Posted on 03/30/2005 4:07:26 PM PST by churchillbuff
I never had any desire to run for political office, but, if I did, it would be to make a difference.
If I didn't think I could make a difference, what would be the point?
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told us last week he just didn't have the power and authority to save one innocent woman forced by court order and armed guard to starve to death in his state.
I don't believe that's true. Not for a minute do I believe it. Jeb Bush blinked. And that weakness that he showed for the whole world should represent the end of his political career.
It's unfortunate, because I believe Jeb Bush knew, deep in his convictions, it was wrong to let Terri Schiavo be murdered by a judge's order.
He even dispatched a team of state law enforcement officers to seize her hours after Judge George Greer refused to listen to his pleadings in the courtroom.
But he backed down. When local cops informed the state officers that they would enforce the judge's order, the agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement stopped.
That's not leadership. That's capitulation.
Gov. Jeb Bush shouldn't have merely dispatched officers to the scene to negotiate with the local cops, he should have led them. He should have personally persuaded those local officers that he was the highest law enforcement official in the state and he was ordering them to stand down.
He should have been a field general, not an armchair general.
He should have walked up to that hospice with overwhelming force behind him.
He should have done so with the whole world watching.
Jeb Bush has been talked about as a potential presidential candidate. But who is going to seriously consider a commander in chief who backs down at the first sign of resistance?
Bush may have been trying to take the safe route in this crisis, but it represents, in my estimation, the end of his political ambitions.
Jeb Bush was tested, and he was found lacking.
He allowed a terribly immoral action to take place in his state and did nothing but huff and puff about it.
And it wasn't the first time.
Say what you will about former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. I think she was a fascist. I think she was a criminal. I think she was possibly stark, raving mad. But she backed up her misguided convictions by sending armed federal agents swooping in to pick up little Elian Gonzalez and take him back to Cuba. It was wrong, but she wasn't afraid.
Back then, Gov. Jeb Bush sat by and watched his authority breached by Washington.
This time, he sat by and watched his authority breached by a puny, little county bureaucrat, a local politician, Judge George Greer.
Does the Florida governor have any authority?
If not, we shouldn't take the position seriously as a stepping stone to higher office. If it does, why didn't he use it when it counted?
I feel sorry for Jeb Bush today.
I think he knew right from wrong in this case but didn't have the courage of his convictions. I think he listened to all the wrong advisers. I think he will carry regrets about Terri Schiavo to his grave.
He could have been a hero. He could have been a leader.
Instead, he appears weak. Instead, he appears to vacillate.
My wife told me: "If Jeb Bush had done the right thing for Terri, I would have given up six months of my life to campaign for him. I would have done anything to help him."
I'm sure many people feel like that. Let me ask you today: Is anyone excited about the possibility of a third Bush administration?
"Here is the thing: Jeb has been trying for years to save her!!! Yet people expect him to break the law. GW and Jeb are not above the law! The real villians are the judges."
Finally, a voice of reason!! I remember a lot of griping & complaining on the site when Bill Clinton & Janet Reno disregarded the Laws of the State of Florida. So now it's okay? Jeb & GW have both gone to bat for Terri, and I know they hoped for a better outcome, but you can't just go around breaking laws because we want a different outcome than the law has ruled on. You have to work within the system or you're encouraging chaos. I'm sick & tired on those on this site who want to take their ball and go home when they don't get their way. We ARE A NATION OF LAWS and must work from within to change them. How could you respect leaders who did what they wanted no matter what? Isn't that what happens in a dictatorship!?!?!
As a matter of fact, there is no reason any good man should run as a republican because we always turn on our own. We deserve what we get.
And your middle name is ?
What if it were Jeb v. Hillary?
You're about a week late on that prediction.
If a Democrat had done in what some freepers are suggesting, they would be screaming bloody murder!!! The reaction would be totally opposite..
I would guess that there are a LOT more which haven't been taken into court, because all parties agree (except for perhaps the patient).
I think this needs to be addressed nationally. Rather than focussing on this one case, we should be asking how many things like this happen and no one knows?
I hope you are correct but I think it depends more on the Republican nominee and the broad level of support s/he attracts. Hillary will restore the Clinton alliances and would be a formidable candidate because the media support she will garner (all scandals are "old news" and she is a "victim" of the VRWC). It could come down to Florida and Ohio again and I can't think of a single Republican (yet) would we inspire the turnout George W. Bush brought to give us victory in 2004.
Know one had a problem with the effort he put forth to get GWB elected in November in the battle ground state of Florida which if lost we would be looking at John Kerry in the White House, now we sh@t on him? He didn't order Terri's death Michael did, get a grip people! Its threads like this that make us look like DU'ers.
You want to pin the lack of action by the judges on Jeb Bush when in fact you should look to Congress or the Florida Legislature.
David Boies made an excellent point on Hannity tonight. What Congress did was 'punt' the case back to the judges. If they had in fact passed a law mandating in cases of family dispute over situations like this, if any parent or spouse has the desire and financial ability to take care of a seriously disbaled/on life support/etc. patient, they must be granted permisioin to take care of that patient.
If that alw had been passed, it's likely the judges would have ordered the tube back in.
A family feud that went national is getting a lot of people smeared - on both sides of the issue.
I read that Terri collapsed from bulemia. Bulemia is often a manifestation of a mother/daughter conflict. And poor Terri has ended up with her mother very much in her face for the last 15 years. This girl really deserves some peace.
And none of this mess is Jeb Bush's fault!
I forgot the sarcasm tag....
I am not an Evangelical -and I would stay home.
Dog and pony show. No intent.
The head of Hospice in Florida (or Miami) was on something last night; he said that there are about 900,000 people in hospices all across the United States at any given time.
I have no idea of how many are on feeding tubes.
I listened to Jeb Bush on the radio. He came off as spineless. I will assume from now on that he is.
Lets remember that an American is going to die because of it.
To me, it is cowardice and disengenuousness to complain about what Jeb did or didn't do - if you are not willing to do it yourself.
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