Posted on 03/28/2005 10:10:13 AM PST by El_Doctor
Sunday, March 27, 2005 9:36 p.m. EST
Lieberman Backs Life for Schiavo
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman says if it were up to him, he'd reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in order to keep her alive.
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"You would have kept the tube in?" asked NBC's "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert.
Lieberman, a Demcoratic U.S. senator from Connecticut who ran as his party’s vice presidential nominee in 2000, replied, "I would have kept the tube in."
The exchange began when Russert mentioned Lieberman's Republican House colleague, Rep. Christopher Shays.
Shays said he believed the GOP would suffer "repercussions" from voting last week to try to get the brain-damaged Florida woman's feeding tube replaced.
"This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy. ... There are going to be repercussions from this vote [on Schiavo's constitutional rights]," Shays said. "There are a number of people who feel that the government is getting involved in their personal lives in a way that scares them."
Russert asked Lieberman if he "agreed" with that statement.
"I don't," Lieberman said. And though he said Shays' statement was "a very credible and respectable opinion, the fact is that, though I know a lot of people's attitude toward the Schiavo case and other matters is affected by their faith and their sense of what religion tells them about morality, ultimately as members of Congress, as judges, as members of the Florida state Legislature, this is a matter of law. And the law exists to express our values.
"I have been saying this in speeches to students about why getting involved in government is so important. I always say the law is where we define the beginning of life and the end of life, and that's exactly what was going on here," Lieberman continued.
"And I think as a matter of law, if you go - particularly to the 14th Amendment, [you] can't be denied due process, have your life or liberty taken without due process of law, that though the Congress' involvement here was awkward, unconventional, it was justified to give this woman, more than her parents or husband, the opportunity for one more chance before her life was terminated by an act which was sanctioned by a court, by the state."
Lieberman added, "These are very difficult decisions, but - of course, if you ask me what I would do if I was the Florida Legislature or any state legislature, I'd say that if somebody doesn't have a living will and the next of kin disagree on whether the person should be kept alive or that is whether food and water should be taken away and her life ended - that really the benefit of the doubt ought to be given to life."
In conclusion, Lieberman said, "The family member who wants to sustain her life ought to have that right because the judge really doesn't know, though he heard the facts, one judge, what Terri Schiavo wanted. He made a best guess based on the evidence before him. That's not enough when you're talking about aggressively removing food and water to end someone's life."
"You would have kept the tube in?" asked NBC's "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert.
Lieberman replied, "I would have kept the tube in."
and I believe him. this guy was the sleeper of the last millenium to me.
I am happy to hear this about Lieberman. There is goodness in him.
Too bad he is so utterly boring. And was such a buttocks kisser to the liberals in 2000.
My Favorite Democrat...behind Zell!
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Leiberman is living proof as TO HOW STUPID THE FAR-LEFT IS. If they had run him, they might have taken the White House -- but they TRASHED HIM and ran that MARXIST BUFFOON instead....
"STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES"...Forrest Gump
SEARCH IS YOUR FRIEND...posted numerous times already.
Big deal.
Lieberman is grandstanding -- now, when Terri reached the point of no return.
I don't think this deserves "Breaking News" status.
Where was Lieberman, when the US Senate insisted on the weaker version of the bill, that the Schindler's MAY appeal to the Federal Court, instead of accepting the House version, where the bill COMPELLED the Federal Judiciary to accept the case.
For those of us who do not camp out on Free Republic.
"For those of us who do not camp out on Free Republic."
As I said...Search is your friend.
Michael may have been the nail in Terri's coffin, but Greer was the hammer that shut it tightly. (I know, MS is planning to cremate her.)
Jeb's fault!!!
Any of these grandstanding, crocodile-tear-shedding, elitist morons could have got on a plane, flown down to Florida, and walked right past any guard or policeman, and sat down and spoon-fed Terri water and / or food. They cannot be arrested.
Not all Democrats are evil. Not all Republicans are good.
Come on, Joe!
Switch parties!
Yeah - and supposedly, he "supported" Clinton's impeachment. That was all BS too.
Actions speak louder then words, Joe.
God bless Joe Liberman.
Good point.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
""And I think as a matter of law, if you go - particularly to the 14th Amendment, [you] can't be denied due process, have your life or liberty taken without due process of law, that though the Congress' involvement here was awkward, unconventional, it was justified to give this woman, more than her parents or husband, the opportunity for one more chance before her life was terminated by an act which was sanctioned by a court, by the state." "
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