What should the President do about Schiavo? (legally/vanity)

self | today | me

[dufekin]

Judge George Greer, the Supreme Law in the State of Florida, has removed all of the abilities of Governor Jeb Bush to save Terri Schiavo. I don't know that anyone could save her at this point; a week of dehydration may have done irreversible damage. Still, we must try.

The Fourteenth Article of Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, states,

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Congress is so lethargic and dominated by pro-death Democrats that it surely will not exercise its power in a reasonable time, and its last attempt ended in failure. Contrary to the orders of Judge Greer, Terri Schiavo is not (medically) a xerophyte who can wait until next year for some water. She desperately needs water today.

Florida is bound by the Fourteenth Amendment, and the federal government required the state to accept this article to regain its status as a state after the American Civil War. The State's obvious flouting of its obilgations under the Fourteenth Amendment should rescind the provisions of the Compromise of 1877 that lifted the federal military occupation of Florida during the Reconstruction after the Civil War.

The Congress should have exercised its delegated (Article I, Section 8) power "To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions." Moreover, "The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States" (Article II, Section 2). The President also swore or affirmed that he would "to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" (Article II, Section 1).

These powers should allow President Bush to declare a judicial insurrection in Florida, and thereby to call forth both the Florida National Guard and any regular troops in the vicinity to suppress this insurrection.

Suppressing this insurrection must involve--at minimum--rescuing Terri Schiavo and airlifting her to a military hospital in another state. The troops also must hunt down Judge George Greer, Attorney George Felos, and adulterer Michael Schiavo, the triumvirate who started this incurrection.

Alternatively, the President could use the José Padilla precedent to declare Terri Schiavo an enemy combatant. While this action would remove the jurisdiction of the Courts over Terri Schiavo and remove her abusive husband from the equation, it might set the Padilla problems on even more shaky grounds, and I do not advise it.

[farmer18th]

We didn't get to this state with the judiciary overnight, on either of their watches, and it won't be fixed overnight.

It isn't going to be fixed at all if the President doesn't enforce congressional subpoenas. His failure to do so is a consumate act of cowardice.

[elisabeth_p]

"I have great difficulty believing it since there's a 3 and a half minute tape. I heard a voice....is there some vast conspiracy...Or is the court evidence false or flawed?"

It's always hard to know when you haven't seen the evidence for yourself. According to the judge's written opinion, he personally watched all the available videotapes. He did not see evidence of any consistent responses, verbal or visual. I have not personally seen any tapes except the brief excerpt shown by the parents, which is ambiguous. I believe she is not conscious, but perhaps I am wrong. I am really going more on the testimony from the medical doctors who reviewed the CT scans and saw that her brain had been replaced by liquid. That is what makes me think she is not aware.

In any event, this discussion is on the wrong forum, so I'm going to a different thread and maybe I'll see you there. Thank you for your comments.

[jpsb]

Early in this battle the public was given the impression that Terry was in a coma, had been for 15 years and was on life support. And under those circumstances it would be hard to find fault with the husbands desire pull the plug and "let Terry" die. But as time when on, the public became aware that the "life support" was a feeding tube not a critical and expensive machine that could be used to save another life. When the public learned that Terry was not in a coma, merely brain damnaged and quite able to live on her own given food and water. And had family members more then willing to take responciblity for her care.

Now that the facts of the case are known everyone I know thinks killing her is a crime.

[Wallace T.]

You may pat a six year old who tries to ride a bicycle and falls down, and tell him that at least he tried. However, when we are talking about the chief executive of a state in command of state police and the National Guard, trying real hard just doesn't cut it. If it provokes a constitutional crisis in Florida, so be it. As a standing governor, only the legislature can impeach him and remove him from office.

It is interesting to note that the LEOs in Pinellas Park are aligning with the judge and not the governor. They refused to back down from a confrontation with state officers, unless the latter had a court order. These cops know that the judiciary has the real power and want to retain their jobs, even to the point of possibly facing gunfire.

Tripartite government in Florida, and indeed the United States, is a joke. The judiciary has proclaimed itself both the super-legislature and the ultimate executive. A lowly state probate court judge can successfully (so far) face down the legislative and executive branches of the state and Federal governments and face no earthly consequences.

[elisabeth_p]

"I think the morphine will take care of easing whatever pain this poor woman might be able to feel. Based on what little I have been told of her condition there is a serious dispute over her mental abilities."

