My column this week was sharply critical of both Dan Rather and CBS News. I still have numerous issues with the scandal that has gripped the network, and firmly believe Mr. Rather’s departure to be the only clean way for the Tiffany news operation to move beyond this black eye.

But I must compliment CBS for today taking the first true and honest step towards laying this issue to rest. The announcement that an independent investigation will be conducted is good news unto itself, but the two men named to helm the investigation serve to make the news all the better. Former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former AP President and CEO Louis Boccardi are two of the most respected men in the legal and journalistic fields respectively, and bring the most class to this incident to date.

Questions now exist about a tie between the story and the Kerry campaign. Questions about who knew what and when they knew it must now extend to John Kerry’s senior advisors as well as to Mr. Rather and other CBS executives. It is difficult to believe that the left-leaning CBS News will seriously treat these questions, but the naming of these two gentlemen as the primary investigators certainly lends the maximum possible credibility to the impending investigation and represents the first action in weeks for which CBS News should be applauded.