Rathergate Reunion.

Memogate Reunion!

Good news, phony document fans! The team that gave you Memogate is back in
action.
Former CBS News producer Mary Mapes has rejoined her old running partner Dan
Rather at Mark Cuban's HDNet channel. Rather, 74, is starting all over at
hi-def cable network with a weekly one-hour show that will translate the
day's events into awkwardly-worded homespun similes. It debuts in October.


Mapes, of course, was at the center of the scandal that triggered Rather's
abrupt retirement from CBS: She was the producer of a 60 Minutes segment
that showcased documents suggesting that, just maybe, George W. Bush's
record as a National Guardsman was less than sterling.

The documents' authenticity (though not their substance) was successfully
refuted by the same principled wingnuts currently leading the charge against
Reuters. Mapes was canned like gooseberry jam, and Rather was put out to
pasture like a draft horse with a busted fetlock.


Mapes, who says she's "thrilled to be on board," told Radar she will
primarily be working on documentaries for Rather, as well as the occasional
news feature. "Mark Cuban has told Dan, 'I don't give a damn about
ratings,'" she says. "'Let's just break news and have some fun breaking
balls.'"

By FI Staff 09/05/06 5:59 AM

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Popeye
You can get much further with a kind word and a gun
than you can with a kind word alone. -Capone
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