Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Rift emerges in GOP after Schiavo case
Boston Globe ^ | April 9, 2005 | Nina J. Easton

Posted on 04/09/2005 3:48:54 PM PDT by FairOpinion

Top conservative leaders gathered here a week after Terri Schiavo's death to plot a course of action against the nation's courts, but much of their anger was directed at leading Republicans, exposing an emerging crack between the party's leadership and core supporters on the right.

And yesterday they issued an ''action plan" to take their crusade for control of the nation's courts well beyond Senate debates over judicial nominees, pressing Congress to impeach judges and defund courts they consider ''activist" and to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts over some sensitive social matters -- a strategy opposed by many leading Senate Republicans.

''This is not a Democrat- Republican issue; it is a liberal-conservative issue," Rick Scarborough, a Baptist minister and chair of the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration, sponsor of the gathering, said in an interview. ''It's about a temporal versus eternal value system. We are not going away."

In the charged battle over the future of the nation's courts, conservatives so far are outgunned financially. Last week, liberal groups mounted a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign designed to build support for the filibuster and thwart Senate confirmation of nominees they consider extremists who will pursue a ''radical agenda and favor corporate interests over our interests," as one MoveOn.org radio advertisement intoned.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: judges; judicialmurder; judiciary; schiavo; schindler; terri; terrischiavo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180 ... 361-380 next last
To: winstonchurchill

You said-> No one took away Terri's right to life, but many tried (thankfully unsuccessfully) to take away her right to die. Her parents may not have agreed with her, you may not have agreed with her, but she (like me and most of us if we were ""


I don't for one minute believe Terri wanted to Die. Why don't you read this excellent article and then tell me you want the person who can't even get the night/morning of the original incident straight, - to be the very one who decides Terri should die.


http://theempirejournal.com/409051_you_be_the_judge_was_terr.htm


141 posted on 04/09/2005 8:43:39 PM PDT by Pepper777 (HOSPICE = HEMLOCK SOCIETY)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: ninenot
J. likes the easy solutions. Kill off the useless eaters. If they are economically imperiled by the MFN/China and the consequent wage arbitrage, let them starve.

Do you even read your messages before hitting the "post" button?

If not, you should try it. Because what we see above is truly warped.

Perhaps you should consider doing your side a favor and stop posting on this topic.

142 posted on 04/09/2005 8:48:43 PM PDT by Jorge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: danamco

Pick one:

Life in America in 1979. With 1979's civil liberties, cultural standards, television programming, radio programing, level of smut and pornography. Democrat President, Senate, House.

Life in America in 2005. Current laws (judges a law unto themselves, Patriot Act), cultural standards (same sex marriage, Terry Schiavo et al,), television programing (seen a sit com lately?), radio programming (Howard Stern?), level of pornography (every store, every cable system, every hotel room, everywhere). Republican President, House and Senate.

Choose one. I dare you!

I must confess - I am not in favor of the Democratic Party, but after 20+ years of (more of less) of increasing "conservatism" and Republican dominance, how much more of this great continual improvement can we take???


143 posted on 04/09/2005 8:51:19 PM PDT by Jonathan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 138 | View Replies]

To: FairOpinion
The FACT is that Terri left NO directive.

The courts found otherwise.

Of course if you knew her better than her own husband did, then by all means tell us what you know about this.

144 posted on 04/09/2005 8:51:24 PM PDT by Jorge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: FairOpinion
I think instead of recriminations against Bush and Bush, who did everything they could,

LOL! If you think Jeb Bush did everything he could, you are a sad bamboozled useful idiot.

145 posted on 04/09/2005 8:52:24 PM PDT by Saundra Duffy (Rest in Peace, Theresa Marie SCHINDLER - IMPEACH JUDGE GREER!!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jorge

So?


146 posted on 04/09/2005 8:53:23 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (No wonder the Southern Baptist Church threw Greer out: Only one god per church! [Ann Coulter])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: Jorge
Let's face it, if Michael did lie, it could never be proven. At least not in this world. So forget the First Deg Murder charges.

The issue of whether Terri supposedly spoke her wishes is not one where fraud upon the court could ever be proven, true.

But in my opinion, even if she didn't specifically state it to Michael, I believe given the opportunity to foresee such a situation, she would have opted NOT to be sustained in this condition by a feeding tube.

I must, however, express some alarm at your attitude here, which would seem to suggest that the requirement for 'clear and compelling evidence' means nothing, if it can be satisfied by vague guesses about what someone would want.

