While I have sat at home hurriedly writing posts for this blog so I could hop in my golf cart and head for the range, 78 year old Dan Rather travels to Iraq to do a report that will air tonight HDNet cable channels. He is a survivor. Although I never considered Rather a great journalist, he does a terrific imitation.

Creating the illusion of actually being working reporters is a  job requirement for news anchors. They read what others write—a TV deception that unjustly ended Rather’s CBS career after he was held responsible for an investigative report that turned out to be based on counterfeit documents. A 60 Minutes Two story prior to the 2004 Presidential election disclosing that George W. Bush was a National Guard slacker during the Vietnam War was substantially true—at least according to members of his guard unit and material documenting the absence of the future President from mandatory assignments. However, a confidential source re-created memoranda that was provided to a CBS producer. Although one expert verified some of the material, others cited forgeries. 

Reportedly under pressure from the White House as a result of the gaffe, CBS fired the producer and demanded the resignations of two news executives. Rather also eventually resigned.  But the old dude has kept on trucking. In 2006, he signed on with HDNet, which was established by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas, Mavericks NBA franchise.

Coincidentally, former CNN war correspondent Peter Arnett also found a temporary home at HDNet. Peter resigned from CNN in the wake of a controversial exposé that accused the U.S. Military of using nerve gas during the Vietnam War. I was peripherally involved in the story—given the task of trying to prove its accuracy following complaints by the Pentagon. As I revealed in Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, testicle-challenged CNN executives didn’t wait for the outcome of my investigation. Like CBS, the “most trusted network” fired producers and forced resignations in order to make peace with the Pentagon. It was the beginning of the end of CNN’s Special Assignment investigative reporting unit.

Three months after the nerve gas debacle, I was reassigned to play golf for the remaining two years of my contract. I have continued the assignment ever since.

Occasionally, I have the urge to rake some muck. But the itch passes after hitting a bucket of golf balls.

My memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, is available at amazon.com and independent bookstores. It offers much more than $19.99 worth of laughs. It is an account of my illustrious (I choose the adjectives) career.