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 had it backwards, then-! Servant was playing his role so good as a stand up comedian that I thought he was OUR entertainment. You know the old saying, "If someone's determined to look silly, don't stand in his way.."? I was laughing at his responses! He actually believes he's serious?? My gosh, that's even funnier -- to think he thinks he's serious!! With a name like his..!!! You are kidding, right? He's got to be a clown..!!
Ditto
Coincidence? I think not.
How incredibly irrational.If we take your logic to its conclusion the first act of any newborn should be to have a living will drafted. In case of a fall on the head or abusive shaking for example. The baby's desire to be or no be put to death if incapacitated should be made clear right away. Except,then you come full circle because who should really draft the living will of an infant...the parent...but what if the parent caused the condition,IE the fall or shaking.If I'm not mistaken, in cases of suspected child abuse the state takes over the care of the infant.
So in this case,where there is a possibility of spousal abuse,(mother calims that husband tried to suffocate Terri,there is a bone scan that suggest blunt trauma to her head)the state should take over the care of Terri Schiavo.
Just a question,in your brave little world of living wills,what is the minimum age that would allow one to bewriting a binding living will...5(school age)7(age at which a child can testify) 14(age at which a child can procure an abortion without parental consent),16(driving age)18(voting age),21(drinking age)?
Yes I think you are right. This whole thing makes me so sad and mad-thanks
As I understand it, right after Reeve's accident, he stated to his wife that maybe they should just pull the plug and let him go. To her credit, she absolutely refused. And she stood by him all the way.
Which are you?
Ignorant, I'd guess.
My father took 10 days to die. That isn't unusual.
I had him at home.
I bathed him and changed his diapers and kept his mouth and lips moist and read to him though he wasn't really there anymore.
It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but it was what he had asked of me.
So9
Where is she on this debate,maybe she could enlighten people about the value of handicapped people?
I had one long before I married, my son had one at 18.
How can anyone who cares what happens to them not have one?
And I'm sorry if I'm not frightened of dying and don't see it as a big deal. It's not, it happens to everyone.
When I can no longer function adequately, I'll die, so what?
So9
A minor doesn't need one. Someone who doesn't care what happens to him doesn't need one. Anyone who doesn't have one shortly after their 18th birthday is a fool.
SO9
Tom DeLay has been trying to get rid of corrupt judges who Legislate from the bench for years. You can go to his website and read all about it
As I told another fine FRiend on another post today -- you and I have never disagreed. I appreciate your posts and I have learned a lot from you. I respect you.
Yeah, I know that I sound like a seminar caller. . .
I have to say that I have never seen you so wrong. Please let me explain.
I hate an overreaching federal government as you do. If this was the first intrusion and we were setting a damaging prescendent, I might even agree with you. (How can saving an innocent life be bad?) But it's not. Far from it. We are not asking for FG intervention in all cases. Just one case AND admittedly those others that are similar.
Of the thousands of cases (mentioned elsewhere here on this thread) very few, if any have reached the courts and fewer still have reached the level of abuse by a judge where an innocent life will be snuffed out. I don't know if it's a judge who is blinded by ignorance, arrogance, collusion, or literally, by his blindness (as it was reported tonight on the news -- he is blind and has literally never seen the evidence or even the woman that he has sentenced to death.)
There is enough reasonable doubt that this deserves to be looked at by another, outside, and objective judge, maybe even with a jury. We give more benefit of the doubt to convicted murderers than we are giving to this gal.
The Republic, if and/or when it falls, will not be because of an effort to save Terri by going to the Feds for help.
However, it may just as well go to hell if we allow an innocent woman to be treated as less than human. We don't even treat animals like this and in fact punish those who do.
I understand your wishes for yourself and I don't disagree. Please put them in writing so there is never any confusion as to your wishes. Terri didn't do that, but that is, or should be sufficient reason to allow her to live in the care of her loving parents.
