Disgraced former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather was at it again on Tuesday pontificating on Facebook as he urged Americans and particularly journalists to rise up and not “remain seated or silent” against concerning aspects of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda and neo-Nazis saluting Trump’s win (in another attempt to normalize their line of hate through free media).
Speaking as if we were on the edge of a massive purge or tragedy, Rather pontificated that “HIstory [sic] will demand to know which side were you on” because “[t]his is not a question of politics or party or even policy” but “a question about the very fundamentals of our beautiful experiment in a pluralistic democracy ruled by law.”
Rather also brought up the neo-Nazi conference:
When I see neo-Nazis raise their hands in terrifying solute, in public, in our nation's capital, I shudder in horror. When I see that action mildly rebuked by a boilerplate statement from the President-elect whom these bigots have praised, the anger in me grows. And when I see some in a pliant press turn that mild statement into what they call a denunciation I cannot hold back any longer.
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Perhaps the most eye-rolling moment was when the man who conjured up and touted the false story about then-President George W. Bush oozed that, using the Declaration of Independence as a guide, “[t]hese truths may be self-evident but they are not self-replicating” because “[e]ach generation has to renew these vows.”
He continued with references to freedom of the press (which he abused and thus lost his job) and comparing this moment in American history to our most tenuous moments:
This nation was founded as an opposite pole to the capriciousness of an authoritarian monarch. We set up institutions like a free press and an independent court system to protect our fragile rights. We have survived through bloody spasms of a Civil War and a Civil Rights Movement to extend more of these rights to more of our citizens. But the direction of our ship of state has not always been one of progress. We interned Japanese Americans, Red Baited during the McCarthy era, and more. I feel the rip tide of regression once again swelling under my feet. But I intend to remain standing.
While not quite in the mold of Jorge Ramos, Rather ruled that while the media “usually takes a stance that the new administration at least deserves to have a chance to get started,” the upcoming transfer of power doesn’t represent “normal times” because we’re not discussing policy (who’s fault is that) but instead one “about racism, bigotry, intimidation and the specter of corruption.”
Rather somehow wound down by ignoring the fact that millions voted for Trump and not Hillary Clinton because they wanted a change in business as usual when he admitted that “there is a vast majority who wants to see this nation continue in tolerance and freedom” yet “will require speaking” and civic engagement.
“Flood newsrooms or TV networks with your calls if you feel they are slipping into the normalization of extremism. Donate your time and money to causes that will fight to protect our liberties. We are a great nation. We have survived deep challenges in our past. We can and will do so again. But we cannot be afraid to speak and act to ensure the future we want for our children and grandchildren,” he concluded.
