Jeb Bush defends appointee, claims 'bigotry'

CNN ^ | 8/24/2002 | some unnamed CNN drivel-generator

[Joe Brower]

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Gov. Jeb Bush defended his choice to lead Florida's beleaguered child welfare agency after an article surfaced in which he condoned "manly" discipline of children and asserted that men have authority over their wives.

Bush told reporters Friday that he questioned whether Jerry Regier was being pilloried because of his conservative religious views, and condemned a "soft bigotry that is emerging against people of faith."

[Joe Brower]

More "news" from the the Christian-hating leftmedia. The attack machine continues in full effect, since they created this whole "issue" in the first place.

[Joe Brower]

[Moonman62]

If he were Muslim the Left wouldn't dare criticize him.

[DeaconRed]

You got that right.
They will go after ANY person Jeb Picks for any position. They know the WACO WITCH, and whats his name, has no chance without some major help. They will stop at nothing
I am sure Jeb & his team know this, and are ready.
By the way I see Georgia is having some major problems with their Child Welfare system. You won't hear about it anywhere, because the Gov there is a demorat. I bet several other States are having problems too.

[summer]

I bet there will be a poll taken soon, asking voters if this is an issue - and, I believe voters will say no.

IMO, what really irks some Dem leaders - like this one -

"Kids don't count, women don't count with Jeb Bush," said Barbara DeVane, a Tallahassee activist heading up an organization called We All Count. "The true radical, right wing Jeb Bush ... has taken over the body of the Jeb Bush he sold us in 1998."

has to be the recent Miami/St. Pete Times poll, wherein voters were asked: "Do you think Gov Bush is too conservative?" In that poll, I think 62% of FL voters said: "NO." And, this is a huge problem for Dems, since they can't sell voters on their platform (as usually they have none; ie, Reno is still without an education plan this late in the game, yet she will be the nominee). So, they have to demonize Gov Bush, which is tough to do when more than half the voters in this state believe he is not a wacko-right-wing nut. Gov. Bush is certainly conservative but people here have come to accept a lot of the positions he has taken (65% of FL voters now approve of One FL). In short - this Regier appointment is the one big chance the Dem Party has to paint Gov Bush as "TOO" conservative. But, I don't think voters will fall for this. Gov. Bush has done too much to help kids in this state.

[summer]

I meant: But, I don't think voters will fall for this, as Gov. Bush has done too much to help kids in this state.

[summer]

Re your post #3 - I was thinking about that as well. I am wondering if the ACLU would have already stepped in against these attacks if Regier were Muslim.

[summer]

I bet several other States are having problems too.

The child welfare system is a big problem in many other states. If Gov. Bush were the gov of Montana instead of FL, all we would be hearing about is Montana's child welfare problems.

[summer]

I also think this is going to backfire on the Dems, because many parents agree with Gov Bush - parents do have the right to spank a kid, and such does not mean the Child Welfare Dept needs to be called in. BTW, in the State of FL, corporal punishment in legally allowed in schools with the presence of the parent and the parents' permission.

[gunnedah]

The liberal left has controlled this countrys minds since the 1960s and you look at crime,especially among the young.
I dont advocate hitting children with a fist or anything like that but I had a few welts from switches in my time and they did transform me amd my way of thinking.A lot of these reports on spanking children will prove to be as correct and as manipulated as Kinseys Sex Reports.

[Lil'freeper]

If he were Muslim the Left wouldn't dare criticize him.

Agreed. They'd swoon over Bush's commitment to 'diversity' despite the fact that sharia is big into capital punishment instead of corporal. Spare the rod- stone the child..or at very least sell it into slavery... or snip away at its genitals...or sell it into 'marriage'... or well, you get the idea.

[glory]

"Moms and dads ought to have the ability to discipline their children. If moms and dads don't want to do it, that's fine too. But to suggest somehow that ... corporal punishment is inappropriate, you're not going to get my support for that."


Good for Jeb. I'm so sick about this whining that goes on anymore about spanking.

As for Jerry R., sounds like the type of guy that kids in this system need looking after them, most of whom are fatherless and have mothers who have no morals. Who better to be considered for a top position in child welfare than someone who has thier head screwed on right regarding the environment in which children thrive?

[glory]

I believe there was a study done not to long back that said that there were NO ill effects of spanking done as a means of discipline. The line was drawn though over it done out of anger or as a form of punishment. Used as a punishment by a calm parent was fine it seems. However, I do remember that it got NO press by any of the major news outlets, not like the study several months before it that said spanking was terrible for children.

[flyervet]

"By the way I see Georgia is having some major problems with their Child Welfare system. You won't hear about it anywhere, because the Gov there is a demorat."

Really? I live in GA, and you can't get away from the coverage here. While I'm no Dim-o-crat, I didn't vote for Roy Barnes' opponent in 1998 because both were filthy, but Barnes was the lesser of two evils. For about all of the 1990s, if there was an electoral vacancy in GA, Guy Milner would run for it. However, he smelled bad no matter who he ran against. The people of GA, in their wisdom, never saw fit to elect Milner to any office, and in the end, he went back home to FL, although he never really bothered to move to GA anyway. You are graciously welcome to keep him.

In any event, in GA, the governor not only got het up about the mismanagement and incompetence of DCFS, but he started kicking butt and taking names immediately. In FL's case, Governor Bush is certainly het up, but you folks south of the border seem to have a real big problem with drunken caseworkers, caseworkers lying to judges and also the system misplacing children wholesale and then shrugging it off. Maybe you're not hearing as much about GA's problem because the din from your your state's problem is so much greater.

While unfortunate, this much is true -- a passel of misplaced and missing children will get a lot more coverage than a couple of kids who died from neglect. What, exactly, is FL doing to locate the missing kids? Or have y'all just written them off? This is no GOP-vs-Dem issue. This is an incompetence-vs-malfeasance issue. While GA caseworkers may be incompetent, I conjecture that some FL caseworkers might actually be worse than that.

GA Peaches, vote for Saxby in November. Let Max enjoy his retirement.

[hchutch]

I like his "soft bigotry" line, too.

First the President uses "the soft bigotry of low expectations."

Now, Jeb uses it in, "soft bigotry against people of faith."

I love it!!

[j271]

Really, there are two issues here:

1. a woman's right to choose...how to discipline her child.

2. bigotry and intolerance...toward Christians.

It's time for us to throw the left's slogans back at them over and over again.