ABCNEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR MEMO SPARKS CONTROVERSY: BOTH SIDES NOT 'EQUALLY ACCOUNTABLE'

**Exclusive**

An internal memo written by ABCNEWS Political Director Mark Halperin admonishes ABC staff: During coverage of Democrat Kerry and Republican Bush not to "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable."
I'm an ass and I admit it!
The controversial internal memo obtained by DRUDGE, captures Halperin stating how "Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win."
And As a disconnected leftist, I am so arrogant that I believe even if this gets out, no one will care.
But Halperin claims that Bush is hoping to "win the election by destroying Senator Kerry at least partly through distortions."
Seems to me Kerry is doing a pretty good job of that himself without any help from the president, you SCUMBAG.
"The current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done," Halperin writes.
But of course Halperin won't talk about whether Kerry is more like Walter Mitty or Baron von Munchausen in his storytelling...
Halperin's claim that ABCNEWS will not "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable" set off sparks in St. Louis where media players gathered to cover the second presidential debate.
And prompted the loaded question at the end of the about admitting "mistakes" to be selected by Carley Gibson, who must have gotten an attaboy call from Snake Halperin. I can hear the snake to Charley now, "We'll get him next time dammit"
Halperin states the responsibilities of the ABCNEWS staff have "become quite grave."
The longevity of his job may become "quite grave" if we can get enough Disney stockholders angry.
In August, Halperin declared online: "This is now John Kerry's contest to lose."

DROOL, DROOL
x x x x x

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 (sp?) and 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.
If you don't answer right, I know whose contract not to renew.

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.
I guess the Snake thinks stories about the lucky hat are not indicative of anything.

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.
The "public" has an "interest" in actually seeing this come out. Here it proves he has joined Dan Rather and Mary Mapes as unpaid staff in the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

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.
Stepped up efforts to expose truth, SNAKE.

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.
It's up to Kerry to defend himself, of course. But we can give him a boost with impunity and no longer pretend to be fair.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Filed By Matt Drudge