Schiavo Memo Linked To Martinez

It appears that the Republican right can't even lie effectively. Or is it just a fact that they are a bunch of hypocrites. I vote for the latter. Back when the memo stating that the Schiavo controversy would give the Republicans eight talking points in support of the legislation and calls the controversy "a great political issue." Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) claimed the memo was not from his office, and if any staffer was found to have been responsible they would be dismissed immediately. Now we have the The Washington Post reporting that the memo did not only come from the Martinez camp but was penned by his own legal counsel. The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) admitted yesterday that he was the author of a memo citing the political advantage to Republicans of intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the senator said in an interview last night. Brian H. Darling, 39, a former lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group on gun rights and other issues, offered his resignation and it was immediately accepted, Martinez said. And to make matters worse, it was even distributed by Martinez himself on the senate floor when he gave it to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). Harkin said in an interview that Martinez handed him the memo on the Senate floor, in hopes of gaining his support for the bill giving federal courts jurisdiction in the Florida case in an effort to restore the brain-damaged Florida woman's feeding tube. "He said these were talking points -- something that we're working on here," Harkin said. So Martinez claims he didn't know anything about the origin of the memo, now he says he does and blames a staffer. Does anyone else smell a rat here? It seems to me that Martinez makes a habit of blaming his staff whenever the truth finally emerges. In fact back when he was running for the Senate, Martinez used his general election campaign to tar Betty Castor, his opponent and a distinguished former legislator and education leader, as a terrorist sympathizer. When he was called on this smear, he chose to blame to his staff. In fact he was called on this by his hometown paper The St. Petersburg Times..... When challenged, Martinez was too eager to assign blame to his staff or to groups he said he couldn't control. As a senator, he will need an office and a staff that speaks with the measured and centrist tone he says will be his own. He can't pretend to be above it all if the people he employs are not. So Mr. Martinez which is it did you know about the memo? And how can you blame your staff and claim ignorance when it has been established that you yourself distributed the memo to at least one other member of the Senate? Inquiring minds want to know.