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?
Do you know or have you seen any data on the number of feeding tubes pulled each year?
Do you know or have you seen any data on how many states this is allowed in?
My guess is this isn't by far the only one to have occurred over the years? I know that other life support devices are pulled to allow death to occur..... Florida included Feeding Tubes in their law in 1999 if I remember correctly.
I have but one nose to give for my country ...
Wow, non-Floridians commenting on what a rotten governor Jeb is because his hands are tied? He has already stated NUMEROUS times that he has no desire to be President so that is a dead issue. Like it or not he did what his legal staff said he could and couldn't do.
Yes, I did! THANKS. :-)
I agree with you.. Had Clinton done what people are suggesting, they would be scream bloody murder! Bush Brothers respect the branches of the Government. End of Story.
It pains me to say what I am about to say, but it appears that all is lost for Terri.
Those whom we counted on to come to Terri's rescue, didn't. Not the state legislature, not the governor, not the President, not the Congress, not the FLNG, the FDLE, the FHP, the US Marshalls . . . NO ONE.
They sat on their hands. We knew we couldn't count on the judicial branch, but with Republican majorities in every major office possible, we believed that they would take action to save her life.
Instead, they sat on their hands. They sat on their hands for vote after vote. They sat on their hands when it came time to speak what they truly believe; what they campaigned on. The state legislature took a vote last Wednesday to adjourn for Easter. No one sat on their hands for that vote. But, when it came time to save the life of an innocent, disabled woman whose only crime was that she required a feeding tube since her husband refused to get her the rehab she needed to be able to feed herself, they sat on their hands.
Beginning next year, they will solicit us for money and votes for their re-election campaigns. I suggest you give them the same that they gave to Terri - sit on your hands. DON'T re-elect any of them.
Yes, I know what I am saying - we could lose the state house and hand it back to the Dems. Given that Republicans are the ones who could have saved Terri and refused, can we truly say that there is a difference?
Our system of government is terribly broken and I'm not sure that it is repairable.
My heart is heavy for Terri, the Schindler's and for America. I pray that God will grant the Schindler's peace.
America has become a country that, today, scares me.
And that is very, very sad.
A judge DOESN't have executive powers -- Jeb should have ordered those cops to stand down, because the judge was usurping Jeb's authority. Jeb was a wimp - and Terri loses, but so does our constitutional system of government.
Funny
Michael Savage is a manic depressive. IOW, he's nuttier than an outhouse rat.
In terms of Jeb's political future, this event will end up being smaller than a small pimple on a large man's arse. Whether or not Jeb decides to aim for higher office, will be besides the point.
Yes, Jeb was tested and found lacking. But that would have been the case with at least 95 percent of Republican governors and Republican senators. The fact is, he did do a lot for Terri -- more than many other Republicans and almost any Democrat would have.
We should criticize him, but also recognize that we simply are not strong enough politically to expect much more than we've gotten here. In addition, the myth of the judicial monopoly on legal and constitutional interpretation is very, very strong. We have to break down that myth before we can credibly threaten Jeb Bush, or the next Jeb Bush, with anything -- and before we can convince such people to take the next step against judicial tyranny.
Also, don't forget that he's pitiful when it comes to fixing the state's horribly run instutitions of which, as chief executive, he has total control.
The child welfare agencies are worthless and he does nothing.
The 12 year olds that carried water for Terri will probably do harder time.
Local law enforcement was not on the state payroll. Jeb would have been a fool to order state law enforcement to engage in physical force with local law enforcement. Alot more people than Terri would be dead...and not just the combatants.
Hillary Clinton may not even get the nomination. If she does, she won't be elected. The country isn't ready for a woman as Commander in Chief.
Not in your wildest dreams will Miss Hitlery run with pretty John Edwards!
LOL.
Just when I thought they might be catching on over on this side, you find the evidence which convinces me, they aren't.
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