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I’m sure most people remember the Terri Schiavo case in 2005. This case was extremely controversial at the time. While this is old news, I would like to revisit the “Darling Memo” to see the role played by the office of Senator Martinez.

The Darling memo was also called a list of “talking points” by Senator Martinez; supposedly he didn’t know what was actually on the memo.

The memo, in part, said:

This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue.

This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.

I find it hard to believe he was accidently given this memo by his legal counsel, without knowledge of what was on the memo. He then proceeded to circulate the memo.

I find it easy to believe he didn’t realize he was circulating this, specific, memo but I find it unlikely he hadn’t seen this memo before. Even *if* he hadn’t, he laid all the blame on his legal counsel, Brian Darling. The Senator should have control over his staff. He should accept responsibility when one of his staff does something inappropriate. By not taking responsibility for his own actions and the actions of his staff, he proves to me he is far too similar to the rest of our politicians.

The washington post reported on this memo, a small section of the article reads:

In a statement issued last night, Martinez said that Harkin asked him for background information on the bill and that he gave him what he thought was a routine one-page staff memo on the legislation. “Unbeknownst to me, instead of my one page on the bill, I had given him a copy of the now infamous memo that at some point along the way came into my possession,” the statement said.

A likely story indeed..

Earlier, when questioned about the memo, the spokesperson for Senator Martinez, said:

“Senator Martinez has never seen the memo and condemns its sentiments,” spokeswoman Kerry Feehery said. “No one in our office has seen it, nor had anything to do with its creation.”

Another article from the washington times says:

Asked today, however, spokeswoman Allison Dobson told The Washington Times it was Mr. Martinez.

“Senator Harkin received it from Senator Martinez on the Senate floor,” she said, though she wouldn’t say anything more about the memo, including what Mr. Harkin did with it after he received it.

In summary, if I were the Senator in question, my case might sound something like this:

I handed a unsigned memo to another Senator, which I indicated, had talking points on it for the Schiavo controversy. I found out I had accidently handed him another memo created soley by my legal counsel, without my knowledge, which also, coincidently, contained talking points about the Schiavo controversy. Miraculously, this memo got mixed up with the other Schiavo talking point memo. When polled about knowledge of the memo, I understandably denied knowing anything about it. It’s not like the memo was in my possession or anything. Once it came to light one of my staff created the memo, the staff person quickly resigned. What is the problem?