There’s no ignoring the CBS flap, which doesn’t surprise the unflappable Roger
Repulski, a loyal Straight Up reader. “The big story,” he says, “is the amazing connection —
four hours — between Dan Rather’s report and the blog world’s fact-check pounding. Something
vile here. I suspect everyone.”
If you’re looking for in-depth commentary on the flap, however, look no further than
Bruce Fierstein (channeling Jonathan Swift), who offers these wise words:
Go left, young Dan.
Give up the ghost, stop ridin’ that dead horse. Come out of the closet, drop this objectivity
thing, and take the only sane, rational course: Turn CBS into the antidote to Fox News.
— Starting Monday night, retitle the CBS evening news The CBS Essential
Truths.
— Co-opt the Fox News slogan: Instead of “We report, you decide,” try “We decide, the
bloggers report.” (Just think of the money you’ll save on forensic document experts.)
— Bring back Edward R. Murrow. Sure, he’s dead. But I hear his secretary’s grandaughter’s
second cousin (twice removed) knows exactly what he thinks about John Kerry (war hero) and
George Bush (draft dodger).
— Continue the CBS Evening News tradition of news by anecdote: Nobody will
complain any more when the Bush administration’s economic figures point up—and you manage
to find the one guy in Elkhart, Ind., who’s just lost his job, house, wife and
dog.
I think Repulski would agree.
