Dan Rather on Letterman blackmailer

Dan Rather may have lost in court against CBS, but he can still toss off his trademark "Ratherisms". Here's what he told Lloyd Grove about the news that his former 48 Hours CBS colleague Joe Halderman had tried to blackmail David Letterman:

Frankly, I couldn’t be more astonished that this guy was involved in something like this than if you came riding through my apartment on a hippopotamus.

Unfortunately, he's recycling material -- here's what he said back on Election Night in 2000:

"I think you would likelier see a hippopotamus run through this room than see George Bush appoint Ralph Nader to the Cabinet."

And in the end, neither compares to my favorite Rather quote involving animals:

"If a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun." (In response to somebody telling him that if someone won one state ...)

Comments

[David]

Rather also trusted Mary Mapes' ability and integrity as a researcher. He seems to be a poor judge of character.