Posted on 04/06/2005 7:53:03 PM PDT by Crackingham
Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, said Wednesday that a senior member of his staff had written an unsigned memorandum about the partisan political advantages of intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo that became a controversial footnote to the debate over the wisdom and motives of Congress's actions.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr. Martinez said that he had just learned that the memorandum originated in his office and that its author had resigned. He did not name the author, but aides said it was Brian Darling, his counsel.
Mr. Darling could not be reached for comment.
"It is with profound disappointment and regret that I learned today that a senior member of my staff was unilaterally responsible for this document," Mr. Martinez said. "It was not approved by me or any other member of my staff, nor were we aware of its existence until very recently."
Mr. Martinez added: "This type of behavior and sentiment will not be tolerated in my office. As the senator, I am ultimately responsible for the work of my staff and the product that comes out of this office. I take full responsibility for this situation."
The anonymous memorandum, which was distributed to news organizations by Democratic aides and first reported by ABC News, became widely cited in news reports as evidence that at least some Republicans were applying a political calculus to the case of Ms. Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman. Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, and many other Republican Senators quickly disavowed the document, saying they had never seen it and that they condemned it.
In his statement, Mr. Martinez said that on March 9 he had mistakenly and unknowingly handed the document to Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, on the floor of the Senate. Mr. Martinez said that he had meant to reach for a different document and that he did not know how it had entered his possession.
"Senator Harkin was kind enough today to call me and tell me this afternoon that he believes the memo he received was given to him by me," Mr. Martinez said. "Until this afternoon, I had never seen it and had no idea a copy of it had ever been in my possession."
'finding'?! If I go digging through your computer files that's not simply 'finding' something, that's stinks of Watergate, and the Republicans knew they couldn't raise a stink about what had been 'found', given the circumstances.
I know Glenn Beck worked tirelessly for Terri's cause.
Trouble is, I don't think it's all that entertaining.
From what I understand he didn't have to steal a password or anything--they were in the computer---
If you don't want someone to read what you put in the computer, delete it or something...
More than a few FReepers have some major crow to eat as well.
It's a damn shame that the GOP could not find a better candidate than Martinez, but even a worse shame that Martinez's "supporters" had to smear a great leader like impeachment manager Bill McCollum because they couldn't find anything to tote about their candidate except "He's Hispanic so we need a Hispanic in the party"
@#$%^&*(!!!!
(Though Martinez's performance serves as a good warning about the freepers who want to shove Condi Rice in the oval office just so they can have a "black female" on the ticket. Avoid the "Affirmative action" wing of the GOP at all costs)
Sorry about that previous ping... this is probably the better thread on this subject.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my miscellaneous ping list.
These are the first words of the New York Times' report. Did you ever see the New York Times so quickly, in any story about a scandal involving a Democrat politician, identify the politician as a Democrat so quickly? Usually, you need to scan the story all the way to the bottom to find out that the scandal-plagued politician is a Democrat.
Of course not............Hatch and Frist would launch an investigation
into the "criminal" responsible for finding it, then fire him.
< /sarcasm >
"The anonymous memorandum, which was distributed to news organizations by Democratic aides and first reported by ABC News...
...was written by a politically driven GOP hack flack for Sen. Mel Martinez and will dominate the news for at least a week.
No kidding - what kind of 'counsel' would write something as idiotic and potentially damning as that memo. Good riddance - you don't need 'counsel' like that.
Kathering Harris or Charlie Crist would have been better Senators.
What's bad about this is it confirms the public perception that Congress's involvement in the Schiavo case was purely political. I don't see an ethical problem here. I do see a stupidity problem. It helps the Democrats frame the GOP as pandering to the Religious Right.
Yep, I agree. She was awesome when I knew her in college, and I hear that she was intelligent and well spoken at law firm (this being admitted by a very liberal former colleague of hers), but I cringe when I hear her on the radio. :-(
The good news is that since hearing her show, I am not so broken up about her engagement.
So they put a picture of Laura Ingraham in every memo? Cool.
Harkin was on the GOP side of the Schiavo issue, if memory serves. In any case, it doesn't change the fundamental truth of the matter.
SW
Right on. This was incredibly stupid and crass.
Beck is pretty unstable too, if you ask me. He tries too hard and he's manic. He gets old real fast, constantly reminding his audience that he was a worthless out of control drunk. He most likely will be out of control again someday in some other way.
But, Quinn smokes these days!! ---- Quinn: The meaning of a TARGETED TAX CUT is ....... you aint gettin it!
;-)
It looks bad when you defend the guilty. The GOP should learn honesty will keep them in power.
"Laura Ingraham's been raggin' on this for the last two days."
"She's got some major crow to eat."
She's not alone.
"Before writing a memo, every congressional staffer should ask himself/herself: what will this look like on the front page of the Washington Post and what affect will it have on my boss?"
I've always asked myself and told others to ask....if you do this, what will you say when Rather and the 60 minute crew show up? What will it sound like?
In a word THINK!
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