Dan Rather, the "journalist" who lost his career for crafting and reporting fake news, is here to lecture us about... wait for it... facts and truth-telling.  

The disgraced former CBS reporter appeared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews to decry Kellyanne Conway's use of the term "alternate facts." Some might recall that Conway used the term while defending White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer during her recent interview with NBC's Chuck Todd. 

 Rather called her comment a "big mistake."

"Well, to say it was unfortunate is, to put it mildly," Rather said of Conway's choice of phrasing. 

"None of us can go into this world of alternative facts."

But you did, Dan, and you attempted to lead the American public into that world too, when you fabricated a report about George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard service in order to delegitimize him. So please, spare us the false sanctimony. 

Rather then waxed poetic: 

"Listen, two plus two equals four. That's a fact, there’s no alternative to it. Water runs downhill; that's a fact. It snows in Alaska. There’s sand dunes in Saudi Arabia. These are facts ... This idea of alternative facts, this is a propaganda tool."

Newsbusters provides the transcript and video: 

MATTHEWS: Dan, there’s a new phrase. I think Kellyanne is as smart as a whip. I think that one is a mistake. That was a strike out because somebody—I might as well do it—Somebody’s going to do it: Alt-facts. It’s not going to be alternatives, it’s going to be alt-facts and you know what that means. That’s coming.

RATHER: Well, to say it was unfortunate is to put it mildly. This was a big mistake. Listen, we cannot—We simply cannot—I don’t mean journalists or the White House per say. None of us can go into this world alternative facts.

Listen, two plus two equals four. That's a fact, there’s no alternative to it. Water runs downhill; that's a fact. It snows in Alaska. There’s sand dunes in Saudi Arabia. These are facts. This idea of alternative facts, this is a propaganda tool. 

And look, you and I both know Ms. Conway is a very smart lady and she didn’t offhandedly say this. They’ve made this point before. I don't think that even most of the Trump supporters who really believe in him want us to deal in a world of alternative facts. Facts and the truth, or as close as humanly possible to get to the truth, are at the very foundation of our democracy and dealing with an informed citizenry. We all know this. 

And I think we have to be very careful-- not just those of us in journalism and not just the White House, but the public at large has to think careful about this whole propaganda tool of alternate facts.

MATTHEWS: You know, I don’t think you look on the opinion page to find out what time the movie is. There’s certain things you just want to hear the facts. You don’t want to hear the opinion. You don’t want to hear the commentary. You want to see the football game and then the commentary. You want to know who won the game.

Yes, Chris, we're so glad you're finally getting the point, too. Sometimes we don't want to hear commentary, especially when watching a program that is meant to deliver straight reporting. 

With regard to Rather, he's never accepted the truth anyway.

Just to refresh, in September 2004, the disgraced reporter pushed "exclusive information, including documents" on CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes alleging that George W. Bush shirked his duties while serving in the Texas Air National Guard decades prior.

"Within a few hours of those documents being posted on CBS News’s Web site, however, typography experts voiced skepticism that the documents had actually originated with their alleged author and Bush’s former commanding officer, the late Lt. Colonel Jerry Killian," MRC, a media watchdog group, reported. 

The forged documents were discredited by blogger Charles F. Johnson, who noted that the font used in the documents did not even exist at the time, nor were they offered on the software program used to fabricate the documents.

CBS fired a number of staff members, including three executives, over the debacle. 

An independent panel investigating the reports concluded that CBS News dif not follow basic journalistic principles. 

(h/t: Newsbusters)