The bigger evidential question in my mind is whether Terri really was PVS. To my mind, Michael's behavior suggests strongly that he didn't think she was. That would be the real point of focus in determining if there was a fraud upon the court; hopefully Delay can subpoena relevant documents before they are destroyed.

However as I've already said, I don't think I could have made the difficult decision to remove her feeding tube. I would have prefered to just turn responsibility over to her parents who were willing to keep her alive no matter what.

Glad to hear that.

That still doesn't mean it would be the best thing for Terri or what she really would have wanted given the choice.

Would Terri have wanted her parents to suffer as Michael has made them do for many years, or would Terri have wanted her parents to get whatever joy they could out of her continued presence?

147 posted on 04/09/2005 8:54:22 PM PDT by supercat ("Though her life has been sold for corrupt men's gold, she refuses to give up the ghost.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: Jorge
But somebody has to decide and I am willing to leave such matters up to the court.

Until it's you who tells everyone you know that you don't want to be starved but the High Almighty Court starves you anyhow.

148 posted on 04/09/2005 8:55:37 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (No wonder the Southern Baptist Church threw Greer out: Only one god per church! [Ann Coulter])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: Jorge

"My agreement with U.S. Supreme Court decision that every individual has the constitutional right to control his or her own medical treatment."

That is NOT what the Shiavo case was about AT ALL.
Everybody knows that this was a euthanasia case, no ifs and s or buts. Greer and Michael S. presumed to decide for Terri Schiavo. They did not prove Terri's wishes beyond a reasonable doubt, meaning that Terri was killed having less rights than a convicted murderer. Jorge: What if they were wrong? What if Terri in fact did want to live and was screaming for mercy on the inside while she was starved to death, but couldnt voice that desire?

(and btw, if there is a 'constitutional right' to control medical treatment, why do we have the FDA regulating that?)


149 posted on 04/09/2005 8:56:04 PM PDT by WOSG (Liberating Iraq - http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: Jorge

"Change the law that makes the spouse responsible as the primary caretaker?"

In *all* cases?

So if a spouse attempts to kill someone, and leaves them instead in a mentally disabled state, they can complete the murder legally? Interesting. Repellant, but interesting.

"I don't think there are any easy answers to this, even if you are correct about the husband."

Choose life unless there is crystal clear evidence otherwise establishing the intent ofthe patient. And under no circumstances deny people food and water, especially if they are not terminally ill (Terri was not); that's not 'medical care', that basic humanity.

No easy answers, but correct ones.


150 posted on 04/09/2005 9:01:38 PM PDT by WOSG (Liberating Iraq - http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: Jorge
Terri to Michael 17 years ago: Michael, if I ever become incapacitated, here are my wishes. Now pay close attention! I want to be dehydrated/starved to death over a two week period while my family and friends watch in horror. I want my Mother to be prevented BY ARMED GUARDS from bringing me a chip of ice for my parched lips.

I want to be cremated - never mind it's against my religion and my family's wishes - and I want you, Michael, to take my ashes to PENNSYLVANIA so my folks can't pay their respects. And don't even give my Mom a lock of my hair, whatever you do!!

Please euthanize my 2 beloved cats. Melt down my wedding ring to make lovely jewelry for yourself. Find yourself a girlfriend and have two kids with her.

While I'm dying from dehydration and starvation, I want STRANGERS in the room - especially two weird ghoulish lawyers who have an obsession with death and dying. I wouldn't want my family in the room when I die. Why would I want THEM in there?

Oh, and I want you, Michael dear, to pay out over half of the money that was supposed to go for my care and rehab to those lawyers.

And finally, Michael, I want you and those lawyers to make lots of money on book and movie deals that make my family members look like the bad guys, the pro life folks look like religious kooks, and you and your lawyers look like heros.

I know you love me sooooo much, Michael dear, that you will follow my wishes exactly as I have stated them to you. All my love.

151 posted on 04/09/2005 9:05:16 PM PDT by Saundra Duffy (Rest in Peace, Theresa Marie SCHINDLER - IMPEACH JUDGE GREER!!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: Jorge

"He decided, after more than a decade of judicial proceedings -- that, in fact, Schiavo was a PVS patient and that she clearly would not have wanted to be kept alive in that condition."

And another judicial proceeding that cost millions declared OJ Simpson 'not guilty' of killing his girlfriend.

