Dan Rather filed that big $70 million lawsuit against CBS last year because, he said, they hung him out to dry like a coonskin on a tree branch when it turned out there were problems with his story about George W. Bush's National Guard Service. CBS said Rather was crazier than a coyote with Mexican jumping beans in his anus. (Okay, that's enough). Some of his suit was thrown out in April, and now two more of his remaining four claims have been dismissed. But he's still alive!

[The judge] said he was throwing out Rather's fraud claim not because he wasn't duped, but because he didn't suffer any damages from the alleged trickery. The judge noted that Rather, 76, was still paid the money he was owed under his contract, and is still gainfully - and lucratively - employed by HDNet.

He said Rather's claims for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty can go forward.

Now Rather's suit has come down to proving that CBS stopped giving him (enough) work in the 15 months following the Bush story controversy. Which is not quite as dramatic as it was before.

I apologize for perpetuating Rather-talk.

[NYP]

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