Posted on 04/05/2005 2:06:47 PM PDT by Crackingham
U.S. Senate Republican leader Bill Frist said on Tuesday that courts had acted fairly in the Terri Schiavo "right-to-die" case, differing sharply from a vow of retribution by his House of Representatives counterpart, Tom DeLay.
"I believe we have a fair and independent judiciary today," said Frist, now trying to resolve a battle with Democrats over judicial nominations that threatens to tie his chamber into knots. "I respect that."
Frist and DeLay, as the Senate and House majority leaders, had led a charge for emergency legislation calling on the federal courts to review the Schiavo case. President Bush flew back from a Texas vacation to sign the bill into law. But federal courts refused to intervene and let stand a Florida state court order to remove a feeding tube from the brain-damaged woman. Schiavo's husband had said she would not have wanted to live in her condition, but her parents fought against the tube's removal. Schiavo died last week after spending 15 years in what courts had ruled was a persistent vegetative state.
DeLay, a Texas Republican, said afterward: "We will look at an arrogant, out-of-control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at the Congress and president when given jurisdiction to hear this case anew."
In a written statement, DeLay said: "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior."
Frist, asked about the furor over the case, told reporters, "I will let members (of Congress) ... speak for themselves."
But the Tennessee Republican said he believed the courts "acted in a fair and independent way."
The Schiavo case was unique, Frist said. "Our bill said, 'let's let the courts take another look,"' he said.
Senator Frist, leading the Republican Party straight into the minority.
Last week, the Bush boys and the Judiciary had their crack at it, and blew it.
Now Frist and the Senate look to be blowing their chance.
Sister Frist strikes again. He needs to keep puffin on his crack pipe if he thinks he has a snowball's chance of being president.
Reuters is so stupid.
Frist is such a sissy boy. And to think some people think this milquetoast could be president.
Looks like after his term is up, Sen. Frist will have a bright future -- in the practice of medicine.
That's a relief!!! For a while there I thought Senator Frist actually had a chance at getting the Republican presidential nomination!
My reaction was that he was talking about what the judge(s) will have to answer for to God.
Another target for the Crackpots determined to drive sanity from the GOP.
Frist has long since become a member of the Senate "club."
For members of the Senate club, public opinion simply doesn't matter.
He should be dumped at the end of this session (late '05) and replaced with Mitch McConnell.
I think these comments also suggest that the "nuclear option" -- why were we so stupid as to let it get this name??? -- is a dead option. If Frist, who is supposed to make this happen, can't even mildly criticize the judicial branch or the Schiavo courts, how in God's name can we expect that he'll stand up to Harry Reid's threats, let alone get all but five of the GOP senators to?
Don't count your Frists before they chicken?
We'll need to come up with a new joke for his spinelessness... this old one just works a lot better on Orrin Hatch.
Hillary Clinton has bigger testicles than Senate Eunuch Leader Frist. He is a disgraceful coward. I thought Lott was an ineffectual milquetoast but Frist reaches new lows of cravenly resignation daily.
It is interesting that many Republicans thought that Congress did enough, while many others thought they shouldn't have done as much as they did, yet the prevailing sentiment here so far has been that Frist has ruined his career by saying Congress did enough. I'd like to see a reliable poll or survey to show the numbers on this.
Independant,fine,as it should be.
But fair?What in the world is he talking about?
I've been a Frist supporter for some time, but the above is absurd.
For one thing, it misses the point entirely. I don't want them fair or independent...I want them constitutional.
The constitution is a piece of paper. It says some things, and it doesn't say others. It's that simple.
When a Conservative has the balls to speak the truth he is attacked from all sides.
When a RINO says what the MSM/Liberal Left wants to hear his statement is trumpeted far and wide!
Frist has or had a chance to set himself up for a President run. But, if he and the Republicans fail on the issue of the judiciary, he'd be better off thinking about retirement.
Think you may have read the posts wrong. Frist is the one everyone is talking about, Delay did say what you saw, I.E. "We will look at an arrogant, out-of-control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at the Congress and president when given jurisdiction to hear this case anew.".
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