Posted on 11/02/2006 5:23:50 AM PST by 8mmMauser
Republican gubernatorial front-runner Charlie Crist says he was perfectly clear in opposing governmental intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.
He spoke out loudly.
And he was silent.
Loudly silent.
The day after limping through a tough nationally televised debate, the Republican attorney general wanted to talk about his plans to slash taxes. Instead reporters questioned him about his debate assertion that, “Yes, I did’’ speak out against Congress trying to force the reinsertion of the severely brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube in 2005.
Crist did not publicly express his opposition to the Schiavo intervention until April 2006, more than a year after the Pinellas woman’s death. But he maintained on Tuesday that he forcefully expressed his opposition from the start.
“I spoke loudly,” Crist said in Tallahassee. “I think it’s important that when issues like that come up and you believe that government is the appropriate place for it that you act that out, and you walk the walk, and don’t just talk the talk.’’
The attorney general noted that his office “by not going to court and pushing the agenda on that issue, that was speaking out louder than anybody else did in Florida.”
This is one of many issues — from insurance reform to abortion and civil unions — where Crist has been accused of ambiguity or trying please all sides.
Contrary to his comments Tuesday, during the Republican gubernatorial primary in August he stressed to the weekly newspaper of the Florida Baptist Convention that his office helped the governor’s office with legal work to keep Schiavo alive, even though he personally had qualms.
“I don’t remember that, but I’ll check on it and see,” Crist said when asked about that interview with the Florida Baptist Witness.
Gov. Jeb Bush came to his would-be successor’s defense. “He spoke out to me,” Bush told reporters. Crist, however, said he never directly talked to Bush.
There are few issues in the political realm so black and white as the Terri Schiavo case. People either supported the state and federal government intervening to keep her alive or they didn’t.
But Crist is the second statewide candidate recently to face questions about how he acted during the Schiavo end-of-life controversies that erupted in 2003 in the Legislature and in 2005 in both the Legislature and Congress.
Democratic Attorney General candidate Walter “Skip” Campbell, a state senator from Broward County, has been on the defensive this week for having voted to keep Schiavo alive and later criticizing the governmental intervention. Crist’s involvement in the Schiavo case may be the only common ground between the Schindler family, Terri
Schiavo’s parents and siblings who fought to keep her alive, and her husband, Michael Schiavo, who insisted his wife did not want to be kept alive in a persistent vegetative state. Both sides have criticized Crist.
“When he said in that debate that he’s going to be a leader, my heart dropped. He’s not a leader, he’s a follower,’’ Michael Schiavo said Tuesday. “If he really wanted to stand up he would have said, 'No, this is wrong. The government should stay out of this.’ ... Charlie Crist did not say a word, he was nowhere to be found. He’s a coward.’’
Terri Schiavo’s father, Bob Schindler, wrote an essay in August accusing Crist of snubbing the family’s pleas for him to help their efforts. “Florida Atty. Gen. Charlie Crist let my daughter die. He had it within his authority to save her life, but he turned a blind eye to her suffering,’’ Schindler wrote.
The Florida Democratic Party issued a release saying Crist “lied” about his role in the Schiavo case, but at a brief campaign stop at Arco-Iris restaurant in Tampa on Tuesday, Davis would only say that Crist “misrepresented his position.”
“I was up fighting George Bush and the entire United States Congress, both political parties, and Charlie Crist was unwilling to take a position,” Davis said.
Davis, trailing in polls and campaign money, is hoping his debate performance Monday night will cut Crist’s advantages. No statewide viewership numbers were available Tuesday, but in the Tampa Bay area about 152,000 households tuned in — a ratings jump for that time slot on WFLA — and that doesn’t include those who watched on MSNBC.
- Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet and staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8241.\
It is such a monstrous conflict of interest one could almost see the effort as a sick joke.
I agree.
Whatever Michael did to Terri, it was shortly after he got home from his restaurant job late that Saturday night. He and Terri had had a terrible row that day (it is revealing that he lied to the police, saying that everything was fine between them). The fight was about money. Michael resented her spending $80 to get her hair colored. I suspect he worked himself into a rage at work that night, bitter that HE had to work because SHE wasted all that money getting her hair done. (That fits his personality perfectly.) He must have come home in a fury, meaning to punish Terri for her insubordination. He probably dragged her out of bed immediately (there is no evidence of a further noisy quarrel that the neighbors would have heard). I think he wrestled her down. She went down in the hallway. He got on her back and pinned her down with his knees. (I think his knees caused the very unusual internal injuries to her spine and right femur shown in the bone scan.) He is so heavy she couldn't breathe. Head sideways, she struggled desperately for breath, but had no chance. She was soon unconscious and in cardiac arrest. This is called "positional asphyxia."
Now the question is -- did Grieco know? Had MS been talking angrily about Terri at work that fateful night? Michael evidently came to Grieco in the next day or so. Did he blurt something garbled but desperate about what happened to Terri?
The police never interviewed Grieco or Michael's co-workers at the restaurant. They may have stories to tell, even today.
Very likely scenario!
I grabbed a short bio of Jackie Gleason which you and I can find amazing!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recorded a number of albums featuring instrumental "mood music" (what is now known today as "lounge music"). Gleason served as producer, band-leader, and (on occasion) vibraphone player, despite the fact that he couldn't read sheet music. Several of the albums included original compositions by Gleason. One album, "Lonesome Echo", topped the charts in 1955, and featured an album cover with original art by 'Salvador Dali' .
That does ring a bell FV. I remember thinking, "Shame on him".
Shame on Shames. He's the wife cheater.
She resigned today. All it will take is for one person who was w/Jeb's administration to crack and this will break wide open. It might not be Luci who exposes the crimes against Terri Schiavo but someone will come forward.
Someday in our lifetime.
Same Sheriff's Dept. What is it with him? Name of restaurant used to be Agostino's. (Italian place on the way to Tampa).
Let's see if I can sneak this in.
Correct me if I am wrong FV, but did this not result in a Judges decision in Pinellas County concerning Michael Schiavo's Pinellas County Jail?
There have been a lot of unexplained deaths in various jails in Florida and mixing of people with mental health needs with regular prison population. Unfortunately, MS is on the wrong side of the prison bars. Go figure.
By the way, a prosecutor from Bernie McCabe's SA Office in Pinellas got caught in Taylor Park (guy's name is Taylor) with eight other males. They were hvg a gay old time in Taylor Park.
Prosecutor Taylor must have been having George Michael flashbacks. No wait, there are many bad apples here. How could I forget? LOL
Check this out.
http://www.rule-of-law.info/adams-smith.htm
www.ourfight4terri.com (think that's it).
It would only take one person to expose what really happened to Terri.
There are Fla republicans who are mad at Jeb and they weren't even involved with the grassroots efforts for Terri. They're mad cuz he didn't endorse Gallagher and we're stuck with Charlie First for four years. CC grew up in a mansion. If I grew up in a mansion and everybody covered for me, I'd be a "nice guy" too. Stupid but nice. He's so bought and paid for. People will be having cows here at FR once Cc gets started. They'll regret that they didn't vote for Gallagher. They will be having Guernsey and other type cows.
There are so many holes in the case, and it's unbelievable that no one cared enough to get at the truth.
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.