I actually don't have an opinion on that," Westin replied, "and it's important I not have an opinion on that as I sit here in my capacity right now. The way I conceive my job running a news organization, and the way I would like all the journalists at ABC News to perceive it, is there is a big difference between a normative position and a positive position.
"Our job is to determine what is, not what ought to be, and when we get into the job of what ought to be, I think we're not doing a service to the American people. I can say the Pentagon got hit. I can say this is what their position is, this is what our position is, but for me to take a position this was right or wrong, I mean that's perhaps for me in my private life. . . . But as a journalist I feel strongly that's something that I should not be taking a position on."
The problem is that Westin sounded as if he was taking a moral pass on mass murder.
"Like all Americans, I was horrified at the loss of life at the Pentagon, as well as in New York and Pennsylvania on September 11," he said in yesterday's statement. He said he was trying to draw a distinction between journalistic duties and personal opinion but that "upon reflection, I realized that my answer did not address the specifics of September 11."
Drudge said he enjoyed skewering Westin, who tried to block the network from hiring the Internet gossip for a syndicated radio show, which was later dropped by ABC last year.
Eric The(CoveringTheSameOldGroundAsAlways)Hun[>]:)]