ADAM NAGOURNEY
You are wrong Adam. This is not going away any time soon!
Posted on 03/24/2005 10:10:41 PM PST by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON, March 24 - Gov. Jeb Bush's last-minute intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, even after the president had ended his own effort to keep her alive, may have so far failed in a legal sense, but it has cemented the religious and social conservative credentials of a man whose political pedigree is huge and whose political future remains a subject of intense speculation.
On one level, the Florida governor's emergence as the most prominent politician still fighting, despite a string of court and legislative defeats, to have a feeding tube reinserted in Ms. Schiavo was very much in keeping with someone who has repeatedly declared a deep religious faith.
Several associates noted that he had been devoutly religious longer than President Bush, and even critics said his efforts - prodding the Florida Legislature and the courts and defying much of the electorate - were rooted in a deep-seated opposition to abortion and euthanasia rather than in political positioning.
Yet inevitably, the events of recent days have fed the mystique of Mr. Bush as a reluctant inheritor of perhaps America's most famous dynasty since the Adams family two centuries ago.
He has assumed a very high profile in this polarizing case just as Republicans are contemplating the void that will be left when President Bush begins his walk off the stage in two years or so. At a time when many of the most frequently mentioned possibilities to lead the party are moderates like John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the governor now certainly has a place, if he wants it, as a prime contender in what is shaping up as a fight to represent a conservative wing that has proved increasingly dominant.
"He has strongly identified himself with the Christian conservative movement," said Matthew Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida. "If the Republican Party is looking for someone with good ties with the Christian conservative movement, he is the one who is going to have them."
Mr. Bush is barred by term limits from seeking a third term in 2006, and associates say they cannot imagine his running for a third term even if he were permitted to do so. Further, he has said he will not run for the presidency in 2008, an assertion that all but a few associates say they accept, though some Republicans think he may well run in 2012 or 2016.
"He's got no - as far as I know, and I really believe him - he's got no future political ambitions," said Cory Tilley, a longtime adviser. "And even if he did, he would be doing exactly what he is doing now. This is very clearly an issue that strikes at his core beliefs."
Susan McManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said: "He is a very ideologically consistent person. He made no bones about that from the first day he ran for office. Those of us who watch him think this is Jeb, and how he truly believes and what he truly believes, and this may be one of those instances where he's putting politics aside."
Still, several Republicans said that while Mr. Bush might be ignoring any political calculations in a case that has etched grief on his face, it would be foolish to underestimate the political skills of someone who has managed to win two elections to lead one of the nation's most divided states. His decision to continue the Schiavo battle on his own, within hours after the White House had effectively withdrawn, followed a letter in which Bill Frist, the Senate Republican leader, urged that he make sure the Florida Legislature acted "expeditiously on Terri's behalf."
Dr. Frist is arguably the other most prominent Republican seeking to inherit the president's mantle as leader of the party's conservative wing. But Mike Murphy, a close adviser to the governor, disputes the notion of any rivalry between the two men, especially in regard to the Schiavo case.
"I don't think it's a competition at all: Jeb's the guy on the spot," Mr. Murphy said. "He's the governor of the state."
Some Democrats were skeptical, however.
"This is less about Terri Schiavo and more about shoring up the Republican base, and that's a shame," said Scott Maddox, who is departing as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and is a potential candidate for governor. "Politics has to be in play here."
At times this week, it almost seemed as if the Bush brothers were working in tandem; the governor's decision to re-enter the case once the White House had dropped it in the face of repeated judicial rebuffs may have saved the president criticism from the right. (Paradoxically, the governor himself was pummeled Thursday by some conservative activists, who demanded that he have state authorities physically seize custody of Ms. Schiavo and reinsert the tube.)
That would not be the first time the governor has come to the aid of his brother. But it is also not the first time he has intervened in the Schiavo case. In 2003, after a court ordered the tube removed, he and the Legislature enacted a law that empowered him to order it reinserted. That measure was later overturned in another judicial decision.
"Jeb Bush is not doing this for political reasons, in my opinion," said Jim Kane, chief pollster for Florida Voter, a nonpartisan polling organization. "Jeb Bush is smart enough to know that he is not going to gain anything from this, and he's probably going to lose something."
Pressing the issue could prove particularly problematic in a state like Florida, with a heavy population of elderly voters, who analysts say are more likely to recoil at government intervention in such a case.
In any event, some of Mr. Bush's associates suggest that for all the intensity stirred by the Schiavo case now, it will ultimately fade.
"Issues have a way of coming and going," Mr. Tilley said. "This one is a very deep one. But it seems like other ones always come up, especially here in Florida."
re: what did the judge tell him?
To butt out, that he did not have the authority to enforce the statue. In essence that he (Judge Greer) was in charge of Terri and his power trumped anything granted the governor by the constitution.
