Posted on 03/18/2005 4:32:07 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay pledged Friday to hold Florida state judge George Greer in contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional subpoena for Terri Schiavo's testimony, saying, "No little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida is going to usurp the authority of Congress."
"The Congress will pursue this, if we have to hold him in contempt of Congress," DeLay told radio host Sean Hannity.
Pressed on whether he intended to hold Judge Greer in contempt, the top Republican told Hannity: "Absolutely, absolutely."
"We will do everything to enforce the power and authority of the Congress and no little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida is going to usurp the authority of Congress," he added.
Earlier in the day Judge Greer rebuffed the Schiavo subpoena, telling attorneys in the case, "I have had no cogent reason why the [congressional] committee should intervene." He claimed that the last-minute action on the part of Congress does not nullify years of legal proceedings.
But DeLay told Hannity, "This judge and the Supreme Court of Florida are well known to be liberal judges that have a different worldview and they're imposing their worldview on the law."
The top House leader said that "no sane person" could look at Schiavo and say she's in a persistent vegetative state.
DeLay called a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, who has pressed for years to have his wife starved to death, "the personification of evil."
I'm pretty sure there are ways. Initial case assignments are usually made on some sort of rotation; someone who was in cooperation with the right bureaucrat could easily have their case put in proper 'sequence'.
Otherwise, though, I have to ask if there isn't something wrong with the fact that a plan like the above would have any reasonable chance of success at all. The observable facts of Terri's case are consistent with someone carrying out such a plan, and I would think everyone should be frightened if such a plan could be carried out successfully.
One of the most surreal feelings you're ever experience is sitting in a room taking testimony where everybody in the room knows the deponent is lying.
I just can't handle it much anymore, and have REALLY cut back drastically on how many I take. I listen to so many people talk about "soft tissue injuries" that by the end of the week, I want to see some missing limbs. :-)
That's correct, but the bill passed in the senate allows the case to remain in the FL courts; the one the house passed moves it to the federal courts and out of FL. That is the reason nothing has happened. The votes are NOT there in the senate to move the case away from FL and Greer so it is not worth passing if they have to pass that version as it will do nothing for Terri.
This was passed on a voice vote without hearings in committees, etc. The Democrats are blocking the removal from the FL court without looking like they are doing anything but co-operating. Wyden, Reid, Levin, etc. have said if the house version is to be voted on, they want full hearings, etc. and Terri will be buried by the time it reaches the floor for a vote, let alone is signed by the president.
The point is not states rights nor separation..., it's the fact that liberals focused on government control until Bush. Thereafter they were forced to mandate through the judiciary, which in this case, is telling big government to get screwed. Not only do I find that aspect interesting, but these are lifetime appointments of people who are realizing they can dictate to Congress - that's what fascinates me. Imagine one of these power hungry jack-offs at the point where he/she turns on their party.
As far as the death penalty, explain gay marriage...
I haven't yet been able to locate convenience murder aka abortion in the Constitution. I am not being self righteous about the subject, I simply equate this debacle with it.
My point was obvious, that in the event that there is no written statement by the patient, for example, no "living will," then a jury is required.
Welcome to Elian Gonzales Part II.
Except this time not only will it be ugly.. this time it's absoultely warranted.
Heheh, now you are splitting semantical hairs?
To whatever extent Deuteronomy means it in chapter 27 and 28, I mean it too - God punishes and REWARDS us based on how we behave as a nation on this Earth.
This is not a discussion of ones personal salvation, but only of national fate in terms of national blessings or national curses.
"This is not a discussion of ones personal salvation, but only of national fate in terms of national blessings or national curses."
Ok, fair enough. As I didn't read the passage I guess I just didn't know what you were referring to.
Assuming (having not read it, I can only assume) that the passage means what you say it does, I figure it's quite possible that we lost that blessing long ago. :(
I don't think there's any doubt that Michael came to the conclusion about 10 years ago that he needed to terminate Terri's life. I imagine he'd admit it if he was asked.
He has systematically set out to do that and he's fairly close to accomplishing it.
The question I still have is whether it matters. I haven't seen any persuasive and compelling evidence that settles the question of whether Terri is still inside her body or not.
Yes, I've viewed all the videos, but I've also read the reports submitted to the court. I just don't know. To his credit, Michael hasn't offered videos of Terri NOT responding to stimuli, but he could. I have no doubt that my wife could shoot video which "proved" I was dead.
I believe that we should always err, if ever, on the side of life. The case hasn't been made to me, at least, that Terri should die. But without recent testing and evaluation, how can we know? If Terri isn't in there anymore, then all I have is a sense of sadness as her body dies.
Before we allow that, we need to know whether Terri, the person, is still in that body and aware of what's going on.
Don't forget her right to freedom of religion ( last rights) which her husband has time and again refused to allow.
Which side has expressed more interest in letting real evidence of Terri's real present situation reach disinterested persons?
If Michael wanted to show the world that Terri was PVS (assuming she actually is, which I doubt) he could let the parents take a blood sample and video her, with Michael running a silultaneous video. The parents could then confirm that Terri was not sedated, and would have video that would either support their case or not. If the parents tried to take video clips out of context, Michael could pulicly show them in context.
There are many other things Michael could do if he wanted to show Terri was PVS, if she actually is. His refusal to do any of them suggests pretty strongly to me that he believes people might decide she's not PVS and that he's a liar.
In the same context one must recognize life circumstances of the Alzheimer patients. Is there a point where memory loss, disorientation, loss of language skills... negates further drug therapy let alone nutrition? Be serious, how long is one supposed to put up with one of these decrepit old wrinkled zombies? They probably don't recognize the difference between night and day. What does the decision do to prevent further abortions?
Living people are making judgments to murder others who are alive, it again reverts back to convenience.
I see that as legal precedent and I agree with you.
Extraordinary means is one thing, but denying people food and water is quite another.
Congress isn't going to accept Judge Greer's decision at this point, even though they may ultimately have to.
Especially when the person may be able to swallow, but is forbidden all efforts at therapy to do so. Even if such attempts would entail risks that would preclude their use in other circumstances, even a 5% chance of success would be better than a 100% certainty of painful death.
Unless, of course, that 5% chance of success would translate into a 5% chance of you being sent to prison for life.
Yes, it is terrible.
It is a shame that a Federal law might save other people from a terrible death.
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