Posted on 03/23/2005 5:04:24 AM PST by Maurice Tift
The shocking governmental homicide of Terri Schiavo has many dimensions, twists, and turns--all of which, upon analysis, converge on one inescapable reality: The life of Terri Schiavo is solely in the hands of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
While Terri lies dying by slow execution in a Pinellas Park hospice, Gov. Bush and others have looked mainly to the legislative process for relief--knowing full well that any special law intended to spare Terri's life will likely be overturned or disregarded by unsympathetic courts on the pretext of "separation of powers."
Terri's protectors have also appealed repeatedly to the courts themselves to correct their own excesses and lapses throughout this horrific ordeal--with equally predictable results.
At this point, the obvious solution is an executive one.
The case for executive relief
Any delegating of executive authority to the other branches will not only fail to save Terri, it appears--because the courts pretend to reign supreme, at the expense of true equilibrium between the branches--but it amounts to passing the authoritative buck.
The result will be not only the unconscionable death of an innocent woman whose execution cannot be justified on the basis of the facts, let alone on moral grounds, but the executive power will be shown to be what it has willfully become: impotent.
Not only that, but if Terri dies, the executive authority in Florida will be directly complicit.
No other entity in the state has authority to kill Terri. The courts can't do it. Nor can the legislature do anything directly about it. Only the executive can actually put people to death, under constitution-based law.
This fact dispels any notion that the governor is powerless to spare Terri. The truth is, only the governor--who oversees all agencies of executive power in the state--can in fact put Terri to death.
Officers already acting to kill Terri
Under authority of Jeb Bush, police are already at the scene--not to protect Terri, but to ensure that she is killed. They are, in fact, executing her.
Numerous well-meaning people who have tried to feed Terri--acting from simple respect for Judeo-Christian morality and compassion--have been arrested by uniformed officers who are acting on executive orders drawn up in conflict with the clear written meaning of constitutional law.
Rather than stand firm on the separation of powers principle upon which the Constitution, itself, is based, the executive power--at this very moment in the Terri Schiavo case--is actively participating in Terri's murder, having abdicated constitutional authority to the emerging bullies in government: the judiciary.
The result is total chaos, in the midst of an unprecedented constitutional crisis, the only remedy to which is for the executive to defend his rightful turf and preserve not only Terri's life, but the life of the republic.
The outward "orderliness" with which Terri is now being cruelly put to death--upon "orders" from an agenda-driven judiciary that has no power to act--belies the real truth of what is happening. Our nation's heart is being ripped out by the executive--not by anyone else--and with that loss goes our moral authority as a nation to lead the world.
As some suggest, we are behaving as a third-world dictatorship that cares little about innocent human life, and less about constitutional law.
Gov. Bush, put a stop to this travesty right now, for the sake of all that our nation stands for, in the interest of meriting God's merciful protection of our country in the years ahead.
If you "allow" Terri to die, you will indeed be her chief executioner.
CALL GOV. BUSH at 850-488-4441 Email: jeb@myflorida.com
CALL JEB BUSH AND ASK HIM TO USE HIS EXECUTIVE POWERS AND TAKE CUSTODY OF TERRI. HIS NUMBER IS 850-488-4441
Thank you for the points. They make an excellent basis to deliberate on a promise to pardon, especially since I'm no lawyer.
"A promise of a pardon before hand would be tantamount to conspiracy."
A conspiracy for life. Impeachment over that kind of conspiracy would be asking for major self-inflicted pain by the left. What about the crack dealer pardon for cash? That wasn't a conspiracy?
"It would be ill advised."
Sadly, considering she's this bad off by the time the court option was finished, there is no telling what her brain activity is now. So I agree that it would be running a risk. But we have several witnesses no longer gagged to back up that she did, in fact, have brain activity.
"It would not only in all likelihood invalidate the pardon, but would have legal repercussions for the governor as well."
Oh man. I appreciate your advice, but if Clinton's pardon of a crack dealer for cash was never reversed, anyone trying to 'invalidate' this pardon would be in for serious pain.
I'm all for saving Terri, but you're full of it. We don't live in a country where a governor or President can just order things to happen, that's called a "dictatorship."
Not quite. The Schindlers have orchestrated a losing fight. They choose cheap theatrics over reason. Had they accepted Terri's life for what it is and held it as being of value, the courts may have and people like me would have supported them to the hilt. Phony diagnosis and self-serving doctors only cheapened her cause caused resentment.
Which is why we are advocating he break the law. It's not such a bad thing in this case, in fact, it's the only right thing to do.
Clinton was trying to save his shame for sex. We're trying to save a dying woman.
Why are there not a million people in the street?
I am not blaming Bush but saying he has done everything to help Terri is simply not true.
I agree with your post, and disagree with the others who have jumped all over the initiator of this thread.
Jeb can take action here, through the executive branch, which includes state prosecutors who may find reason to investigate Michael Shiavo's activities on criminal or administrative law grounds.
The law is the law. I detest it...and it is wrong, but the Executive branch's job is to enforce the law, not break the law.
He has called on Justice Kennedy to ride in on his horse and save her.
Disgusting..to see them politicize this.
It's time that you settle down and do something more constructive than to blame our Governor, who has done plenty to intervene in Terri's case. Your armchair baseless criticism does not effect any positive actions.
The police, the state prosecutors, the regulatory agancies -- they are all EXECUTIVE BRANCH functions under the control of Jeb Bush. So -- if there is a credible basis to investigate whether Michael Shiavo has a material conflict of interest -- the legislative branch can investigate. If the nurse who provided an affidavit stating that Shiavo was trying to kill Terri through insulin injections is credible (she's been all over the TV making her charges) then the state prosecutors can investigate.
If the court won't order the preservation of life through that process, then the executive branch can take action to preserve the evidence.
The founding fathers believed that there was a danger in an unelected and lifetime-appointed judiciary, but one mitigating fact was that they had no real authority to enforce -- they had to rely on the executive -- so their power was in effect limited. But now it is time for the executive to take emergency steps and thereby demonstrate the limit of juducical power.
It's not the pardon that's so legally offensive. It's the promise of a pardon beforehand. If a pardon were given to someone who aided her after the fact, that would be a different story.
Well, they tried to point the finger at me - but I told them "Hey - what about Rebelbase?"
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