Dan Rather seems to have entered a delusional stage of his life, as his actions and words contradict much of what he said when he left CBS (CBS-A) in disgrace.
Even those close to him think he's losing it, as an article in the Washington Post says, "... he has allowed his resentment at Leslie Moonves and other CBS executives who sent him packing last year to overwhelm his good judgment. They use words like 'self-destructive' and 'tragedy.' They believe he is engaging in revisionist history, forgetting that the network doggedly backed him until its lines of defense crumbled, that its own document experts said they had warned the story's producers that the purported papers of Bush's late squadron commander could not be verified."
The problem Rather is now faced with, is the same one that brought him to disgrace: he is saying one thing while the opposite is true.
For example, he apologized on the "CBS Evening News" less than two weeks after the story alleging President Bush was given preferential treatment while in the Texas National Guard. Now he denies it saying, "I didn't want to apologize. I never apologized for what was in the story, the record of President Bush."
Now he is also denying he left the network voluntarily, as he recently claimed he was forced to leave his anchor post by Leslie Moonves, CBS chairman, and Andrew Heyward, CBS News President at the time. That's completely opposite to what he said to reporters at the time, assuring them he left voluntarily.
Rather should have left this alone. With suing a network that stuck by him far longer than they should have, he's showing more the flaws in his character. He offers no proof he was offered up as a "scapegoat," like he alleges, and at the same time adds, "I'd like to gather more evidence. . . . One way to find out is to put people under oath."
Personally, I don't care what happens one way or the other with this case, but from Rather's actions and words, just on principle CBS should see this through.
If Rather thinks he's helping his legacy and salvaging his reputation through these actions, he'll find out he's actually digging himself deeper into the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland. He can't even remember what he said three years ago, and is making himself look worse by contradicting his own words and actions.
If he's just trying to get himself out in the public eye with his tiny show on HDNet, which is attracting very few viewers, it'll end up costing him far more than he'll ever get in return.
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