Weekend politics

What is going on? Why do those who, for political reasons, support the re-inserting of the feeding tube into Terri Schiavo have to seek anonymity when trying to influence the Senate? During the weekend ‘debate’ about interfering in this case, an unsigned, un-attributed memo listing the ‘talking points’ of the proposed legislation was distributed on the Senate floor.

Here’s what Senator Lautenberg, Democrat from NJ, wrote about this to the Senate leadership:

“The distribution of anonymous materials on the Senate floor is troubling. There is a policy in place – at least among the Democratic conference – requiring that any materials to be distributed to Senators on the floor must bear the signature of one or more Senators. This is an important safeguard to identify the source of information and protect the integrity of such materials. Those who would attempt to influence debate in the United States Senate should not hide behind anonymous pieces of paper.”