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?
If actions speak louder than words ~ what are you doing besides whining and snivelling?
Why should I? I'm NOT one the hysteric;but you are.
Nice tagline bump!
I have to say, I'm disgusted with the "Bush bashing" that has gone lately here on FR.
Certain people are obviously using this as their forum to bash Gov. Bush, and President Bush as well. I find this repugnant. Jeb Bush was one of the ONLY politicians in our country to take up Terri's cause, and he got slammed for it many times. During the protest while Jesse Jackson was speaking, I did not see one sign which slammed Judge Greer or the judicial system.
Of course the main player in the murder of Terri is her so-called husband whose vindictiveness, greed, and other motives facilitated this situation in the first place.
Kudos to Jesse Jackson for helping Terri's family through this, but where was he when Jeb Bush rescued her before? I almost lost my dinner watching on FoxNews, the protesters behind Jesse Jackson waving their hate Bush signs. And some of the "pseudo Conservatives" are buying into this. Sad.
Again, my prayers go out to Terri and the Schindler family.
Just one last thing, if that was my daughter, I would have stormed the place myself come hell or highwater and took her out of there, with the rest of my family in tow right behind me.
No, it was a poll commissioned and reported by Fox News.
Now, are they lying, too?
Your move...
Nice to know that the government got no problem sending Americans to the afterlife, for their own good of course. Happy that old fashioned quaint idea of waiting on G-d to call them is obsolete. That was so 50's it was a national embarrassment.
If George Greer can insitute an illegal rebellion (telling cops to resist a state agency and state law enforcers), with impunity -- then what would Jeb do if he were president and North Korea threatened him?
If you can't make George Greer, a small-time probate clerk, obey the law -- if a swamp judge makes you tremble -- then how can you be president and stand up to tyrants who have nukes?
Do you think people who aren't single issue people aren't calling?
tsk,tsk,tsk...you could learn a very great deal about politics from me, but you're the one with the subhuman IQ, pet. LOL
LOL, you are mean, but your are funny. Your one redeeming feature.
Hahahahaha.........if you weren't so dang cute, I'm have to smack you up side the head, Willie.
Or maybe I'm being too harsh. A great many of them can't. No good deed that fails to meet their unrealistic expectations will go unpunished.
Fine, prove how smart you are by allowing the Democrat to get elected in the next election. That will really make your life better.
And, no, I have no hopes of possibly changing your mind about that insane decision.
I think one would need to ask how could Jeb or George find it to their political advantage not to save her if they thought they could, the answer is their is no advantage. They got sucked into a political fire storm with no good answer less breaking the law. This is the emotional religious conservatives versus the law. This will stir national debate but when that happens it will include all case scenarios and not just poor Terri as to what changes may occur if any. I think the best thing to date because of this is the probability many living wills have been suddenly written, some wishing the feeding tube to be removed and others not.
What have you actually accomplished in the effort to impeach Judge Greer?
In this Sunday's bulletin my Priest wrote an impassioned piece about Terri and praised Governor Bush's efforts, and I think he was absolutely right in doing so.
They weren't years ago! Just after President Bush was elected president in '00, there were already screams about how his brother Jeb was NOT wanted as presidential material.
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