Tim Russert lets Gingrich walk all over him

Newt Gingrich told Tim Russert today that Saddam had a direct relationship with Al Qaeda. Of course, Bush has found zero evidence to suggest any such thing - that's an outright lie from Gingrich. The thing is, any of us hearing Gingrich say this, we'd immediately say "woah, wait a minute, where did you get that?" And in fact, we'd probably say "Mr. Gingrich, the supposed linkage was disproven years ago, there is no evidence whatsoever. Why are you even saying this?"

Russert said zero.

I'd like to think that in the heat of the moment, in the middle of a talk show, you miss some things. And having been on shows like this, though not on this particular show, I know what's it like to have people after the fact say "why didn't you say this or that?"

But.

Gingrich brings up one of the biggest lies of the entire war, that Saddam had ties to Al Qaeda, and America's top journalists still don't bat an eye, after everything that's happened, after all the lies they've been fed, and after the disastrous consequences that have come from those lies. That is just sloppy and unprofessional.

At some point, US journalists need to get back to their roots. You are not a fair journalist, especially one hosting a top political TV show, if you let people spout garbage that you know, for a fact, to be patently false - especially when it's something as key to the entire war effort as Saddam's alleged ties to Al Qaeda, a falsehood that is no longer even debatable.

Please, listen to the people you're interviewing. And if they feed you an absolute lie, that you know is an absolute lie, don't just let it pass, or pair it off with someone else alleging the truth. It isn't fair, it isn't balanced, and it isn't journalism when you pass along lies that you know to be lies.