Dan Rather v. Poppy Bush 1988 --- it was hotter then!

[grasswire]

DU-ers, it's a good idea to learn the history of the fuss between the Bushes and Dan Rather, culminating in a grilling of Bush over Iran Contra! Hotter than hell!

The site below is a site critical of Rather, so keep that in mind. They HATE HIM!

http://www.ratherbiased.com/bush_attack.htm

[grasswire]

1. snips

"I was doing the Rather live program from my office right in the Capitol.... There were four minutes of clips -- all questioning my word. It was a mean, tough interview. Dan came on, and he and I got right with it. I tried to keep cool.... But I'd be damned if I was going to let this guy walk all over me..."
--George H. W. Bush in his diary, January 25, 1988, included in All the Best, George Bush.

"I won the battle with Dan Rather that night, but he won the war. His coverage of my campaign and presidency was consistently negative."
--George H. W. Bush in his 1999 book, All the Best, George Bush.

"...he was at the very least skirting the truth about his involvement in sending some of America's best technology to the Ayatollah Khomeini."
--Dan Rather to Chris Mathews CNBC's Hardball, June 28, 1999.

[grasswire]

2. HA! Gotta see this!

After the interview, Bush made a comment when he thought the microphone was off:
"The bastard didn't lay a glove on me." "He makes Lesley Stahl look like a pussy."
Bush later apologized at a South Dakota campaign stop:
"If I had known the microphone was on, I wouldn't have done it."

[grasswire]

4. Pop Bush Threatened CBS

"Well, I had my say, Dan. makes Lesley Stahl look like a pussy. The worst time I’ve had in twenty years of public life. But it’s going to help me, because that bastard did not lay a glove on me. I'm really upset. You can tell your goddam network that if they want to talk to me, they can raise their hands at a press conference. No more 'Mr. Insider' stuff."
--George Bush to CBS after the interview.

[indie_voter]

3. My mom and I watched that broadcast together at the time

We were stunned at the end.

Bush Sr used it to his advantage, made him look strong against the SCLM.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. I think that was the idea

Rather barely got a word out of his mouth before Bush went ape. I've heard it said that it wasn't genuine anger. It was a strategy for the Republican base (who hated Rather) to prove that he wasn't a Wimp, a criticism that Poppy was trying to shake.

[RevCheesehead]

11. Roger Ailes - the first Karl Rove - now with FOX

The antichrist was born.

[H2O Man]

5. I liked him versus Nixon:

there was famous exchange between them that earned my respect for Dan Rather. While he's not perfect, he knows the score.

[grasswire]

7. IIRC...

...Chuck Colson hates him too.

I wonder where we would be without him?

[grasswire]

8. kick

important for context!

[Maddy McCall]

9. Here is what Babs had to say about it.

Barbara Bush:
"George was scheduled to have an interview with Dan Rather before the President's speech. It was billed as a political profile, which they had done on all the other candidates and which had been benign stories devoid of controversy. However, CBS opened with a six-minute 'exposé' on George's alleged role in Iran-contra that was filled with false assumptions. It was just plain ugly. Then came nine minutes of Dan grilling George. There were raised voices on both sides. At one point George sad: 'You have impugned my integrity...if this is a political profile for an election, I have a very different opinion as to what it should be.' George rarely gets angry, but Dan kept on about Iran-contra with the most vicious slander, never listening to an answer. At one time George interrupted Dan and said: 'It is not fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your whole career by those seven minutes you walked off the set in New York.' (He was referring to an incident several years earlier when Dan had done just that, resulting in dead air.)
"After the interview each side accused the other of an ambush. Our campaign felt CBS purposely misled them on the content of the interview; CBS said that the Bush campaign deliberately planned an attack. I do believe we came out the winner: CBS reported getting complaint calls; ours were of support.
"I was there and, believe me, there was no plot or plan to attack. But you can just take so much. I really do feel that CBS news programs often start an interview with an unflattering opener, and in this case, an untrue one. This puts many interviewees on the defensive. George often has to remind me of that when I see an interview featuring a political opponent and I'm taking some comfort in their unease. George forgives to a fault, but he will never trust Dan Rather again."
--Barbara Bush in her 1994 book, Barbara Bush: A Memoir.

[grasswire]

10. Barbara...

..rhymes with "witch" --- never forget it!