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?
You're asking this at post #448? Dude, that's like so far past.
LMFO (Laughing My Feathers Off!)
Excellent post.
How true. Now is the time to encourage them to use their God-given authority to protect and defend innocent life.
Mel Gibson on Fox, now. Let's see yall bash him.
I agree, the bashers should ask themselves what kind of an executive do they want. It is an exercise in futility.
I seriously believe there are people who want a "republican waco". Even if Jeb were to "grab" Terri. Then what? Contempt aside, the law requires a return to the same judge.
I think we really need to be grateful we have gotten this far and use ALL this energy to "get the judiciary". Jeb has stated he has no interest in the presidency. Jeb is also term limited out of office. I seriously believe the unappeasables are either trolls or just posures.
It wasn't the presence of criticism that i was commenting on. It was whether or not the criticism would have any effect.
Either the religious right has no effect on the outcome of "whatever," or it does. The posts are split pretty even, but a significant number of posters hold that the religious right is a fringe element that appears on FR, but not in election polls. If that is true in fact, then the religious right can't fracture the GOP and affect the outcome of the election.
The sentiment that the religous right is fringe appears to held in fact by the GOP.
Are Americans worthy of freedom anymore?
Some of us actually don't need to follow celebrities around, hoping they'll drop some pearl of wisdom, to form our own opinions.
If you do, start copying down what he says.
Which useless fringe party are you rooting for?
They have nothing to be ashamed about. Why don't you put the blame where it should lie, with Michael Schivo, Greer, or anyone else who facilitated this horrible situation of the starving of Terri? Why target Pres. and Gov. Bush? Could you have an agenda here?
Your bias is more glaring than anything I've seen in the MSM. And that's pretty bad.
If you're going to run to Mr. Robinson about every Freeper who expresses disgust with Jeb Bush's cave-in to Greer, you'll be pretty busy over the next days, weeks and months. If Jeb doesn't grow a spine before this woman's murder is complete, and resuce her from Herr Greer, he's going to have a legion of confirmed critics on the right - - churchillbuff just an obscure member of that army.
She probably would have thrown some sh&T at the other side, too.
Interesting; if that is the case, this is bound to put the light on it.
Absurd. The judge is ruling on a matter of law brought before him. In your scenario, the FL legislature would have to enact such a law and the Governor would have to sign it.
You want Governor Bush too act outside the law, to arrive at a conclusion that you like; you make an argument for totalitarianism, and I ain't buyin' it.
A leader must have courage. He must be ready to risk himself for the greater good.
The thrust of this thread seems to be that Bush has risked himself(politcally); would you have him die for this cause?
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