouldn't be guilty of any crime.
We'll do that during the 3pm hour.

Email me at Zone website above or at johnmcintire@comcast.net

UPCOMING COMEDY SHOW INFO AND COMEDY AUDIO:
www.myspace.com/MacYapper