That's Not The Frequency, Kenneth

We're not entertainers. We're journalists. And we need more time to do our job well.- Walter Kronkite

We need more time. More time to discern fact from fiction before sending in the troops. More time to debate between the right or the left. More time to wonder why we're moving in this direction, and just who's pulling these goddamned puppet strings around our wrists and ankles.

And we need more time from one of the last standing truthsayers, our stoic anchor, Dan Rather.

On this night of Wednesday 9 March, in the questionable year of 2005, Dan Rather is due to sign off the CBS air and leave us to our own devices. Though I have not yet had the privilege of asking Dan about his motives, I can only speculate this resignation had little to do with such cliche excuses such as failing health, fatigue, or being replaced with some uppity young right-wing wordtwister. No, methinks this changing of the guard is the result of those big-money corporate goings-on that we little people seldom see or hear, not unlike most of the laws Congress pushes through the sieve.

For those of you who, like myself, occasionally veer off the information highway in a drunken stupor, let me bring you up to speed. In the midst of that clusterfuck presidential election last Fall, Dan Rather publicly questioned the military service record of George W. Bush. Seems some of the source documentation used to back up 60 Minutes on that fated September 8 was "questionable" and their authenticity could not be ascertained.

Gasp! Do you mean to imply that Dan Rather, a national figure and man of integrity who has worked the national news desk for 41 years, might have presented a story based on falsified documents? That he could have been handed blatently erroneous information, pushed before the camera, and made to sing and dance? Say it isn't so! I mean, can you imagine such a public figure trusting his staff and sources, making a claim to get ratings, who was later proven wrong?

Me neither.

Never mind that our President's folly was used to rationalize the mass murder / liberation of tens of thousands of Iraqis and make those fat cats at Halliburton even fatter, Dan Rather did the true wrong here because he dared tell the truth, or at least what he believed to be true. In a futile attempt to keep his American public informed, a job he had been doing better than nearly any other journalist in history, he exposed our Chief Executive as a fraud and a liar. And for that, ladies and gents, they wrapped a noose around his neck and quietly offered him the choice to step off the stool, or have it kicked from underneath him. You'd think he had said something ludicrous, like claiming Saddam Hussein was amassing stockpiles of chemical weapons before leveling Baghdad. You know, the sort of crazy talk that would, under normal circumstances, get somebody removed from office.

I don't know if you're a regular sick fuck who frequents this happy place, or if one of your drinking buddies will point this out to you, but your "resignation" is not acceptable to me, Dan. You covered JFK's assassination. You covered 'Nam. You've delivered the good news and the bad, delivering cold hard truth during major events such as the Civil Rights movement, Watergate, and Clinton's blowjob. How many journalists can make mention on their curricula vitae, that they called out Bush the 1st for his Iran-Contra dealings, interviewed an impeached President, and sat down with Saddam Hussein to discuss the mess in Kuwait. You have withstood the hurricane of American history, only to bow before some Texas jackass and the pressure from upstairs at CBS.

I implore you, Dan Rather, to stand your ground. Tell those fuckers you've changed your mind, that nobody else is gonna do your job, and you're not gonna sing their song anymore. The News isn't funny. Current events aren't tragic. What's happening out there isn't supposed to keep the viewers riveted. The News is truth, and the number of people willing to step in front of the camera to present unbiased, unwavering truth without regard for ratings or advertisement is too few to let you go.

You think about that tonight, when you sit at that desk and pretend you're okay with this. You think about all those poor ignorant American viewers who don't know what's going on out there. Who still believe what you say. You saw more war with a microphone in your hand, than that son of a bitch read about between his binges.

Do you think Dan Rather would have buckled? Do you reckon this man would have hesitated in calling out a Presidential candidate?

Me neither.

Dan Rather, you're an officer in a different army now, the General of a decimated rank of factfinders, the last true Reporters. And though some right-wing sniper might have winged you with a lucky shot, you have a post to stand on that wall. The people need you on that wall, because this is our last stand between that First Amendment right and Orwell's 1984 vision come true, a media machine of Clear Channel and FCC regulation from which only illusions are projected. Fuck the executives. Fuck the ratings. Fuck the interoffice politics. We've lost the Good Doctor and Johnny Carson, I can ill afford to have any more of my leaders turn their backs on me.

You'll be sorely missed, sir, and if you ever want to speak your piece without fear of repercussion, you know where to find me.