Fred Barnes: reporting on GOP sciavo memo is example of lib'rul bias

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

first, one has to wonder how he can type this up between bizarrely crossing and uncrossing his arms every 10 seconds...

anyway, ol fred has figured it out. the memo is obviously a fake because he asked some republican senators and they told him they hadn't seen it.

i'm lucky i have fred to demonstrate his technique. being in journalism school, i had this crazy notion that one should investigate a story.

turns out all you have to do is ask the accused and accept tehir denail. no questions asked. it sure makes life easier. how did fred figure this convenient investigative method out? the man must be a genius.

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SENATE MAJORITY LEADER BILL FRIST never saw it. Neither did the Senate Republican whip, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The number three Republican in the Senate, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, didn't get a copy. Nor did the senator with the closest relationship with President Bush, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. And the senator with the familiar Republican last name, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, didn't see it or read it. The same is true of Senator Mel Martinez, the rookie Republican from Florida.

Yet the infamous memo that argued Republicans stood to gain politically by saving the life of Terri Schiavo was characterized by ABC News as consisting of "GOP Talking Points." True, a few paragraphs were of Republican origin. They had been lifted, word for word, from a Martinez press release outlining the provisions of his legislative proposal, "The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act." This was the inoffensive part of the memo. The offensive part--it didn't come from Martinez--left the strong impression that Republicans are callous and cynical in their attempt to save Schiavo's life, ill-motivated in the extreme.

Two paragraphs were the problem. One contended Republicans should save the disabled Schiavo's life because "this is a great political issue" that could lead to the defeat of Democratic senator Bill Nelson of Florida in 2006. The other said dwelling on the Schiavo issue would excite pro-lifers, a key Republican constituency.

Supposedly the memo was distributed only to Republicans on the Senate floor. Ergo, it was a Republican document. ABC correspondent Linda Douglass first reported its existence on March 18, saying the network "has obtained talking points circulated among Republican senators, explaining why they should vote to intervene in the Schiavo case." She mentioned the two offensive passages, and the memo was shown on the screen. The ABC website was explicit about the source of the memo: These were "GOP talking points on Terri Schiavo." Two days later, the Washington Post referred to it as "an unsigned one-page memo, distributed to Republican senators."

more (if you must) at:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/406istku.asp?ZoomFont=YES

[LittleClarkie]

1. Unless they're libruls

we don't take the word of libruls. They lie, doncha know.

[gnofg]

2. Fred Barnes

is a twit

[mmonk]

3. Yeah, there's so much liberal bias

I can't see due to all the rightwing bias, but I'm sure it's there somewhere. Go back to sleep neocon Fred.

[oasis]

4. Barnes also said that Tom Delay's pulling the plug on his dad should

not be compared to the Schiavo case. He said "The press is out to get Delay".

Freddy Boy, you have press credentials, don't you?

[Old and In the Way]

5. In the future, don't trust anything having anything to do with Republicans

it's easier that way. Just watch what that they do and say, then draw your own conclsions.

[Spinzonner]

6. What's the Font Kenneth ?

OOps, I think I'm getting my memos all confused.

[quinnox]

7. Tucker Carlsen said the same thing on the Mathews Sunday show

but he expanded it and said he thought it might have been a planted fake by the DEMOCRATS. I guess that is the new GOP damage control talking point. They still remember how successful they were with the Dan Rather 'fake' papers so they figure let's give it another shot