[NicknamedBob]

"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..."

No prejudice here on anyone's part.

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

[HairOfTheDog]

No prejudice here on anyone's part.

I don't see how you could describe the Schiavo fiasco without using the word "circus".

[Gondring]

I pressed Mr. McCabe, the state attorney. If there's no evidence that a crime has been committed, I asked, then what is the purpose of the inquiry?

"My purpose," he said, "is simply to respond to the emperorgovernor. The governor's asked me to do something, and I'm going to try to do it."

And it's worth hounding a man who has lost his wife and has no evidence of having committed a crime...as long as it responds to the governor's whim. What happened to America where we fought back when government tried to harass people without charges? What happened to innocent til proved guilty?

[MHGinTN]

"... this already exhaustively investigated case ..." Such bold lying! It appears those in the political opposition have no low beyond which they will not go. I don't think Jeb acted courageously and I have no idea if an 'investigation' could even find any facts this far aftere the fact. But to lie and say this case was exhaustively investigated is a joke ... and Floriduh is still too dangerous a liberal cesspool to even drive through on the way to somewhere else!

[lugsoul]

He's a columnist, not a reporter. Bias comes with the territory. Or are you one of those who thinks Ann Coulter is an objective neutral commentator?

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Terri Schiavo & The Constitution
CBSNews, March 31, 2005

Forget Michael Schiavo and Bob Schindler. Forget the earnest protestors and the solemn hospice workers. Forget the dopey politicians and the greasy media consultants. Forget the angry preachers and the smug doctors. In the end, in my opinion, the only true unvarnished hero in the recent "legal" phase of the Terri Schiavo saga is 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr. He is truly a profile in courage.

After his "special concurrence" in the Schiavo case Wednesday, Judge Birch is a hero to all of us who believe that the courts can rise and stay above cheap politics - and that the hypocrisy and demagoguery and self-interest that fuels the other two branches of government still can be neutralized when it comes into our courts of law...