Courts and Judges err. Greer erred in both the main points. She was neither PVS nor was her intent truly clear. Greer merely ignored the evidence that diagreed with that conclusion.


152 posted on 04/09/2005 9:06:13 PM PDT by WOSG (Liberating Iraq - http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: Jorge
that, in fact, Schiavo was a PVS patient and that she clearly would not have wanted to be kept alive in that condition.


"CLEARLY,"... where did you get this from???
153 posted on 04/09/2005 9:06:54 PM PDT by danamco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: Cboldt

"The totality of evidence just doesn't seem to meet the "clear and convincing" standard defined by Florida case law, cited above."

Indeed.

Thanks for a good summary of the evidence in re Shiavo.


154 posted on 04/09/2005 9:08:57 PM PDT by WOSG (Liberating Iraq - http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: WOSG
What if Terri in fact did want to live and was screaming for mercy on the inside while she was starved to death, but couldnt voice that desire

And, for that matter, was also screaming for mercy on the outside except that Michael's guards kicked out of the room anyone who could offer credible witness to that effect?

155 posted on 04/09/2005 9:10:03 PM PDT by supercat ("Though her life has been sold for corrupt men's gold, she refuses to give up the ghost.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 149 | View Replies]

To: FairOpinion
I respect your opinion FairOpinion, however if the Judicial is " out of control" ,then I would think that both Pres. Bush and Gov. Bush would be wanting at this point to right the wrong......rather than pushing it under the rug.

I fought like everything to get Pres. Bush back in the White House. However, I no longer have confidence in him. To come out and just say " we need to err on the side of life"......and then go back in the White House and not assure the American People he would do everything he could to get to the bottom of this( as has Tom DeLay!), he has taken away our security that he is taking leadership seriously. He led agressively in 9/11, but failed to do so with a single young woman fighting for her life.

156 posted on 04/09/2005 9:13:06 PM PDT by pollywog (Psalm 121;1 I Lift my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cboldt
There are other pieces of evidence, such as the 7 year delay in recall on Michael's part; the timing of recall relative to receiving med-mal awards; and (not considered) testimony of a girlfriend of Michael's where she testified "Michael said (after Terri's collapse), 'How the hell would I know what she wanted? We never talked about that.'" The totality of evidence just doesn't seem to meet the "clear and convincing" standard defined by Florida case law, cited above.


Furthermore, I believe MS said on Larry King show: "We didn't know what Terri wanted!?!"
157 posted on 04/09/2005 9:13:27 PM PDT by danamco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: Jorge

"And between those who believe in the constitutionally grounded right of patients to refuse extraordinary life-saving medical treatment,"

Food and water are not extraordinary, nor are they medical treatments.

Also, there is no evidence that Terri wanted to refuse any of this. Feeding tubes came about so that hospitals, nursing homes, etc, would not have to have a person feeding each patient 3 times a day. In other words, they were used for the convenience of the staff, not for medical treatment.

Also, feeding tubes may well, have not even been around when Terri was found unconscious in 1990, they certainly were not well enough known to have been an issue regarding life and death decisions.


158 posted on 04/09/2005 9:14:39 PM PDT by mjaneangels@aolcom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Jonathan

"Choose one. I dare you! "

2005. Easy call. How could I go back to life with just 3 channels and NO FREE REPUBLIC, INTERNET, computers, technology, prosperity, etc.

Sure there is more smut and wierdness. or maybe not. maybe its just more open because technology is opening doors to things that werent possible, and its more open. Human nature has been the same though ...

SitComs? Archie Bunker "All in the Family" was a great hit. But it was awful. Watching reruns is almost painful. "Will and Grace" is also awful ... so I dont watch it. But back then you had 3-4 channels and no VCRs or recorders or channel surfing, etc.

Today, we have a more healthy conservative movement and conservative media.
In 1993, one of my "life dream" goals was to see a Republican House and Senate. I didnt expect it to happen so soon, in 1994.

I wouldnt turn back the clock. Fix what is broken about today and move on.


159 posted on 04/09/2005 9:16:52 PM PDT by WOSG (Liberating Iraq - http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: danamco
Furthermore, I believe MS said on Larry King show: "We didn't know what Terri wanted!?!"

I didn't see that, but think that was Michael mocking Mr. and Mrs. Schindler, not expressing his personal sentiments.

160 posted on 04/09/2005 9:18:19 PM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 157 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180 ... 361-380 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson