If Journalism was Functioning there would be a race to
get Romney, personally, on record about the Reid allegations.
I doubt anyone has denied it. Comparing your accuser to Joe McCarthy is very much a non-denial denial.
Look for the classic, "That report is inaccurate." Anyone taken in by that one is new to Public Relations. If Mitt didn't pay taxes for nine years instead of ten he would say "that report is inaccurate, and that's all I'm going to say on that topic."
Anyway, I doubt that Mitt is on record anywhere saying anything about the contents of his returns that could be called a flat lie (as opposed to a deliberate attempt to mislead by emphasis and omission), and reporters are supposed to be insistent on sharpening that up. (Not that they will.)
Asking the right preliminary questions is necessary to cutting out a lot of deception. For instance, there was only ONE question to ask George W. Bush in early 2003 and I didn't seem to even cross anyone's mind—"If there are no WMD in Iraq will you and Vice President Cheney resign?"
It was THE question. It was the only question that could have effectively provided the answer the public really needed to know, which is, "Just how sure are you?"
Anyway... I digress. Every journalist in the world ought to be nailing Romney down on exactly what he is claiming. That sort of creation of a clear record, so that someone can subsequently be said to have been lying, is not "gotcha" journalism. If your words are so vague that you cannot be said, subsequently, to have lied or to have told the truth then your words are meaningless.