I am not sure whether they would be giving morphine. I think they only removed the feeding tube and are letting nature take its course. Since it is a hospice, though, you might be right. Hospice is committed to relieving any pain or suffering. But whatever way she is comfortable, either because of morphine or because of not being sentient, that is all I care about.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"It's always hard to know when you haven't seen the evidence for yourself. According to the judge's written opinion, he personally watched all the available videotapes."

Greer is blind. If he said he saw them, I suspect he's telling lies.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"If it provokes a constitutional crisis in Florida, so be it."

You know, I think we are already in one, the moment an innocent person was denied water.

[jpsb]

" It is interesting to note that the LEOs in Pinellas Park are aligning with the judge and not the governor"

I am not yet believing that story, sounds to much like spin to me.

[dufekin]

By "irreversible damage," I meant the multiple-organ failure caused by severe dehydration. Merely giving her some water (and food) isn't going to suffice at this point, I'm afraid. And it grows worse with every passing hour. The progressively increasing danger to the possibility of preserving her life makes the situation urgent. WE NEED ACTION--NOW!

Why does her condition determine the level of intensity to save her life? Let's say you have two patients. One underwent cardiac arrest two minutes ago; the other caught pneumonia but still breathes. Which case demands the greatest and most immediate intensive care?

[politicalwit]

I hope you have your flame resistant suit on....
BTW...I completely agree with you.

[politicalwit]

"Any government D or R that arrests children for attempting to give a dying woman a drink of water is a government so evil it defies description."

So you believe in selective enforcement of out nation's laws?

[Dog Gone]

We reached the point we're at because of 70 years of liberalism. Perhaps it's 60 because the 1994 revolution at least started the reversal. Historians will judge.

There is no way in the world that we're going to undo decades of liberalism in less than decades. It's a long term process due largely to the checks and balances in our constitution.

The federal judiciary is a generational power issue. Whoever appoints them gets to influence policy for the next generation. If the GOP controls the government for the next 30 years, which we won't, we'll be able to regain total control of the judiciary. We can gain control of the majority of it if we win most of the time.

So, I'm not sure why so many imbeciles here are vowing revenge against the GOP if Terri dies. They are certainly not smart enough to think this through, and with any luck, not smart enough to find the polling place.

[DakotaRed]

>>the death worshipping demigods will say that Terri has had due process.<<

Any "due process," and I use that term loosely, went to Michael, not Terri. Greer has consitently sided with Michael and Felos, ignoring and barring any evidence to the contrary of their euthanasia agenda.

If citizens don't stand up and put a stop to this madness now, we are becoming the Nazi Germany we defeated not too long ago.

Our Republican officials seem to have whimped out on us. I've posted it before, but more today than ever, the words of this holocaust survivor ring true;

HOLOCAST & THE LAW
by Alexander Kimel

"It is a fallacy to think that following blindly the Law of the Land, is a guarantee for preserving justice and personal liberties. The German people, the most law abiding citizens in Europe, are responsible for the most hideous crimes in human history. German judges passed unconscionable death sentences. . . following the law, while Oscar Schindler saved a thousand people, breaking the law.

I believe that preservation of justice and liberty for all, cannot be achieved without a commitment to the basic principles of morality, ethical judgment and common sense on the part of its citizens and leaders."

[walden]

"So, I'm not sure why so many imbeciles here are vowing revenge against the GOP if Terri dies. They are certainly not smart enough to think this through, and with any luck, not smart enough to find the polling place."

I'm hoping it's just that people are overly emotional right now, and they'll regain perspective soon, or, if not soon, at least before the next elections.

As for the rest of your comment, it is spot-on true.

[Dog Gone]

I certainly hope that it is emotion and not logic that drives so many of the posts here. With some, it probably is.

It's definitely going to get worse before it gets better. Check any current thread regarding Terri. The pitchforks and torches are assembling.

[monkeywrench]

"Without the pro-life, and voters who vote on moral issues, the Republican party is dead are democrats."

Just thought I'd fix that for you.

[MikefromOhio]

you screaming and yelling about everything being the fault of the Bush bros doesnt even get you in the same area code as correct.....

[MikefromOhio]

Dog has been hitting the nail on the head all week long....

IF PEOPLE WERE SMART THEY WOULD BE READING AND RE-READING THE POSTS!!!