It turns out that news consumers are dropping Dan Rather like a bag of dirt, at least for now. If this continues it’s hard to see how Rather can stay on for the duration. However, if CBS dumps him because of bad ratings, they shouldn’t be able to get away with the spin that they dropped him because of their high standards. I suppose they have one last chance to do that when the internal investigation’s findings come out. But if they don’t can him then but do let him go only when it’s clear his ratings won’t improve, then they won’t be acting out of integrity and they shouldn’t claim other wise.
Also, if that’s how it plays out, the rest of the media — particularly the Krugman-Brock crowd — shouldn’t be allowed to say that Rather was a martyr to good journalism who was sacrificed to the right wing hordes. Of course, they’ll say exactly that. But what’re ya gonna do?