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.\
One of the mobsters, a certain Frank Gusenberg, actually survived long enough to get to the hospital. Police hoped he could explain how seven grown men happened to end up dead in a garage. Frank evidently disliked medical research of this sort. "I'm not gonna talk," he said, and expired.
...despite dozens of openings for tubes all over their bodies.
I understand their Family declared them brain dead even before they were all placed on the ventilator system of the day.
A genetic disease. The baby inherited it from both parents.
Opening the garage doors should have been enough, y'know. This was the "windy city" -- and in February.
John Dillinger died unexpectedly (at least HE didn't expect it) on the street outside the Biograph theater in 1934, but that was in July. Just bad luck. There were a bunch of FBI guys shooting their weapons in the area. I guess nobody thought to take Dillinger to a ventilator. Same general neighborhood as the Bugs Moran boys, btw. Must be something in the Chicago air.
"Windy City" was before Beano was invented. In those days, ventilating was more than a sport, it was a breeze.
Actually, they did get ventilated, but the system was just in the development stage. If anything, it was too effective at letting in the oxygen. Surgical incisions were made with instruments by the Thompson and Remington companies.
Photo of contemporary surgical team and bioethics committee:
You have a novel turn of mind, Mauser :-) :-)
Okay, everyone who didn't believe me when I said that the Judges ran this state owes me an apologee. Now they are going after one of FR's American idols, Jeb Bush.
Crist hasn't picked a DCF successor yet(Farnell targeted her this past week and she resigned). It may be Clay Roberts who spiked the DCF Terri investigation. If appears if ANYONE did anything for Terri, they are getting targeted, even Jebbie! If Clay Roberts becomes DCF chief, that will be his reward for transferring Mitch Turner to Tampa and closing down Terri's DCF investigation.
Okay, so now I need to watch my back again. I'm aware of that.
Futile Care needs a spellcheck. It is FEUDAL CARE. (if you are a peon, you are expendable).
My freeper friend, all it takes is for one person to crack and go to the media who is always looking for red meat. So many bureaucrats, secretaries, lawyers, clerks, law enforcement. Among them, there must be one honest person! All we need is one honest person who wants to have a clear conscience and can show tremendous courage! They will be rewarded for coming forward.
The chickens are coming home to roost sooner than I ever expected.
In Tampa Bay, they ask you to sign a living will before they ask you your name.
The death industry is full of wordsmiths and psychobabble. Look at how they had the mainstream media handle all their propaganda for their re: Terri.
MSM, YOU WERE WRONG, DEAD WRONG! FV
End of life decisions at the end of year? What is that? For tax purposes? Even vile criminals and euthanazi's have to do their taxes, ya know.
God Bless Terri and the Schindlers.
www.terrisfight.org
The MSM is dead wrong nearly 100% of the time, but when their lies abet a murder it becomes criminal, in my opinion.
When Linda Vester left Dayside on Fox News, the Terri coverage had something to do with it. She was the host of the show while Terri had no water or nutrition. She quit right after Terri died. She used to live here before going to Fox News.
FV: "Be careful who you vote for." Orly had a cow right there in front of hospice.
It's not going to work.
http://www.judgegeorgegreer.com/
Judge George Greer with the euthanazi's murdered Terri. J. Farnell can take Greer out of the headlines for now, but Greer BELONGS BEHIND BARS.
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