It sure seemed weird that the moderators of a Democratic primary debate picked up interrogation tips from Sean Hannity. Is this some sort of aberration for ABC? A self-described industry insider at Kos says no.
I have had, over the years, some interactions with top ABC executives. At a funeral, the then-president of the network stormed off after we got into a discussion of the Iran/Contra scandal. He declared that Bill Casey was “the greatest patriot this country has ever known” (George Washington, Abe Lincoln, FDR, MLK… chopped liver compared to Casey), who apparently did the country a great service by undermining the constitution.
In short, last night’s debate was not so much a change in the media’s outlook, but rather a change in that ABC no longer feels the need to maintain any pretense of objectivity and wisdom.
Is the guy right that ABC is run by right wing nuts who describe selling arms to Iran as the height of patriotism? How the hell should I know. But I think it is a funny coincidence that ABC is the same network that paid an acknowledged rightwing activist to direct a comically slanted “documentary” that blamed Clinton’s penis for 9/11. The handling of that episode by ABC News (advance screenings for conservative pundits only, fabrications and known myths all knocking Democrats, no pet goat, etc etc) demonstrated as well as any story could that the network’s executives have a personal slant only a few degrees removed from horizontal.
The partisan disease doesn’t permeate ABC News like it does over at FOX; nonetheless whatever recessed boil produced Path to 9/11 clearly hasn’t gone away. It won’t shock me if the stakes/pressure of this election kick out a few more embarrassments on the same level as yesterday’s “debate.”