5:58 p.m. EST: It will be a herculean task tonight and tomorrow to follow all of the analysis of Rather’s stepping down. But keep your eye out for what I call the “Clintonization” of Rather’s legacy.

Remember how an impeachment for lying under oath became an issue of private sex life? Watch for it here. Watch how the MSM cavalierly disregards Rather’s role in this mess — calling a well-known Bush-hater with questionable credentials an “unimpeachable source”, etc. — as well as his decades of advocacy masquerading as journalism.

No, I have a feeling that Rather’s legacy will be mollycoddled by the liberal press, which will go medieval on the truth seekers who helped end his reign. We’ll see.

Tonight, it is appropriate to cite one of my favorite Ratherisms. You have seen it before here, but it encompasses everything as to why Rather is retiring a year early. From John Fund at the Wall Street Journal:

As one prominent journalist recently put it: “In the end, what difference does it make what one candidate or the other did or didn’t do during the Vietnam War? In some ways, that war is as distant as the Napoleonic campaigns.” The man who spoke those words–at a time when John Kerry was under attack by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth–was Dan Rather.

Mr. Rather, your power to foist double standards will be crippled tonight, and hopefully will come to an end with the cancellation of “60 Minutes Wednesday.” Seeing as how you seem to be living in the Napoleonic campaigns, consider Memogate your Waterloo, and tomorrow your St. Helena exile.

6:52 p.m.: I’m working around some technical difficulties, i.e. the TVs in our dayroom don’t pull in local channels. Go figure. Maybe I’ll get lucky. Feel free to post here as the show goes on and let your opinions be known.

And for the record, I’m not wearing pajamas.

7:15 p.m.: Sorry, had to take care of some Army stuff. I’m sorry that this didn’t turn into much of a live blog, but it’s not worth a court martial for disobeying orders.

Rather returned to his “courage” phrase, which he dropped a week after he used it. As a gesture I didn’t see coming, he wished “courage” to soliders overseas, tsunami victims and a post-Sept. 11 American public:

To our soldiers in dangerous places. To those who have endured the tsunami and to all who have suffered natural disasters, and who must find the will to rebuild. To the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle, in financial hardship or in failing health. To my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all. And to each of you: ‘Courage.’

I’ve got more Army work to do, which means I don’t have to sit through “A Reporter Remembers.” I don’t think I’ll be missing much except for Rather attempting to reinvent himself.