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March 23, 2005
Possible Source for Schiavo "Talking Points"
ABC News is reporting a story under the title "GOP Talking Points on Terri Schiavo." This is based on a Sunday Washington Post article by Mike Allen which states the following:In a memo distributed only to Republican senators, the Schiavo case was characterized as "a great political issue" that could pay dividends with Christian conservatives, whose support is essential in midterm elections such as those coming up in 2006ABC News gives the impression that this is an official GOP produced memo. Aside from having the wrong bill number, no signature, or letterhead, why should a major news reporter expect the public to believe its veracity? Mike Allen had this to say about the source for the memo in an online Q&A:
The memo is unsigned. 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.Translation: Believe it because he says so. And what's with the cloak and dagger overtones? He's talking about a talking points memo not classified documents. However, the Traditional Values Coalition's website has a page with the same text as the memo but the correct bill number. The coalition urges people to email this to their congressman via their website but with the following caveat:
Please note, the article will NOT be automatically inserted or referenced in your letter. You must copy and paste it or give them the web page URL yourself. (source)Here is a screencap (click to enlarge)
While some senators may have had this memo on the floor of the Senate, it does not appear that it was distributed by the GOP as the ABC article would seem to indicate but rather because of a concerted effort by a lobbyist group.
UPDATE (8:00 AM): The story was originally from another ABC News report from Saturday, March 19th and not a Washington Post article as written above. ABC News passed the memo to the Post and not the other way around.
A timeline of the story can be found here.
Posted by Skayhan at March 23, 2005 06:23 AM
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