What Liberal Media?

Yeah, I'm sure ABC News had no agenda when they did this...

Blogger John Hinderaker notes that ABC News posted on its Web site yesterday the following announcement:

For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below.

As Hinderaker notes, "that only the families of Iraqi war dead need apply. If a soldier died in Afghanistan, or aiding tsunami victims in Indonesia or Sri Lanka, or in a training exercise, never mind. That isn't the 'balance' ABC is looking for."

In his Inaugural Address, meanwhile, President Bush paid tribute to the fallen: "Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives--and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice."

ABC seems to have realized that they didn't sacrifice for the sake of the network's sneering story; the network pulled the announcement as soon as word got out on the blogosphere. (We saw it yesterday before it disappeared.) Blogger Edward Morrissey posted a copy here, though it doesn't display quite properly.

I don't even know what to say about this. I'd be appalled, except I'm not even a little surprised. Can someone explain to me how this sort of person thinks? "Hi, we'd like to cover your son/daughter's funeral because it will be an effective contrast to the parties taking place in Washington for the Inaugural. No, only if the funeral's on January 20th. Sorry, your kid doesn't matter to us unless you hold the funeral that day. No, we're not trying to score political points -- we're just trying to balance our story."

Maybe CBS has some competition for sinking down into the depths.