Pribek

Back in June, I wrote a couple of posts about remarks that Dan Rather made about CBS news.

You can view my posts here and here.

Rather accused CBS of dumbing down the news and also “tarting it up”. I was of the opinion that Danno was directing the tart remark directly at Katie.

I was actually trying to stick up for Katie.

Curiously, a lot of the women that I know thought my opinion and remarks were in poor taste. I said that Danno might as well have said “whoring it up”. I heard from a lot of people that either said that Danno was directing the remark at CBS, not Katie, and/or that I had the wrong connotation of the word tart.

Rather has since filed a lawsuit against CBS and CBS is now trying to get it thrown out of court.

I don’t have time right now to go into why I think that the lawsuit is frivolous.

I do, however, have three brief opinions that I would like to express.

1. I am not a fan of CBS news.

2. Dan Rather is a dick.

3. Dan Rather took a bush-league cheap shot at Katie Couric with the “tart” remark.

It is also clear that Katie is very able to stick up for herself and doesn’t need my help. Take a look at this YouTube video (courtesy of Harry Shearer) of Katie slamming Dan Rather’s famous raincoat scene. Also note that Katie says; “This tart is ready to go”.

What is Dan Rather really trying to accomplish? This is from My Way News.

While referring to Couric as a “nice person,” Rather said “the mistake was to try to bring the ‘Today’ show ethos to the ‘Evening News,’ and to dumb it down, tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience.”

Moonves, speaking at an event in New York Tuesday morning sponsored by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, called the remarks “sexist” and said he was surprised at the amount of negative coverage Couric was receiving.

Moonves is right. The remarks are sexist. Rather doesn’t agree, this was part of his response on Fox News.

Look, this isn’t about Katie Couric. It’s nothing to do with her gender. Anybody who reads what I wrote and what I said knows that that’s true.

Nothing to do with Katie Couric?

Ethos

The character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.

Nothing to do with Katie Couric? Well, what are you referring to when you say “ethos” of the Today Show, Dan? Do you think that Katie had nothing to do with the “character and disposition” of the Today Show? Katie Couric was the face of the Today Show.

Nothing to do with her gender? What does the word “tart” refer to here? He’s not talking about a small fruit pie. He might as well of said “whore it up”. The word “tart” is definitely referring to gender. So, he didn’t say; “Katie Couric is dumbing down and tarting it up”, he was talking about ethos. Ethos my ass. Dan’s trying to play lawyer ball.

In further response to Moonves, Rather went on to say…

What he’s trying to do is change the subject. And, I find it insulting and I find it disappointing, that’s a better word, disappointing. That Les Moonves, who knows a lot about entertainment, would try to mask the real point with that line of attack.

More bush league lawyer tactics. Rather was the one that said, “dumbing down” and “tarting it up”. He is the one on the attack. Moonves is responding, defending his show and anchor. He is on the defense.

More of Danno’s Fox spiel.

My lament is that there once was a line between entertainment and news.

This is priceless. Dan Rather of “courage”, “Kenneth”, and memo gate, the guy that pioneered the technique of inserting himself into the story on network news, is concerned about the news turning into show biz. Danno, you were a big part of erasing the “line” between entertainment and news.

So what is Dan Rather trying to accomplish with all of this? Ironically, the answer is showbiz.

When he said “dumbing down” and “tarting it up” on the MSNBC interview (see yesterday’s post) he made sure he got both digs in twice. He did it twice to make sure that it didn’t go unnoticed. “Dumbing down” and “tarting up” are pre-conceived phrases. They are designed to cause a stir. When he goes on some cable show nobody is watching, to plug his own cable show, and says something controversisal it will become news. It’s no different than Will Farrell going on the Today Show and acting half drunk when he is promoting a movie. It’s no better than the type of stuff Paris Hilton pays people lots of money to conjure up. It’s P.R. It’s showbiz.

