Rather Deflated

The subject of the very first post on this blog was the Dan Rather Texas National Guard story about George Bush that turned out to be totally manufactured by Bush opponents. To this day rather insists the story was accurate, but when CBS realized their anchor had lost it they moved him out of the big chair. Rather sued, but now his lawsuit has been tossed:

A New York appeals court on Tuesday dismissed Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS, in which the television news anchor accused his former employer of breach of contract.

Rather filed the suit in 2007, claiming CBS made him a scapegoat when the network came under intense criticism over a September 2004 "60 Minutes II" story challenging then-President George Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Immediately after the story aired, questions were raised about the accuracy of the reporting.

Rather, who narrated the disputed piece, became the target of fierce criticism from conservative partisans who believed the story was an attempt to influence the 2004 presidential race.

Six months later, Rather stepped down from the anchor chair he had occupied for nearly a quarter of a century -- a departure he said was not voluntary. Rather's suit alleged that management at CBS and its then-parent company, Viacom, shifted blame to him to pacify the White House and that on the day after Bush was re-elected, he was informed he would be removed as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

The appellate division of the state Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, found "the complaint must be dismissed in its entirety and that a lower court erred in failing to do so."

"Rather claims that, in effect, CBS 'warehoused' him, and that, when he was finally terminated and paid in June 2006, CBS did not compensate him for the 15 months 'when he could have worked elsewhere,' the ruling said. "This claim attempts to gloss over the fact that Rather continued to be compensated at his normal CBS salary of approximately $6 million a year until June 2006 when the compensation was accelerated upon termination, consistent with his contract."

Rather's claim of lost business opportunities because CBS failed to release him was "insufficiently supported," the court said.

Rather wasn't "warehoused", he was toxic. Nobody but the wackiest of the wacky left would hire him to read traffic reports by the time he was so thoroughly discredited by the blogosphere and others who did the real work on the story. The company paid what was due on this contract and the suit was completely without merit. It should have been tossed long ago.