Define Conservatives vs. Liberals

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Is Mel Martinez lying, or just not telling us the whole story? 

Let's break down a few quotes from Mel Martinez to try to figure out what the heck he's talking about:

Yahoo! News - Counsel to GOP Senator Wrote Memo On Schiavo: "Martinez, a freshman who was secretary of housing and urban development for most of President Bush's first term, said he had not read the one-page memo."

Should we take Se. Martinez at his word after the above statement?

Could it be true that he hadn't read it?

"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.

Sen. Martinez was attempting to pass a bill to Sen. Harkin. Knowing this, I think we can assume the mindset of Sen. Martinez was to grab the important piece of paper he was carrying.

Can we also assume that paper meant to be passed would have been stored in a prominent location in Sen. Martinez's possessions?

Are we supposed to believe that Sen. Martinez carries around random 1-page memos that are not meant for him?

"He said that Darling later confessed to John Little, Martinez's chief of staff, and that he said he did not think he had ever printed the memo."

Are we now supposed to believe that the legal counsel to Senator Martinez was working on this memo without the knowledge of Sen. Martinez?

Does that sound like normal behavior for a Senator's lawyer?

Does it seem more likely that the legal council, Darling, was in fact working on the memo on behalf of Sen. Martinez?

It seems clear that the memo was indeed circulated (meaning, this wasn't the only copy printed). So, not only are we supposed to believe Darling when we says that he didn't think he printed it, but we're supposed to believe that he didn't print and circulate multiple copies of the memo.

"It was intended to be a working draft," Martinez said. "He doesn't really know how I got it."

Isn't a working draft something that's reviewed by others before being formally publizhed?

If so, doesn't that lead one to believe that Sen. Martinez was reviewing a working draft of a memo written by his legal council at Sen. Martinez's request?

I think we have more questions than answers.