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?
I'm not asking anyone to boycott Florida, but I sure as hell am not going to retire there. I ain't goin' to Disney World, either. And I really doubt that I will ever visit Florida, unless I get a free trip, or to see a space launch.
He was a good man, and a nice guy ...
... but sometimes, ... nice guys finish last politically ...
aka: no guts, no political future ...
If these decisions are contested, then we have a case like Terri's. Most aren't contested, because they are private situations between a family and a doctor.
I think the courts have an idea of the implications in terms of case load if these cases began to be contested en masse, as prompted by the spotlight shown on Terri's case.
I believe that nearly a million are on feeding tubes.
HRC?
Sorry, I can't keep up with the initials, acronyms, etc.
I am glad I am on the side with Bork, Santorum , Frist (and others). There are many questions which need to be addressed about Terri's condition, her medical past care and how she got into this mess in the first place.
Worse than that, Jeb Bush could have used the Florida constitution to replace both the Pinellas sheriff AND Judge Greer.
Judges have no constitutional power whatever to give orders to the executive what to do or not do in execution of his powers. Even though the local executive, the sheriff, decided to give force to the judge's order, and the governor has no direct authority over county sheriffs, even those were not insurmoutable problems or cause for civil war. Under the Florida constitution the governor can replace the county sheriff and maybe even the judge for misfeasance, such as interfering with DCF and the state police which are under the governor and not subject to the judge either. Notice particularly that the governor could suspend ANY county officers, including judges, regardless of whether they are subject to impeachment.
FLORIDA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE VIII - County Government
Section 1
(d) COUNTY OFFICERS. There shall be elected by the electors of each county, for terms of four years, a sheriff, a tax collector, a property appraiser, a supervisor of elections, and a clerk of the circuit court;
ARTICLE IV - Executive
SECTION 7. Suspensions; filling office during suspensions.--
(a) By executive order stating the grounds and filed with the custodian of state records, the governor may suspend from office any state officer not subject to impeachment, any officer of the militia not in the active service of the United States, or any county officer, for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony, and may fill the office by appointment for the period of suspension. The suspended officer may at any time before removal be reinstated by the governor.
ARTICLE III - Legislative
SECTION 17. Impeachment.--
(a) The governor, lieutenant governor, members of the cabinet, justices of the supreme court, judges of district courts of appeal, judges of circuit courts, and judges of county courts shall be liable to impeachment for misdemeanor in office.
People wake up. The Republican leadership could care less about abortion.
Only because you shoved it out.
They don't look like they're having all that much fun; valium for everybody!
Good...stay home and while you're at it, go post to LP.
Is that another social problem they did not solve for you ?
If only we had known...........LOL.
Oh, for sure :-) and they'd make better generals and better legislators and no doubt better judges - but for some reason - they just never get elected :-) and so must sit on the sidelines and take cheap shots
They're not contested. 99% of the families agree.
One must ask, honestly, what the rationale for contesting this case is.
Excellent point!
you go post at LP.
Please note that I do believe he did what he thought he could with his brother as Prez, espeicially so as not to repeat Elian. However, it is political suicide, a strange word in current circumstances. This case is actually involuntary physician assisted suicide, aka eugenics. Those who support it know it, even if they claim it's the law or something else. Smoke and mirrors. The end game, the prize is crowd control, and getting rid of all those unwanted types and expensive bills.
I am glad my father's not alive to see this.
I'm wrong too.
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