RATHER BITCHY

As Dan Rather gathers up his CBS Evening News scripts for the last time, it's an edifying spectacle to see the elder statesmen of American broadcast news -- men who have devoted their lives to a high-minded search for the truth -- sniping at each other like a gaggle of vindictive teenagers.

First came Ken Auletta's New Yorker piece, in which 60 Minutes anchor Mike Wallace said he preferred Peter Jennings over Rather.

Then Rather's predecessor, Walter Cronkite -- aka the Most Trusted Man in America -- told CNN that he would like to have seen Rather replaced by Bob Schieffer "a long time ago."

Not to be outdone, "Rather loyalists" hit back in the Washington Post, describing Cronkite as "a codgerly old ass," who has "stayed alive just so he could see this moment."

As if all this bitching weren't bad, a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll says the percentage of people who say they believe all or most of what Rather says has dropped to 23 percent.

I look forward to the day John Simpson retires and gets slammed as a "fat, burka-wearing ponce" by Sir Trevor Macdonald.

The Detroit Post, meanwhile, looks at the seismic changes in news consumption that have taken place during the Rather era.