Here is the complete Fox News interview where you can see Danno feebly explaining his remarks, lamenting the fact that news is the entertainment business, laughing at his own stupid jokes and pimping his own show.

And in closing, also from Fox News, here is Katie Couric’s producer Rick Kaplan’s response to Rather.

“This is someone who should go through his life quietly.”
“We had to build back from when Dan left,” Kaplan said. “What’s really upsetting is that the same people are still here doing the news as when Dan left; those are the people he’s criticizing. A lot of people at CBS are disappointed that he said that.”

Yet another rain soaked day in the Ozarks, I could laugh it off for a while but it’s getting old.

Check out what Ichiro Suzuki said about Cleveland.

To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.

“I’d punch myself in the face?!” Good one Ichiro. You will face the wrath of Cleveland; They’re not going to let that slide. I’ll say this about Ichiro, he is one of the best ballplayers I’ve ever seen. He is one of the handful of guys that I would gladly plunk down money to see. He plays the game the right way. If he played in New York or L.A. you would hear about him every other day. Why is he busting on Cleveland.

A lot of people put Cleveland down and I don’t get it. Before I ever went there I had this pre-conceived notion that it was backwards, filthy town. Everybody I met was friendly, cool architecture (on a smaller scale, sort of the same eclectic type of mixture you find in Chicago), good food, no problems at the airport, seemed like a nice place. As a matter of fact the whole state of Ohio seems to get a bum deal. I played in Toledo years ago and had the same type of perception beforehand because of all the Toledo jokes I’d heard through the years. I don’t know that I have ever met a nicer bunch of people. Ohio can’t get any respect. Rise up Ohio.

But do people living in Toledo
Know that their name hasn’t travelled very well?
And does anybody in Ohio
Dream of that Spanish citadel?

from “Toledo” by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello

I guess Ichiro has an excuse because English is a distant second language for him. Also, he was picking on a place and not a person. Dan Rather, on the other hand, is out of control. He should be in a wax museum someplace. Look at this from the Morning Joe show on MSNBC.

He accuses Katie Couric of “tarting it up”, not once but twice. “Tarting it up??!!” What the hell is going on with this knucklehead. Katie’s ratings are low and you can criticize the content but you can’t mention Katie and “tart” together in any context. Rather has been doing T.V. for, I don’t know, something like 200 years. So, it isn’t like interviewing a plumber who inadvertantly says something crazy. Danno new exactly what he was doing. It was pre-meditated and he said it again to make sure we didn’t miss it. It’s no secret that the news is being dumbed down but Dan Rather accusing others on, of all places, MSNBC is the height of irony. Here are some Dan Rather election night quotes.

“This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.”

“His lead is as thin as turnip soup.”

“This race is humming along like Ray Charles.”

“One’s reminded of that old saying, ‘Don’t taunt the alligator until after you’ve crossed the creek.’”

“This situation in Ohio would give an aspirin a headache.”

“Bush is sweeping through the South like a big wheel through a cotton field.”

“No question now that Kerry’s rapidly reaching the point where he’s got his back to the wall, his shirttails on fire and the bill collector’s at the door.”

(To Joe Lockhart) “I know that you’d rather walk through a furnace in a gasoline suit than consider the possibility that John Kerry would lose Ohio.”

“We used to say if a frog had side pockets, he’d carry a handgun.”

“No one is saying that George Bush is not going to win the election, and if you had to bet the double-wide, you’d have to bet that he’d win.”

The election is “closer than Lassie and Timmy”

“Keep in mind they are teetotally meetmortally convinced they have Ohio won.”

On how the results are affecting strategists: “It’s one reason so many of them drink a lot.”

“He swept through the South like a tornado through a trailer park.”

Well said Dan, I guess they have dumbed it down since they ran you off the network air.

I’d studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines
Richard said, “Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy”
A smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh

“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
Butterfly decal, rear-view mirror, dogging the scene
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh

from “What’s The Frequency Kenneth” by REM