Would You Buy a Used Memo From This Network?

John Hinderaker of Powerline, writing in The Daily Standard does an excellent job of pointing out the inconsistencies in the saga of ABC's supposed "Terri Schiavo Republican talking points" memo, including pointing out that the only political entities known to have been in possession of the memo are Democratic staffers who passed it on to ABC.

A REASONABLE CONCLUSION would be that the "talking points memo" might be a fake, created by Democrats to cast aspersions on the motives of the Republican leadership. Every Republican who has been asked about the memo has denied knowing anything about it. Unless someone talks--at a minimum, identifying the Democratic aides who distributed the memo on March 17--we likely will never know who, exactly, created it.

We do, however, know to a reasonable certainty who authored this memo (from Powerline):

Halperin Memo Dated Friday October 8, 2004
It goes without saying that the stakes are getting very high for the country and the campaigns - and our responsibilities become quite grave

I do not want to set off and [sic] endless colloquy that none of us have time for today - nor do I want to stifle one. Please respond if you feel you can advance the discussion.

The New York Times (Nagourney/Stevenson) and Howard Fineman on the web both make the same point today: the current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done.

Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win.

We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides "equally" accountable when the facts don't warrant that.

I'm sure many of you have this week felt the stepped up Bush efforts to complain about our coverage. This is all part of their efforts to get away with as much as possible with the stepped up, renewed efforts to win the election by destroying Senator Kerry at least partly through distortions.

It's up to Kerry to defend himself, of course. But as one of the few news organizations with the skill and strength to help voters evaluate what the candidates are saying to serve the public interest. Now is the time for all of us to step up and do that right.

The author was Mark Halperin, Political Director of ABC News.

Now the network of Eason Jordan and Mark Halperin presents us with an unsigned memo and asks us to take their word that Republicans were behind it.

Most people expect the Terri Schiavo tragedy to result in Congressional action clarifying the murky laws surrounding so-called "right-to-die" issues. Maybe a close examination of ABC News' operations should come out as well. For example, given their horrid track record of bias, should ABC News reporters be credentialed to sit in on White House press conferences?

Via The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.