COMMON SENSE

The usual suspects are up in arms over the Drudge-posted memo from ABC News's Mark Halperin:

From the Halperin memo:

...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.

It's about damn time. Journalist objectivity should mean holding both sides to the same standards of accuracy, not merely "hearing from both sides" or "giving both sides equal time."

Predictably, the wingnuts are claiming Halperin's demonstration of basic common sense as more proof that the media are liberal. Conversely, Sinclair Broadcasting's decision to air an anti-Kerry documentary, which charges that Kerry's anti-war activities amounted to a betrayal of American POWs in Vietnam, proves that the wingnuts are full of crap.