Tom Brokaw and

Peter Jennings came to the defense of embattled colleague Dan Rather at a panel discussion in New York over the weekend. Brokaw blasted efforts by right-wingers to "demonize" the CBS newsman and get him fired, calling it a "political jihad." Added Jennings: "I don't think you ever judge a man by only one event in his career." Unless, of course, that man is Andy Richter and the event is Quintuplets.