Rather Makes It Official

Last week the Washington Post revealed (on the front page, no less) that Dan Rather, newsman, had attended a Democratic party fund-raiser in Austin, Texas, as the star attraction. "Please join us for an Evening with Dan Rather," read the invitation, which was mailed to 1,000 Democrats in the Austin area. Tickets to a private reception beforehand went for $ 1,000; more limited exposure to the great man could be purchased for smaller denominations.

Said a Democratic functionary: "It was a very successful event."

Said a CBS spokesman: "Our standards don't allow correspondents to appear at political fund-raisers."

Said Dan himself: "I take full responsibility for it."

Now, one of the unusual features of American culture these days is that the moment a public figure announces he's "taken responsibility" for some mistake, he no longer has to take responsibility for it -- a trick introduced by Janet Reno after the incineration in Waco and perfected by President Clinton. Taking responsibility is the surest way to avoid having to face the consequences of one's mistakes.

Of course, it's hard to know what the appropriate consequence of Rather's particular mistake would be. Indefatigable media watchdog Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center piggy-backed the Post story with a press release "demanding" that Rather apologize at once, on the air. Otherwise, Bozell said, drawing a particularly unpleasant word picture, "Rather's lips will forever drip with hypocrisy."

But surely it hasn't escaped the notice of anyone who's watched him over the course of his multi-decade career that Dan Rather prefers Democrats to Republicans. His on-air performances have established an impressively sustained pattern of bias -- see the excellent and reliable website www.ratherbiased.com for example after example. Rather's "mistake" in Austin was merely that he made it official: His political sympathies are now an indisputable matter of record. Even the poor flacks at CBS will at last be able to abandon their increasingly embarrassing defenses of his journalistic objectivity. By raising money for the Democrats, in other words, Dan didn't make a mistake. He performed a public service. Tom, Peter -- it's your turn.