Posted on 03/24/2005 11:02:42 AM PST by Destro
Posted on Wed, Mar. 23, 2005
GOP leaders unlikely to pursue new avenues to keep Schiavo alive
BY JEFF ZELENY
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - President Bush and congressional leaders said Wednesday they had exhausted their options and could find no new political avenues to prolong the life of Terri Schiavo.
"Now, we'll watch the courts make its decisions," Bush said at a news conference in Texas. "But we looked at all options from the executive branch perspective."
The president's brevity on the subject - devoting only a few moments to an issue that had overshadowed other domestic issues for days - suggested Republicans had decided to not aggressively pursue other alternatives or try to change public opinion in the case of the severely brain-damaged woman.
A CBS News poll released Wednesday showed that 82 percent of Americans believe neither Congress nor the president should have intervened. And among people who describe themselves as evangelicals, more than two-thirds of respondents said Bush and lawmakers should stay out of the case.
As criticism mounted from some strict conservatives over the decision of fellow Republicans to inject Congress into a state's rights issue, Bush defended the legislation, saying the government "ought to err on the side of life, which we have."
Still, the White House said explicitly the administration had no intention of taking the Schiavo case any further.
"There really are not other legal options available to us," said spokesman Scott McClellan.
The House Government Reform Committee canceled a hearing, which had been hastily arranged as a means to stop Schiavo's feeding tube from being removed. While Republicans planned to file another appeal when the Schiavo case reached the Supreme Court, Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said lawmakers would not become deeply involved.
For days, Republicans have dismissed suggestions that their intervention in the case was rooted in politics, particularly to mollify anti-abortion and other social conservative groups. "The legal and political issues may be complicated, but the moral ones are not," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said last weekend.
But an audiotape obtained by CNN on Wednesday, featuring a speech by DeLay to the Family Research Council, offered another view. He said the case could be used to rally conservatives.
"One thing God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo," DeLay said, "to elevate the visibility of what is going on in America."
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(Chicago Tribune correspondent John Biemer contributed to this report.)
Look, I agree with you, I want conservative judges more than anyone could imagine (HELLO, that’s why Terri is going to die!) However, I do feel it is in extremely poor taste to call this a "fools' errand". What is the point of having conservative judges if you have no moral stance on immoral decisions...?
Who only observed her and did not examine her. He stated he didn't her perform any of the tasks but feels she could.
Read the affidavit.
I'm glad you put conservative in quotes.
Folks on FR have been saying things that I generally would not say in person, unless I really did want to engage in a duel.
Actually, the Schiavo's attorney didn't. He instead presented the case as a retrial of Judge Greer's decisions, instead of presenting the case as if it had never been adjudicated.
We could ask Jim for the next sidebar poll to ask ...
Q. What kind of Human is Poohbah?
A. Way Cool
B. Nimrod
C. Maybe
D. Accordion
E. Weasel breath
No. They are a mix of well-meaning, but misguided Christians, ultra-hard Right extremists, and demagogic con artists whipping up a frenzy and spreading lies for their own financial gain.
I just blew Pepsi through my sinuses.
What people here don't seem to get is that these polls are accurate, and I believe I know why. Most of us have had to deal with people with terminal illnesses in our lives. I recall my grandmother's DNR being dishonored, her "living" if you want to call it that, for another few weeks. The next episode, we just waited until she was dead for an hour.
Q. What kind of Human is Poohbah? A. Way Cool B. Nimrod C. Maybe D. Accordion E. Weasel breath
Nice real nice......NOT!
You were, and remain right about Klayman. Near as I can tell, even his lawyerly knowledge and skills are poor. Like most con artists, however, he knows how easily many people can be manipulated. He doesn't need us all to be, just enough to keep him well-financed.
You posted that info to the wrong person. First, I live in California. Second, I believe in states' rights. Third, I believe in the rule of law. Fourth, I believe Jeb Bush has gone way, way, way beyond the extra mile to try to accommodate people with your point of view. I do not think he should force a terribly destablizing constitutional crisis in the state of Florida.
I think this circus surrounding the Schiavo case has raised issue far larger than the fate of one woman.
Lastly, I'm going to shock your sensibilities by saying I think Terri Schiavo should be left alone to die in peace. I think that is far, far more merciful, kind, loving and God-like (as I understand God) than what you people are doing.
Mark in the Old South? Not too old to accept Federal intervention. Maybe you should hold Jeb Bush in contempt - he signed the law that allows this procedure on Terri. Goerge Bush signed an even harsher law in Texas.
And who's gonna put him in jail? Judge Greer? If people do not obey his orders, Judge Greer is powerless and might as well be ordering the sun to stop rising in the morning. Sure, it's flaunting a judge and the judicial aspect of the law. But if Jeb and the legislature stand down and refuse to abide by Greer there's not a damn thing Greer can do about it. Andy Jackson did nothing less to the Supreme Court during his administration.
I do.
Some here might disagree with you. :-)
What is he waiting for?
Your post was the stuff of a drunken fool.
Sure it has. You zealots going on and on about the Schiavo case need to realize THERE IS NOTHING UNIQUE about it whatsoever.
Ever hear of the Karen Ann Quinlan case?
Karen Ann Quinlan was the first modern case of the right-to-die debate. The 21-year-old Quinlan collapsed at a party after swallowing alcohol and the tranquilizer Valium on 14 April 1975. Doctors saved her life, but she suffered brain damage and lapsed into a "persistent vegetative state." Her family waged a much-publicized legal battle for the right to remove her life support machinery. They succeeded, but in a final twist, Quinlan kept breathing after the respirator was unplugged. She remained in a coma for almost 10 years in a New Jersey nursing home until her 1985 death.
How about the Nancy Cruzan case?
Like Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan became a public figure after entering a "persistent vegetative state." A 1983 auto accident left Cruzan permanently unconscious and without any higher brain function, kept alive only by a feeding tube and steady medical care. Cruzan's family waged a legal battle to have her feeding tube removed; the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Cruzans had not provided "clear and convincing evidence" that Nancy Cruzan did not wish to have her life artificially preserved. The Cruzans later presented such evidence to the Missouri courts, which ruled in their favor in late 1990. The Cruzans stopped feeding Nancy in December of 1990, and she died later the same month.
These two are famous, ground-breaking cases. In the last 30 or so years, feeding tubes and other life support measures have been withdrawn from patients every day in this country.
The only thing unique about the Schaivo case is the epic family feud involved. Most families are able to make a joint decision. As a result, their cases never make the news.
Speak for yourself.
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