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?
Never? Wow. You are pop culture deprived. You have to have a minimum level of pop culture knowledge. I mean, what do you think of Steyn?
Who would run your bar in East Texas? I have to assume your bar is not in a dry county. Oh has Texas done away with dry counties?
Ewwwwwwwww
Oh, wait, this isn't the Andrew Sullivan thread, is it?
"I want to know the person in office will do his sworn duty.
Good, bad, or ugly. Duty is duty"
Freecopper, I actually agree with you for the most part... ANd I do believe that duty is duty and I believe his sworn duty was to uphold the law. And the law sucks!!! And it is "bad" and it is "ugly". BUT, it is the law... And, I frankly do not know Florida law and I hear alot of people on these forums saying that "No, he can do it, he has the power.... The law is on HIS side, he can step in..." You know what freecopper, I don't know if it's on his side or not but I do know he has a sh*tload of attorneys who DO know Florida law.
My opinion, I do think he's a good man... And I do think that if he could do something for Terri within the law, he would... I really do... Now, you may say (an I'd probably back you on it) that he should do "the right thing" and step in anyway... That wouldn't be doing the "bad" or "ugly" part of his duty, though...
I do NOT want to know.
Message to Peggy Noonan. Do the conservative movement a favor, leave it.
I doubt most people don't consider these parallel issues as you do.
There's a big difference between killing a baby that is just at the beginning of life for one's own convienience and that of making a painful decision not to artificially prolong the suffering of a family member who is at death's door and has no reasonable hope of recovery.
You most certainly don't. You are a wise man.
Who got banned?
(for that matter, it seems like it has been a while since I have seen a post from SSpur)
I see now that you've been appointed moderator of the thread.
I'll have you know it was a coup.
besides running your big mouth.
FR has audio?!?!? Or are you just unable to come up with a clever insult?
It's the same thought process. As long as I am better off, kill it. You fool no one but yourself.
World Nuts Daily, take a cheap shot at Bush Brothers.
Peggy Noonan? Huh?
We're not that lucky unfortunately :)
I wouldn't touch Peggy with your hand. LOL
Normally, 'rule of law' is a nice stick that we use to beat anarchist liberals with. The law is honored and respected when we get our way. In fact, anyone who would break the law out of professed moral conviction would be seen as either disingenious, or as fools.
Unfortunately, many FReepers have 'morality inflation' whenever they find the law disagreeable. Suddenly, people who mention 'rule of law' are the ones who are being disingenious or fools. They treat the law like it was forcibly imposed on us by some third world dictator, and should be broken out of principle.
We tell people who morally object to war "You can oppose it all you want, but you lost the election, so keep your whining to yourself". We expect them to just accept the fact that vast sums of their tax dollars are being spent killing people they don't want killed. We'd be outraged if they did otherwise. And we didn't much care that they didn't like it, because we got our way.
Now, it's our ox being gored. We see how much 'respect for the law' can really suck.
Steyn? STEYN??? He is absolutely the most brilliant writer on the planet. Bar none. Brilliant. When I grow up, I want to be Mark Steyn.
JonDavid got banned, although he could return soon as churchhillmuff.
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