Dan Rather on David Letterman - Authentic or Fake?

[Longhorn85]

I can be a cynical person at times, but for some reason I wonder if Dan Rather staged that whole scene. I mean, for a guy like him who has been at the scene of many wars and has seen it all first hand, I was surprised.

It seemed questionable that he'd come all the way to the David Letterman show to cry while reciting the second stanza of America the Beautiful.

Did anyone else feel this way?

 

[WODIN]

Nope...although I've never cared for Dan Rather so I'm going with staged!

 

[Longhorn85]

Yeah, I'm not crazy about him either, that's why I'm getting the opinion of others. I'm biased.

 

[Natymike]

I can't think of any reason why it would be staged. Seemed real to me. There is a difference when he is at his job and must maintain composure. In this instance he was a guest and was asked to share his personal feelings.

 

[havoc]

Before I answer, I think Dan Rather is a moron, but I believe most of it was sincere. peac

 

[RyanH]

Dan Rather is a fine journalist. He lives in New York, he loves his country just as we do. Thus, I think it's very understandable that he would cry along with the rest of us.

 

[spentagn]

Dan Rather is an asshole. He won't even give comencement speaches at his own university. I guess he's pissed they didn't name the journalism school after him.

 

[Longhorn85]

I don't fault him for crying, but I don't think he just spontaneously broke down just as he sat down with David Letterman while reciting the SECOND stanza of America the Beautiful.

"Thine alabaster cities gleam, unstained by human tears..."

seems like something his PR team came up with

 

[bigguns7]

I believe he was sincere. It was the first time he got to publicly address the issue from a non-jounalistic stance. He was speaking as an American and not as a news anchor, and I believe that's what got him choked up. I guarantee you he wasn't looking for an Academy Award like you're insinuating.

 

[Dillon35]

You people are ignorant uneducated morons,I WAS watching that show when he started to cry, he JUST GOT a little upset and everybody is making too much of an issue out of it. I guess we need to start by taking down everyones name who shed a tear over this and publicly humiliate them.

GO ahead i will be waiting for the flames on this one, LETS ROCK BABY!!!

 

[Checkmatebloated]

That old fart was crying.

 

[Longhorn85]

Don't you think he had to plan that out ahead of time? I mean, what he said was, that Americans would never be able to sing that song again, and then he began to recite the 2d stanza, and cried and grabbed Letterman's hand right as he said "cities gleam...human tears"

Doesn't seem spotaneous, but premeditated for effect. What would be his motivation? What does he have to gain by showing that kind of emotion on the David Letterman show. I may sound callous, but these are the type of things that politicians and high profile folks think about every day.

 

[tripleV]

genuine!

 

[Ingram]

What would crying do for him? He already has one of the best news anchor jobs in the country. I think it was legit.

 

[RyanH]

I think some of your feelings towards Dan Rather is really related to the fact that he is a liberal. If it was Brit Hume or some other conservative anchor, I bet you'd accept his tears as genuine.

As someone mentioned, Dan Rather, unlike Peter Jennings didn't cry on the air while broadcasting. He saved it for David Letterman. Why is it so hard to believe that Mr. Rather feels the same pain so many others are feeling? He too is human.

REMEMBER, NEW YORK IS HIS HOME. Further, why can we accept Bush's tears as genuine (since Pres. Bush cried last week) and not Rathers. Where's the consistency?

Ryan.

 

[MoneyBags]

real men dont cry

 

[Longhorn85]

I accept your criticism. I admitted up front that I was cynical, and you know I'm conservative. I certainly don't fault anyone for showing emotions.

Hopefully soon our collective tears will dry up...

 

[Longhorn85]

I would still like to know if anyone else got that feeling. I doubt that I'm alone.

 

[Milhouse]

real men dont cry

Your kidding right.

Maybe if you went somewhere like D-Day back in WW2 and watched your best friends get their heads blown off or watched your family get killed in that shit last week you would think different.

Any man can take action or someone's blood in his hands, but it takes a real man to show real emotion and cry.

 

[KAYNE]

ALL I READ WAS THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD, BUT I THINK THAT IF ANYONE THINKS THAT LETTERMAN OR RATHER WERE "FAKING" THEIR FEELINGS, YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR BOX.

KAYNE

 

[§äñît¥ Pôí§ðñ]

i didnt see it, dont care
but i like him well enough as a journalist
i dont see why he would fake cry - come on/........

 

[the nature boy]

I think we're a cynical society if we're wondering if it was fake tears.

It was real, at least I'd like to think so.

 

[Longhorn85]

Not Unthinkable

Don't think it is beyond belief for leaders to fake crying. Bill Clinton was walking and laughing during Ron Brown's funeral procession and when he noticed a television camera on him morphed into crying what seemed like real tears in mid-stride. If actors can train themselves to cry, so can others.

 

[musclebrains]

The question is whether it was appropriate. The dreadful, biased way the crisis is being reported is plenty of reason to cry.

 

[Lao Tzu]

i remember when it first happened, an NBC correspondent broke down when he started talking about people jumping out of the windows on the 100th floor.

i don't think rather was faking. but i think letterman may have been. i think dave is, deep down inside, just a withdrawn guy who probably doesn't care that much about world events.

flame away.

 

[Longhorn85]

I've seen a lot of reactions over the last week, from W Bush to Jay Leno to Local News correspondents. Rather is the first one that ever made me even question the emotion displayed.