Someone here commented that many people are routinely taken off life support and allowed to die. As I pointed out, these were people who are terminally ill or so severely injured that there is nothing left to keep them alive except the machines. When you 'pull the plug', unhook the ventilators, and stop the IVs, they pass quickly -- in minutes or hours.
Terri isn't hooked up to machines. She's not on IVs. She gets fed through a tube for the convenience of the nursing staff. She will, as you and I would, die a slow painful death if food and water are withheld from us. For no other reason than she didn't die when her cheating scum husband wanted her too.
Please don't condone this horrible act even for the honest (and I believe yours are honest, unlike some of those who are seemingly waiting to dance on her grave) concerns that you have. Please see this as the rightful duty of Americans to protect an innocent life that it is. That's all it is. There is no larger scheme as there is with those who want her dead.
If you can't agree, I will respect that, but I would ask that you realize that emotions are running high. There is a lot of frustration that this woman's life is being taken and we can't seem to do anything about it. I would also ask, humbly and respectfully that you not use your good name and powerful words to counter our effort to try to save this lady.
Sincerely and with thanks,
Your FRiend,
Ray
I thought you were silly. Now I know you to be so old and lonely inside. What a sorrowful creature...and tired and bitter. I think you would be better..content and peaceful - rather than having already conceded to death. What scares you so much about the thought of people wanting to live? Do you suffer with wondering if perhaps when your father asked you to help kill him, maybe he wanted you to say no? Must be hard being inside the soul of an unforgiving person - especially if the unforgiven is your own self. Sorrowful.
Thanks, but my $%^@#$^$ sound isn't working. I gotta get that fixed.
"The question is, are they also ready to to accept that if this is a matter of Federal rather that state jurisdiction the logic of the argument suggests that so are a lot of other issues (as various "medical marijuana" and "gay marriage") many here would prefer to see decided at the state level."
First of all, the issue of “gay marriage” could be decided by a state legislature or by the Congress.
The issue of whether a person can be deprived of life without due process of law has ALREADY been decided by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The answer is “NO!”
The Congress can act to investigate any circumstances where a person’s fundamental rights might be threatened.
They can issue subpoenas and require parties to appear before them as part of their investigation.
This is a limited power, and in my opinion, it is entirely appropriate in this case.
There is grave doubt that Terri has been given due process here by the state trial judge.
Her federal rights to life, due process, and equal protection under the 5th and 14th Amendments are paramount, and the Congress has a perfect right to intervene to protect them.
That's what it all comes down to. ME. Instead of looking at Terri's case, and considering it on it's own individual merits and it's unique circumstances, in as unbiased manner as humanly possible, you place it on par with your personal situation and project into it your own fears.
It doesn't sound like you married the sleaze Terri did, and you have the wisdom and foresight which comes with age (Terri was only 26 when she "collapsed") to put your wishes in writing. Thus, you aren't likely to find your self in Terri's shoes.
BTW, the legislation the house has written, concerns people who don't express such wishes in writing and therefore would exclude you.
I'll have to see this to believe it. Right now I think this is just rhetoric to calm conservatives who are very upset at what is happening. If Congress does indeed hold him in contempt, it will be a powerful message to other judges who think they can create their own law.
It's not sound! Sorry if that was confusing.
It's just a regular link to various bits of info. No sound!
Did you disconnect your father from machines that were keeping him alive and take him home?
If not, we are talking about different situations.
Did your father have drugs for pain?
Why not, or enough to hasten his departure?
You could moisten your father's lips. Terri likely will not even be allowed that much. I went without water or moistened lips for 2 days at a time when I drank 2 gallons of fluid a day. I was just very uncomfortable and getting IV fluids but I knew that one more day would mean liquids by mouth again. Terri will be awake and not have anything to eat or drink for 2 weeks before she dies.
If those last ten days were so hard for you and your father, why not have some compassion for Terri WHO IS NOT DYING and her parents who do not want her too.
I think that you are suffering from more guilt over your decision than you'd like to let on and this is just your way of justifying your decision.
If so, may God forgive you.
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