Update on Dan Rather after his covid diagnosis. (He's doing better.)

[femmedem]

From his Steady email:

"It’s been 48 hours since I tested positive for COVID, and I feel as if I am at least tentatively back in the saddle. My grip on the reins may not be as strong as I would like, and I may not have the stamina to gallop across the prairie. But to stretch this already tortured metaphor a bit farther, I feel ready to return to the trails alongside all of you.

I know that especially at my age and life stage, I need to be careful about rushing back too quickly. Liquids. Rest. Eating the right foods. All of those are important. But after a day or so of extreme fatigue and worrisome temperature, the fever has broken and I have at least some of my old energy. I’m not at full strength but do feel I’m getting there. "

He thanks his friends and family and everyone who has sent him well wishes. He thanks his healthcare providers, including the pharmacist who provided him with paxlovil within hours of his diagnosis. He decries that the pandemic became politicized instead of a rallying cry for humanity. He cheers that despite that politicization, vaccines and treatment have made a COVID diagnosis less scary. He says, "Yay, Science!"

And he closes, "So here I am. Here we are. Onward, with courage. Steady."

[sheshe2]

1. We love you Dan.

Get well soon.

[Grasswire2]

2. I have adopted his family's comforting word in hard times.

For several years now, I think of it when things seem to spin to wildly in the world.

"Steady"

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Nice.

Many years ago, I had a brief encounter with him when I was a ticket agent at National Airport in Washington DC, and he was making a quick trip to Philadelphia. He was polite and friendly, and I was thrilled to meet him that way. He knew perfectly well that he was well-recognized, but didn't expect special preference because of who he was.

[femmedem]

4. How wonderful!

I'm not surprised that he didn't expect special treatment.

[skylucy]

5. I love Dan Rather!

[Warpy]

6. That's what a breakthrough case was like for me after vaccination

It was two days of fever and scratchy throat and feeling lousy, then it went away and all I had to do was cough up some glop for a week or so. It's a fast enough mutator that the vaccines didn't offer full prevention but they've been great at keeping most people from dying.

As an aside, I went to Wally's yesterday for my prescriptions and most people were unmasked. We're having an increase of cases here but hospital admissions are not really going up. That means the 92% vaccination rate here is working.

[orleans]

9. 92% vax rate? what part of the country is that??

i've recently heard only 6% of people got the latest booster

(sad face)

[Warpy]

11. New Mexico, and the 92% is for the first shot

73% for the second, about 39% for the booster(s). https://covidactnow.org/us/new_mexico-nm/?s=41962941

I have to say this year's flu hit me harder than Covid did in 2020, except my sense of taste was only gone for 10 dahs instead of a few months. Get the flu shot if you haven't already.

[orleans]

12. i did get the flu shot (and also the most recent booster) but thanks for the advice nt

[Thunderbeast]

7. I have always thought that his purge from CBS was a trap.

His reporting on GW Bush's troubled time in the National Guard was probably accurate. When he cited forged documents, he was miraculously busted within minutes of the release of the information. Operative for the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" immediately pointed out discrepancies between the type on the document and the typewriter capability at the time of the forgery. The discrepancy was seized upon by Roger Stone and Karl Rove to smear Rather and CBS. The document exposure was just too convenient.


https://www.salon.com/2015/10/17/rathergate_and_the_dark_magic_of_2004_when_the_gop_learned_how_to_subvert_truth_and_alter_political_reality/

[Rhiannon12866]

8. +1000

I used to be responsible for the CBS television listings for the newspapers and Dan Rather's publicist was my news contact. She was terrific and I always had the utmost respect for Mr. Rather, a dedicated newsman, but not without humor.

[PlanetBev]

10. Dan turned 91 on Halloween

Happy Birthday, Dan. You are a national treasure!