Posted on 03/29/2005 4:39:09 PM PST by Former Military Chick
Mar. 29, 2005 - First lady Laura Bush said Tuesday the government was right to have intervened in the case of Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman whose case has stirred national debate about life and death issues.
"I just feel like the federal government has to be involved," Mrs. Bush said. "It is a life issue that really does require government to be involved."
Mrs. Bush commented on the Schiavo case aboard a plane bound for Afghanistan, where she was to promote education and women's rights.
Schiavo's husband, Michael, has waged a long court battle with his parents-in-law, contending his 41-year-old wife, who has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990, would not want to live that way. Schiavo's parents, on the other hand, have been pleading with the U.S. Congress, Florida lawmakers, federal judges and in courts in Florida to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted.
"I am not surprised over the debate," Mrs. Bush said. "I think it's an issue that, you know, everyone is concerned about and interested in.
"I'm sorry for the family that it has to be so public. This is such a very, very difficult time for them and for everyone who watches Terri."
Mrs. Bush said she has been encouraged to hear that the case has prompted more people to inquire about living wills.
"I think that is really good," she said. "The president and I have living wills and, of course, our parents do. They wanted us always to be aware of it. I think that it is important for families to have opportunities to talk about these issues."
Look at the sign up dates of the hysterics....most of them are newbies.
That doesn't matter much to me, actually. Out of this affair, I see much that is good ensuing. That is what matters - to me. Party vicissitudes hugely interest me as a hobby, and of course I do care about public policy implications arising from same, but it is not the alpha and omega.
That is my take. Oh yes, I should add that I think the postulations on the drag this will have on the GOP is overdone. In the end, I think it will have a marginal impact, and whether it is plus or minus net, is not clear to me, with the passage of time.
The laws have certainly changed over the years. My reference to the erosion of the standard of a "nation of laws" was quite a bit more general than a simple reference to anything in the Schiavo case, and probably more appropriate for a different thread. In brief, I was referring, obliquely, to the fact that many legal punishments imposed by the state are imposed without trial, and are often imposed to enforce administrative regulations written by unaccountable bureaucrats; to the growing habit of Justices to decide cases based on "international opinion," and so many other erosions of our foundation of laws. Again, off-topic for this thread, so sorry for the confusion.
I'm well aware that the Schiavo case is not an isolated one. I'm not sure why you seem to think that the public attention it has drawn somehow makes it less important - unless you think that the issues raised by the case are simply unimportant. I hope that's not what you think, but it it is, I do not agree.
I'm just a fellow posting notes on a discussion board - sharing my thoughts on something I think is important. If that makes me a fanatic, so be it. If it makes you angry, I'm sorry.
I know that if the Federal government would have arrested Greer as soon as he defied them, he would have been sitting in jail cell instead of on the bench to stick it to Terri the way he has continued to do. So, once again, Federal power could have changed the outcome if they would have followed through.
I'm not attacking Jeb Bush. I'm commenting on what I've seen him do. Or not do in this case. He's a wimp. I suppose if he saw a child drowning in a lake he would not jump in and try to save them if he saw a "no swimming" sign? "Sorry you had to drown kid. See the sign? Kid? Hey kid? Oh well..."
Darwin's Law applies to elected officials too. That's a fact. Too bad for Jeb Bush.
Jeb Bush created his own problem here. I'm a conservative but I'm not cutting him any slack when it comes to something like this.
I make NO assumptions at all. I've read the threads,read the posts, and read your posts...which is what I base my OPINIONS on. They aren't "assumptions"!
Your complaints about our laws, are invalid if you are assuming, as you are, that things were ever different in other times.Many judges (ever hear of Judge Roy Bean ?)have,throughout this nation's history, ruled from the bench; were activist judges. And the justices on the Supreme court were as well. Go read Mark Levin's new book " MEN IN BLACK.
What I think that this circus has caused, is mass hysteria...with demands and assumptions made here,by many people who should know better. A civil discussion about it,sans emotion, hasn't been here since this all began.
I am more appalled by ALL of it, than anyone else appears to be.
How about you, are you ready to begin to look at ALL this case involves; beyond Terri's being starved to death?
Abject stupidity makes me angry...as does brainless,emotional posts telling people that they will burn in hell,people belittling the efforts made by the Bushes, whose hands are tied, and some putting words in others' mouth/ rewriting their posts to make them fit what was not said at all, and the rest of it.
Good point.
Rove didn't like the polls.
The tube was removed. The tube was not put back in, despite the efforts of President, Congress, and Governor. In other words, all of the supposed intervention of the United States Government amounted to . . . nothing. Nothing changed. They did not save her life. The only thing that happened was that the White House and Congress and the Governor showed their utter and complete weakness.
I have only posted a but,in order to tamp down the hysteria. Some here are demanding that the president and governor do things that they are NOT able to do and which would only make things far worse than they already are. I've attempted to bring a bit of logic and sanity to a FR world seemingly filled with an irrational,illogical, hysterical mob gone quite mad.
Shame on me. You'd prefer I join in the rabid calls for the Bushes' heads, X41,43, and Jeb's, but I won't.
Hey, I admitted I was wrong IN THIS THREAD, that's about the best you are going to get from one of the irrational, illogical, hysterical mob.
There's already been a "TERRI'S LAW" thrown together and that didn't help her any. WHY? Because in the hast of writing,it is worthless.
Do you want to lose the battle,but win the war, or would you prefer to win this battle, but lose the war entirely?
Oh well.................... :-)
On this we agree.
I feel this argument has become circular.
No, the tube was not put back in. This does not equate to "nothing" having been done. This does not satisfy your assertion there was no intervention. There was.
It didn't result in the result we wished but action DID occur and intervention WAS performed.
As to weakness? Sorry. The lessons I have learned differ. I've learned Congress CAN assert its constitutional authority. I've learned they can defy public polling. I've learned whereby two branches of Government can operate and respect their constitutional authority, the Judicial branch has decided to exceed its own. I've learned the American people by majority are comfortable with the Judicial Branch as the final authority. I've learned even many conservatives have no understanding of the constitution. I've learned the value of Life has been seriously eroded in our culture.
The question is what is done with those lessons. I respond by educating the public about the constitution. I respond by trying to instill a respect for Life. I respond by demanding a correction in Judicial overreach, and a correction of the law to prevent this ever occuring again. I do not count among my lessons abusing needed allies for this upcoming change. I certainly will not punish them because they are not Christ himself. I do not hold the Reps on a pedestal, nor do I hold them in contempt. They are human men and women with a heart for Life constrained by the limits of this earth.
Yes, there have always been individuals who sought to establish themselves as the law. That's the reason to try to maintain a nation of laws. The system has changed - not overnight. There are people acting to try to fight those destructive trends, and I am one of them. Again, though, I do think, for the most part, that discussion is somewhere to the side of a Terri thread's main topic. I certainly agree with you that there are those on both sides of this issue that have acted, and spoken, badly. But I did not attack the Bushes, I did not tell anybody they would burn in hell, and I did not put words into anybody's mouth.
As to whether I am ready to "begin to look at ALL this case involves," I am well past beginning, and was before the recent weeks' news coverage.
But thanks for asking.
I'd like to march to DC and hang everyone. /KIDDING
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