What hurt the GOP was that they took the position that she was being murdered, and then backed away. Personally, I think we've made progress, in that we've gone from evil people (Democrats) to spineless people (Republicans). Still got a ways to go, though.
In the long-run it will help the GOP big time. A huge scandal will begin to emerge concerning her husband and Judge greer and the administration of the hospice to which Terri was confined.
In addition, more and more questions will be asked about this whole incident and the role of Michael Schiavo. Once all the answers come out, the GOP will have exposed some very dirty linen, IMO.
There are just to many aspects of this case that don't make sense from the outset.
Sorry, but I don't think this is the kind of issue that will revile a generation of voters.
I don't think it had much affect. To the extent it had any affect, I suspect most people understand that it's liberals and Democrats in the US that make up the cult of death.
I don't think it hurt the GOP. But Jeb, with his press conference and following inaction hurt himself. I don't think W as hurt.
Schiavo circus hurt the circus
It's never wrong to do the right thing. I don't think this will hurt the GOP at all.
The real story is how the media and some Democrats will *use* the Schiavo cast to try to hurt the GOP.
fixin' broken tagline ...
See todays Wall Street Journal editorial page. There is an article called "Who Will Remember Terri?".
If anything, the GOP has hurt the Dems even more.
Consider the source, San Fransissy. No this does not hurt the GOP since the deathocraps did not lift a finger to reverse the death sentence meted out by the black-robed hooligans. But the deathocraps, true to form, instead acted like a bunch of ankle biting dogs waiting for a piece of carrion to devour.
I've posted a similar response already, but will do so all day if needed because I think finger pointing is not helping the situation.
I understand what you are trying to say but I wish to make a point regarding the criticism of our president and the republican party in Terri Schiavo's case.
You make some good points, but this is a time for some hard boiled thinking between all of us, before we lose site of some of the objectives you raised and to fully understand some things that may not have been fully presented in the press coverage.
I've had some time to reflect on this and I listened to Tom Delay last night. Then re-read Ann Coulter's article from yesterday.
Talk show hosts and fellow FRs are joining the bandwagon to condemn the president and republicans. If you are listening to Michael Savage, someone I usually agree with, he is at a frenzied pitch about it, to the point that I think he is being short sighted. I think we need to step back and consider some things.
First of all, there was a bipartisan support from Congress signed by the president that asked for the federal courts to consider interceding in behalf of Terri Schiavo.
This would be similar to a Scott Peterson attorney asking for a Federal Hearing on his stay of execution in few years from now. We all know that in a situation like that, death row, his case will be reviewed right? So you would think in Terri's case, this would be a no brainer. Surely these people will look once more at this case.
Congress and the President asked the courts to do the same thing that a court would be asked to do for a condemned prisoner.
But what did they do?
They essentially thumbed their noses at Congress and gave Bush the finger. They refused to re-insert the feeding tube, step back and review the merits of the case one more time.
This is revealing and makes one ask "why?" Why did the courts do this? I think we need to know this. Especially when we lay people see glaring problems.
For one thing the woman cannot speak for herself and there seems to be some real doubt about the diagnosis of her illnes..
In addition to this, we all know that the lawyering on the case was terrible. So bad, that much of the information present during Greer's decision was ignored.
For example, did you know that the bone scan, 18 months after her admission, showing multiple fractures was not used in the defense of the malpractice claim?
Also, Greer did not allow Shindler attorneys to pursue the reason for the fractures. A fracture on a bone scan could be fresh or could be as old as 18 months. Could the husband have been responsible?
In other words she could have been battered 18 months earlier. Sure, the fractures could have been secondary to the process of trying to revive her.
We all think that this fact inserts some question about the husband and when we see that he was awarded money his calls his motives guardianship into question.
If Bush had rode in like Teddy R. then he would be abusing his office as much as all of us are saying the judicial branch is abusing theirs. He would make this a more partisan issue on everything other than Terri Schiavo herself.
He has now, the appearance of democrats and republicans together wanting to know what happened and with the American support will do something. I think coming down to Florida to take custody of Terri would have made him look like he's definitely being political on the case.
I too, wish he could have done something, but I just don't see a positive in any action other than the one he took.
Our government requires the branches of gov't to check and balance each other. Therefore we need to ask the the judges of these courts "why"? Why did you not re-open the case? Why did you go against both the request of Congress and the President in this matter when we are not talking about anything more than looking one more time in behalf of a severely ill woman who cannot speak for herself?
We need to know why and then correct it. If Bush has some support from the other side of the aisle it may make a big difference in changing things in the future.
Now Jeb Bush, is another thing. If he could have intervened some how because of Florida Law maybe he should have, I don't know.
One last thing is for sure. Congress, the president, better yet, Jeb Bush should take custody of Terri's body to make sure that an independent autopsy is performed not from some local yokel medical examiner.
Make no mistake of this. Terri died for all of us. Her death will not be in vain.
nick
Oh those right-to-lifers are so 20th century. In the new and improved 21st century, everyone loves death! The Death Culture rulz!
Out of the way you less than whole (or really old or infirm) humans. Life is only for those who are deemed worthy to live it! We've already used up 2/3 of the world's resources, we need to watch our population.
And social security, well, get rid of the old people and problem solved!
And you religious right-wing zealots, don't you want to go to Heaven already? If you love God so much, hurry up and go!
Do I have to put /sarcasm? This is extreme, but for how long?
Another opinion? Here? Surely you jest.
Long term political results? Jeb Bush was hurt. He'll never win a state wide election in Florida again.
The GOP was hurt nationally as well. Most of the GOP base was on Terri's side, big time. We could not be more disgusted with the result. A lot of enthusiasm has been lost, and that translates to fewer people bothering to vote.
Paradoxically, the big winner might have been the nation. Everyone now knows who rules this nation: Judges. Even a county probate judge has more power than the President of the United States and the Governor of his own state, combined. We live under a judicial tyranny that only the blind could fail to see.
So perhaps this can be turned into a positive thing, long term. Perhaps we will be able to throw off the yoke of judicial tyranny as a result. A politician who campaigned on this theme would inspire a lot of people, so maybe it will happen.
(I'm trying to find a silver lining here. Maybe pigs will fly...)
No, the GOP has not been hurt by this. This does point out very clearly to us that Fed court appointments are critical to the well-being of this country. We, yes we, must not let the DemonRAT machine get in the way of Bush appointments. The whole court system needs overhaul, and this is best done by judiciously choosing the judiciary.
I don't know if hurt is the right word. I've definintely seen a split with people saying either Bush brothers did too much or didn't do enough. I don't know if it hurt the GOP on a national level, but there is cause for concern in Florida. I live in Pinellas Park and the hospice is around the corner from where I live. Many GOP supporteers I know are questioning their support after this incident. Most people I know are more upset with direct government intervention than anything else. This will definitely hurt Jeb's future political ambitions, but not as much for the party as a whole.