I wonder if USFS is trying to send Alissa a message by giving it's Skate America assignments to Meissner, Hughes and Taylor, rather than defending silver medallist Alissa.
I don't think they're trying to send Alyssa any message at all. Remember IIRC she was a REPLACEMENT at SA (don't know about SC, though) and she just happened to do really well...in a severely weakened field as well. That's just the way it goes, I guess. And the above three may very well be the 2007 World team as well.
She's definitely a skater who's nice to watch. I don't know if she can be a serious medal contender, though.