Dan Rather defends report on George W. Bush

DALLAS -- It seems almost quaint to mention today, in the era of the “birther’’ movement, but we used to debate where presidential candidates were during the Vietnam War, not where they were born.

Just eight years ago, this line of inquiry produced two spectacular efforts: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and "Rathergate.''

It’s hard to argue the significance of the Swift Boat movement. But former CBS newsman Dan Rather is still fighting history’s judgment on his botched investigation of former President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard.  A scathing independent report chronicled a long list of journalistic and ethical missteps.

But now Rather is pressing his case in a lengthy interview in the May issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

The thrust of Rather’s news report, for which he later issued an on-air apology, was that Bush got preferential treatment to get into the National Guard shortly before his college deferment for the draft was set to expire....