Posted on 07/31/2005 3:38:47 AM PDT by amdgmary
TALLAHASSEE - It was one of the shortest speeches of Charlie Crist's career, but as a campaign for governor unfolds, it may prove to be one of the most memorable.
Two weeks ago, the Republican attorney general and candidate for governor gave a late-night speech to a roomful of lawyers in Miami where he referred to the judges in the Terri Schiavo case as "heroes."
Crist insists he wasn't endorsing court rulings that prevented the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube from being reconnected, but critics view it differently. And by appearing to break his silence in the Schiavo case, Crist has sharpened the contrast between himself and Republican rival Tom Gallagher, who has said he favored government action to "prevent Terri's starvation."
At the dinner in Miami, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer and U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa were honored as jurists of the year by the Florida chapter of ABOTA, the American Board of Trial Advocates. The group champions judicial independence and its members are lawyers who represent both plaintiffs and defendants.
Greer is the judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed, rejecting a subpoena from Congress and pleas from Gov. Jeb Bush, and Whittemore also denied emergency requests to reinsert the tube in the weeks before Schiavo died March 31. Both men's decisions were later upheld by higher courts, and both were praised and vilified by opposing sides of the emotionally charged end-of-life case.
Crist said he was "proud" of both judges.
"You are heroes to all of us, and your defense of the judiciary and what is right is beyond admirable," Crist was quoted in the Daily Business Review, a Miami newspaper that provided the only news account of the July 15 event at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.
In an interview, Crist did not dispute the quotations. Nor did he offer a view of whether he agreed with their decisions. Rather, he said, he praised them for fulfilling their constitutional duty to provide checks and balances against the other two branches of government.
"I try to say nice things about judges. I'm sure I was complimentary," said Crist, who as the state's chief legal officer often speaks at bar-related events. "I didn't talk about any specific case. ... It's important that those checks and balances exist. Our system of government needs to have that."
Crist's comments have resonated far beyond the Biltmore.
"Judge Greer is a poster child for everything that's wrong with the judiciary," said Gary Cass, executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America, a grass roots Christian political group in Fort Lauderdale that lists "sanctity of life" as one of its priorities and plans to form a political action committee.
"For Charlie Crist to hold that up as an example of good judicial practice concerns me," Cass said. "I think it was a mistake for Charlie to say that. I don't know how anybody can be happy about a woman being deprived food and water."
Rep. Dennis Baxley, the Republican from Ocala who sponsored legislation last spring to force the tube to be reconnected, said Crist's speech was revealing.
"I think it is one of those very important moments for us to know where he (Crist) stands," Baxley said. "I truly believe there's a lot of people out there who were sensitive to this case who are going to find those comments, and that association, very instructive. I'm understanding where people line up on this."
Baxley said that while Crist was "conspicuously absent" from the Schiavo debate in the Legislature, Gallagher sent Baxley a personal letter of support last spring. While activists in the Schiavo debate take aim at Crist, his Republican rival Gallagher is not.
"Tom's made his position very clear in the past. There's really no comment we're going to make on that," said David Johnson, a Gallagher adviser.
Polls show a majority of Americans agreed with the judges' decisions to order the removal of Schiavo's tube, as her husband, Michael, said she wanted. By a greater margin, polls show people were opposed to Congress' intervention in the case.
But to those who view the long-running Schiavo saga as a test case of support for the sanctity of life - like abortion - Greer and Whittemore are "judicial activists" who starved a woman to death.
Many of those people can vote in the Republican primary for governor in September 2006. Crist's stand on the Schiavo case could prove to be an asset if he wins the GOP nomination and faces a Democrat. But one Republican strategist said the damage has been done.
"Schiavo killed the Republicans. They've lost the women's vote," said Matt Towery, an ex-Republican legislator who now runs an Atlanta media and polling firm. "It's one of those turning points that you just can't get away from."
No on Crist. YES ON TOM GALLAGHER (R) FOR FLA GOVERNOR!
And I find this disturbing and an indication that Crist is a RINO who is sympathetic to the homosexual agenda:
CRIST....gave NO RESPONSE....to these questions on the Christian Coalition Questionaire:
"Public schools teaching homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.
"Amend the Constitution to define marriage as a man and a woman"
"Prohibit Embryonic Stem Cell research that destroys a human embryo"
"Voluntary student-led prayer at school related events"
Is anybody here still advocating for Crist?
Thanks for the information!
Crist is toast.
Popman,
Hi. I was also going to support Crist for Gov. until 2 weeks ago. Now my tagline says it all.
You'll probably find this side by side comparison interesting:
http://www.tg2006.com/pdf/comparison.pdf
The way I see it:
Crist said in the debate: I'm pro-life but I want to keep the law the same. - and - I'm a "conservative" but I support civil unions. He's also open to gay adoption. He said this on a recent radio interview. Now, thousands of normal parents are on waiting lists they wouldn't have endorsed him. Many of his supporters are sick of him after finding all this out and rightly so.
Aside from being a liberal he's also a liar. His proposal of $5,000 a year per adopted child is something he knows would never pass, nor does he have any intention of proposing it. But that together with his support of the school size ammendment (a piece of legislation that would only make teachers lazier and does nothing to even encourage better teaching standards) are just small examples of his fiscal recklessness. The state is in trouble if this lying, deceiving, liberal gets in.
Popman, thanks for rethinking your vote. A lot are. The way I see it it's imperative to stop Crist and vote for Gallagher as the only hope for a conservative Republican party.
Hi, The debate changed a lot of people's minds and made it clear that Crist is a liberal. Terri's father's article made me start looking at the issues about 2 weeks ago and now it's so clear that Crist must be stopped.
Thanks. I decided weeks ago I was going to vote for Gallagher. I'm not a purist, but Crist is too RINO for me. Besides, he seems sort of sleezy.
Tom Gallagher has lots of freepers voting for him. We've been too busy to actually take a head count. There are multitudes of votes for Tom here.
The next debate is Monday August 28th at 8:oo pm est on statewide NBC states broadcast "live" from West Palm Beach. Tom will show once again why he's qualified to lead Florida in times where the "status quo" just won't do.
You're welcome. Judicial Tyrannists should never be hailed as heroes.
Tom Gallagher for Governor. Fv
And, that's former Democrat FL AG Bob Butterworth flanking Charlie to Charlie's right. Why can't he find any republicans to take a photo-op with? (I mean besides Mel Martinez.)
Charlie Crist's despicable words at post 7.
http://www.abota.org/chapters/default.asp?statechapter=2&chaptername=FLABOTA
Who's the guy in the middle?
Former Democrat FL AG Bob Butterworth is to Charlie Crist's right with former Democrat US AG Janet Reno on Crist's left. All the others are trial lawyers.
The photo was taken at the Trial Lawyers Convention in July 2005.
Aparently Crist thought we would forget by summer 2006....but (conservative) Elephants NEVER FORGET!
Sadly, your picture and implications are crap. I'm sure there are pics of Reagan and O'Neill. Sometimes you've got to play nice in the sand box, even though you don't like the participants.
OMG - I thought my husband secretly signed up under the name Popman. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer "I don't support putrid, anti-American, communist propaganda newspapers."
Ya' gotta admit, that's awfully close. Honey, is that you?
You, go! Janet and Crist, a perfect pair. The love their version of the law.
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