From The Associated Press, via MSNBC:

Rather to step down as CBS News anchor

Yay!

Veteran to remain with network as correspondent

Boo!

Seriously: what the hell kind of resignation is this? And no, I won't be happy until Rather is sneaking out the back door with his coat over his head snarling "no pictures, damnit"; thanks for asking.

You have to love the AP's lead:

Dan Rather, the hard-charging embodiment of CBS News who saw his reputation damaged by an ill-fated report on President Bush’s National Guard service... (emphasis mine)

So it will be passive voice, now, will it? "Saw his reputation damaged," you say? As in: Act of God, don't you know; just the will of the fates that it be so. Nothing to be done about it; could have happened to anyone.

Piffle.

But we can take solace that soon, All Will Be Revealed:

"...a September “60 Minutes Wednesday” story about Bush’s service that turned out to be based on allegedly forged documents forced Rather to fight for his professional life. Independent investigators are looking into what went wrong with the story, and their report is considered imminent."

From the you-heard-it-here-first file: what better time would there be to bury the results of the long-promised report (weeks not months, you say?) than the Friday after Thanksgiving? That would be appropriate, given that it would provide America two turkey days in a row...

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