Dan Rather is being pushed out of the picture at CBS: No Future for Dan Rather.

And of course, CBS executives say it has nothing to do with the fraudulent National Guard documents used by Rather, Mary Mapes, and who knows how many others at CBS to try to tilt a presidential election.

They’re still dodging the responsibility for that.

NEW YORK — CBS executives have decided there is no future role at the network for Dan Rather, making it certain that the man who sat in the anchor chair for 24 years will depart by this fall.

These executives recognize Rather’s contributions over four decades and are not trying to boot him because of the controversy surrounding his botched story on President Bush and the National Guard, say network sources who declined to be named while discussing a sensitive personnel matter. But the executives concluded there was no room for Rather at “60 Minutes,” particularly with incoming anchor Katie Couric planning to report a half-dozen stories a year and the hiring of CNN’s Anderson Cooper as a part-time contributor.