Posted on 06/22/2005 8:06:02 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" asked Joseph Welch in his famous confrontation with the pathologically cruel Joe McCarthy. "Have you left no sense of decency?"
More than a half-century later, I would ask the same question of Florida's governor, Jeb Bush.
In an abuse of power that has been widely denounced, and has even appalled many of his own supporters in the Republican Party, Governor Bush has tried to keep the Terri Schiavo circus alive by sending state prosecutors on a witch hunt against her husband, Michael.
The state attorney who has been pushed by the governor into pursuing this case told me yesterday he has seen nothing to indicate that a crime was committed. Nevertheless, the inquiry continues.
Governor Bush asked Bernie McCabe, the state attorney for Pinellas County, to "take a fresh look" at this already exhaustively investigated case to determine, among other things, whether Michael Schiavo had perhaps waited too long to call for help after discovering that his wife had collapsed early one morning 15 years ago.
Mr. McCabe did not seem particularly enthusiastic about his mission. "I wouldn't call it an investigation," he told me in a telephone conversation. The word "investigation," he said, "is a term of art in my business."
He then explained: "When I conduct an investigation, it would mean that I have a criminal predicate. In other words, that I have some indication that a crime has occurred. That's my job...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
In general the NYT glories in the death of each and every American.
...In general the NYT glories in the death of each and every American...
NYT is only suitable for bird cage litter.
Those other guys who wanted to discuss other stuff do not have sufficient debating skills to comprehend what's really going on here. As I had to tell them repeatedly, this is NOT about them!
It is a waste of time, and Jeb Bush knows that full well. It's just a sop to the conservatives. Nothing will come of it, including the credit Jeb hopes to gain from it.
They represent the ideals of a large cesspool. Therefore, everything that appears in their pages is pure shit.
In my business, a "term of art" is called lying.
Ooooohkayyythen...the nice men in the white coats are coming to help you...
On the other hand, drilling for oil off Florida is a good way to get yourself UNELECTED. Any politician would have taken the same position.
Let's see then, what's arguably America's biggest problem...energy costs perhaps? Do Floridians have to pay high gasoline and fuel oil prices? Do the 95% of Floridians who don't live on the Gulf coast give a damn about Gulf drilling? Could we hope for a smidgin of leadership of a Presidential wannabee, even in support of his own brother's energy policies? Nahhhh.
At the same time Haitians turn out to make mighty good Republican voters. They are forgiven by all real Freepers!
I guess that's why I remember all those stories in 2000 of Republican party operatives going into the voting booths with Creole speaking Haitians to "help" them vote...oh wait, it wasn't the Republican operatives, it was the Democrat party operatives...
And 'ol muawiyah boy if you just had to guess, just guess,what would be the most important issue now for FReepers? NOoooooo, NOT Terri Schiavo...try . And can we hope for a smidgen of support from Jeb, a spending of a penny of political capital which we FReepers, other concerned Conservatives, even liberatians, and just plain worried citizens gave to the Republicans in 2004...noooo...Jeb is going to spend his political capital going after a private citizen who made the same painful decision that many of us have made or will make.
Terri didn't want to live in a PVS state. This was confirmed with multiple witnesses in a court of law.
____No, it was confirmed by Judge Freer's decision to believe Michael Schiavo..I think Jeb feels some shame that he wasn't able to stop the euthanizing of a disabled woman..
Some of us cats do!
Consider my back arched and my tail fully fluffed out!
What part of multiple witnesses do you not understand?
Grrrrrr......
You can be disappointed with Jeb and the Republicans on everything else. (I disagree with the GOP on a few issues, too, and am disappointed on others).
But this isn't about those issues. This is about one issue: Life.
This story would not have been a story if the following had occurred:
...If the woman had left her express wishes in writing
...If the husband had not moved on to other women right away
...If the husband hadn't promised in a court of law to care for his wife for the rest of her life in order to win money
...If the husband had not waited to suddenly remember SEVEN YEARS LATER that his wife didn't want to live, and conveniently remember it around the time that he became engaged to another woman.
There are too many factors that cast doubt on his side of the story. He's going to have to live with the fact that people will always question his motive. His own actions brought about the suspicion. He asked for it.
I agree. This has gone on too long.
Bingo... as much as I have no reason to be a fan of Mr. Schiavo, I also agree that he erred on the side of compassion. I wish others were willing to do so.
Speak for yourself...you might want to put your head in the sand and believe such things, but we're not all as self-absorbed and short-sighted as you. I know many peers who had discussed this topic in high school, even.
Secondly, just because wishes are not written down or recorded doesn't mean they aren't there...and it's also why the law provides for the spouse to act on behalf of the incapacitated one. We have to make decisions based on what we know of another person, as nobody could write everything down. It's called real life.
Same here, but wouldn't it be sweet when they run dry and have to come to us? :-)
I was one of the loudest voices calling for investigation and charging Mr. Schiavo if there were some crime he committed--check out my old posts if you'd like. But I also pointed out that absent any charges, it's wrong to harass.
There have been 15 years to "investigate" or "inquire"... so why only now?
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