ANOTHER FISHY MEMO
By Michelle Malkin · March 23, 2005 06:13 AM
michellemalkin.com
Power Line wants to know who wrote and circulated the unsigned memo about the Schiavo case that was circulated to Senate Republicans last week.
Cynthia Tucker says in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the memo was passed around by "an anonymous GOP strategist." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said the memo was circulated by "party leaders." Citing the Washington Post, Chris Matthews said the memo was circulated by "the Senate leadership."
The Hartford Courant said "Republicans in the Senate ought to be embarrassed" at the memo, even while acknowledging in the same sentence that the memo is unsigned.
In an editorial titled "Exploiting Terri Schiavo," the Boston Globe says the memo was distributed by "Republican leaders." The Globe attributes this information to the two MSM outlets that broke the story: ABC News and the Post.
But neither ABC News nor the Post is saying who wrote and circulated the memo. Indeed, despite an ABC News headline characterizing the memo as "GOP talking points," I haven't been able to find a single instance in which any ABC News or Post reporter claimed that the memo was written by someone affiliated with the Republican Party.
ABC's Linda Douglass, who first broke the story on Friday March 18, said only that "ABC News has obtained talking points circulated among Republican Senators, explaining why they should vote to intervene in the Schiavo case...."
Charles Babington and Mike Allen of the Post wrote on Monday March 21 that Sen. Bill Frist "denounced an unsigned memo circulated to Republican lawmakers over the weekend...." The next day the Post duo wrote of "An unsigned memo circulated among GOP senators calling the Schiavo case 'a great political issue.' "
One more time, slowly: Douglass, Babington, and Allen reported that the memo was circulated to Republican leaders. They did not report that the memo was circulated by Republican leaders.
In an online Q&A chat, Post reporter Allen had this to say about the memo's origins: "Because of the conditions under which it was provided to us, we frustratingly cannot tell our readers all that we know about its provenance. But I would not have put it in an article if I were not certain of its authenticity and relevance -- i.e., senators had it on the floor."
The existence of the memo and its presence on the Senate floor are not in dispute. The question is who wrote and circulated it--and specifically, whether the ABC News headline describing the memo as "GOP Talking Points" is supportable. |
