DAN RATHER   So Dan Rather cried about his traumatic terrorist experience and Tom Brokaw whined about one of his staff getting anthrax.   Jesus...   Correct me if I am wrong. Isn't Dan Rather the one that could barely keep his excitement under control when the shuttle blew itself to little bits on national TV? Isn't Dan Rather the one that was getting the pre-orgasmic jitters every time he replayed the scene where the Challenger exploded and obliterated all those American lives?   Isn't this the same Dan Rather that couldn't wait to get on the air to announce that a flight in Scotland had lost contact with air traffic control, that he couldn't actually confirm that the plane had been downed but thought that he had better advise us on the situation anyway? That it was better to worry the hell out of relatives with loved ones on the flight than to wait 30 minutes to deliver the story in its entirety at the risk of being scooped?   Isn't Tom Brokaw one of the guys on the evening news that has spent years reporting the deaths of thousands of people in a completely stoic manner? and doing so all in the name of Good Journalism? Didn't Brokaw, Jennings and Rather all engage in this behavior without conveying even the slightest degree of genuine sympathy, empathy or any other damned emotion?   All of these "journalists" have happily escorted scores upon scores of people to and through the gates of Hell without even so much as a glimmer of concern for those left behind.   But now...   NOW they are crying and whining and moaning after the grim reaper manages to give these oh-so-objective-newsgatherers a good close look as The Great Cold Hand dispatches those close to home... And we are supposed to feel sorry for these idiots?!?!   I'm sorry but I do not care about how this affects those who report the news. When kids blast each other to smithereens, when careless people cause others to die in utterly stupid ways, when anyone dies a terrible death, the dispassionate pundits "objectively" state the facts and move on to the human interest story of the moment without a second thought. Yet, for some reason, these idiots' personal loss is somehow DIFFERENT.   Yeah, right.   I am not saying that the loss is less than tragic. The loss of life in this instance is horrific due to the sheer number of people who died in the attack, but the idea that we should feel bad for Rather and those of his ilk because of the way they were personally affected is insane. I do not think that I would be so offended by this, but I can see all of these jerks doing the same old stuff a year down the road...   "Eighteen people died today in a bizarre accident involving two meat grinders, a bottle of tobasco sauce, and three dwarfs on LSD. And now it's time for the entertainment news headlines..."   And so it goes...