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The ABC news producer who broke the story, Chris Vlasto, is well-known for his far-right connections. In 1994, he acted as an emissary from Ken Starr to lobby both James and Susan McDougal to cooperate with his inquisition. In 1995, he produced a report on ABC that accused Hillary Clinton of perjury, based largely on a doctored video clip of the First Lady. In 1998, he threw a celebratory party for Paula Jones and her attorneys after Bill Clinton was forced to testify before the Lewinsky Grand Jury. In October, 2001, he produced a report that claimed a connection between Saddam and the anthrax attacks on Senator Daschle, et al., as well as being one of the first journalists to detail a link between Muhammed Atta and the government of Iraq; both allegations were subsequently discredited. More recently, Vlasto ran a misleading report suggesting that Howard Dean had covered-up incidents of alleged domestic abuse by one of the state troopers protecting him; it was repudiated as "slime" and denounced by those denizens of the far left, Andrew Sullivan and John Ellis.
It's always a wee bit weird when you find yourself defending someone you've never been a fan of (Rather), over something which was obviously a screwup. But, I find the selective memory and moral outrage of those in the media to be rather distressing.
And, yes, Vlasto still has his job.
During the Clinton era, when the Clinton Rules of Journalism were in operation, this kind of shit happened daily, and No One, except Lyons/Conason/Waas/Nelson, gave a shit. Simply pointing this stuff out was a way to marginalize yourself as a journalist and have Howie label you a "knee jerk Clinton apologist.'