You don't think it's cynical to subpoena a woman for a hearing knowing full well that it is impossible for her to testify?
It's not only cynical, it's cruel.
Can anyone imagine the spectacle of congressmen asking Terri questions on live television? Theater of the Absurd taken to whole new levels.
It is time to quit the grandstanding and learn to live with the inevitable. This sad story is almost over.
> The whole bit with the subpoenas lends one to the conclusion this was nothing more than grandstanding.
Only the most naive would conclude otherwise.
Terri, and HINO, were subpoenaed for two appearances -- one today, 3/25; reportedly, a congressional hearing group was to meet at the hospice. No more word about that. The other hearing required Terri and HINO and a number of others to be in Washington on Monday, 3/28, for a different committee's hearing.
> Simply have federal marshals (quite legally) wheel her out for the hearing.
IMHO, Congress should have ordered such an action with Greer's first public statement of defiance. She'll probably be dead by Sunday when it would be reasonable (for most people) to travel to Washington. It does seem like, as you wrote, that all this has been grandstanding. The entire U.S. political government structure collapsed to kowtow to this county court judge. Disgusting, disgraceful, spineless behavior by these bodies and individual officials -- Congress, POTUS, Jeb Bush, et al. What's the point in their occupying office and our taxpayer dollars supporting them? Constitutionally they are supposed to be there to protect citizen rights. They totally abandoned Terri and have manipulated her civil law execution.
> My take is the subpoenas should never been issued in the first place
Congress has the absolute lawful right to issue subpoenas for committee hearing appearances. Hey, committee subpoenas were issued for baseball players on the steroids issue.
That being said, I agree with you that, having been issued, for Congress to now ignore them is, as you put it, "half-assed about enforcing them.". Every political official and governmental agency that has a duty to stand up to this county court judge's unlawful and unconstitutional rulings and orders has/have disgraced himself/herself/themselves and appear impotent in front of the entire world.