(but any of hundreds of links would do...)
During the whole Terri Sciavo affair, the Democrats started passing around a "Talking Points Memo", allegedly generated by the Republicans in Congress. The "talking points" included, this would bolster the pro-life base.
One thing various lawyer bloggeers have been all over is the lack of provenance for these documents. There is no particular reason to believe the documents were created by anyone in particular, never mind by Congressional Republicans.
There was nothing on the document to indicate its origin. It is unsigned and anonymous and has no letterhead. Anybody could have typed it up and claimed it was something it was not. Yet this is the type of document that was seized upon by the Post and other media.
I've had conversations with lawyers, and the first thing they look for when presented with any document that purports to be evidence of anything is provenance.
Who wrote it?
Who had custody of it?
Who has had the opportunity to change it?
What is the evidence to support the answers to the above questions?
These are questions lawyers automatically ask, and it's beginning to look like journalists don't.
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