**On one level, the Florida governor's emergence as the most prominent politician still fighting, despite a string of court and legislative defeats, to have a feeding tube reinserted in Ms. Schiavo was very much in keeping with someone who has repeatedly declared a deep religious faith.**
God will bless Jeb in the next life for what he did to try to save Terri.
ok, color me wrong. anyway, you can't send the police as your own private force. He would be overstepping his bounds, ifhe did.
Thank you for the information. I will look into both of these. I would really like to find out what changed to cause the problem.
They think he should just go in and steal her.
Well, what good that would do...buy a couple days max and frankly I think that would do more harm than good by making Terri go through the trauma of coming back from the brink of death and then having to suffer again once Jeb would be found in contempt of court. That would just not be right. I am about ready to say just let her go..it is the best thing to do the most humane at this late hour.
I just wish I could hug her parents from across this screen.
Police can be sent for many things without asking any judges.
The law looks clear enough. Jeb could ignore the ILLEGAL order by Greer forbidding him to exercise the DCFS duty.
There's nothing in the law saying DCFS has to use a hospital in Florida.
It seems there are many more here saying go in in an illegal manner than would support killing abortion doctors. I can't think of anybody I know on here who would support killing abortion doctors...that is murder. I am sure there are some, but there are many more supporting radical action to save Terri than would do the same with regards to abortion doctors.
it's going on 4 in the morning here - been waiting up 'cause Whittemore said he would issue a ruling before he went to bed ---but I'm afraid. He;s a Clinton appointee - maybe he hasn't been able to conference with upper NY state for his orders... ;o(
> Jeb is now pinned between Social Conservatives who think he didn't do nearly enough, and Leftists who think he wants to lead a Theocracy. We are indeed the Stupid Party.
Pinned? Not really. Jeb was advised by his own state stable of legal advisers that he has the authority under several Florida statutes. And last year (and likely since last year), at least six private attorneys or attorney firms advised him of the same lawful statutory authority and urged him to make use of that authority.
Even if he were to publicly announce that he doesn't trust the advice of those Florida executive branch attorneys (which he obviously won't), Bush can and should, for Terri's sake, make use of the time-honored and unreachable by the judiciary gubernatorial power of pardon.
"Defacto governor" JINO Greer has high-handedly and repeatedly twisted Florida's laws into pretzels to reach the conclusions and rulings he wanted as a CYA matter to prevent investigation into his complicity for Medi-Cal and Florida guardianship fraud.
With the example Greer has provided of how to use the laws for the desired ends, Jeb Bush could and should do likewise. Whatever the agenda and reason, Jeb Bush is, instead, apparently going to allow an innocent, disabled woman to slowly and painfully die from dehydration. It's been reported that she now physically resembles Auschwitz-starved prisoners. It's wake-up time for all Americans who have a responsibility for young, old and in-between loved ones who are not fully capable of independently caring for themselves. With her death, anyone could find him/herself in as much danger of a civil execution order as Terri Schindler, and one's life wrenched from their family's control.
ADAM NAGOURNEY
You are wrong Adam. This is not going away any time soon!
uh, with federal marshals.
move out of Greer's jurisdiction? Could work...but good luck convincing another state to not send her back to Florida.
Greer's jurisdiction is Pinellas County, not the whole state.
JEB BUSH BLEW IT!!!
Pdf file from the Thomas Moose Law Center. This correspondence was sent to Jeb Bush advising him about his many legal options for rescuing Terri Schiavo.
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/Thomasmorelawcenter.pdf
> When the judiciary and the legislative bodies fail to do what I see as their duty, we can not blame the executive branch. They are coequal branches of government.
All governors have a power to pardon and neither the judicial nor the legislative branches have any control over a governor utilizing that option. Terri is under a civil order of execution, with no criminal behavior to take into account as an impediment for granting of a pardon.
Greer has bent, folded, spindled and mutilated Florida laws to achieve this HINO/Felos/Greer triumvar objective of killing Terri. If Jeb Bush is really interested in saving her, he could/should/would copy Greer's MO concerning manipulation of the laws and pardon her. There's no way Greer could find Jeb in contempt for invocation of the time-honored gubernatorial pardon power. So, what's really going on here?
> it is without precedent how much both brothers have done in this case.
Both are carefully avoiding and ignoring an executive's right of pardon -- over which the judiciary has no control, and it's not breaking any law. Something else is going on here.
Legally, I am not sure if pardon applies--it is not as though she is being punished for a crime for which a pardon would lift the punishment. This is a completely innocent person here--who simply cannot speak for herself. And--people have apparently let the "husband" speak for her--although there are plenty of problems with that from my understanding of the case.
I am not a legal expert, and unfortunately time is running out. But--I actually think her best bet for protective custody would be the president--not the governor. There is some precedent for the president stepping in--presidents have protected school children with federal marshalls etc. This would be a great way to do it--because I don't think anyone would dare to stop federal marshalls. However, I think if Bush were going to do this--he would have done it immediately after the Supreme Court rejected the case.
I also think that the attorney general of the state of Florida should have immediately filed a complaint against this activist judge who is trying to limit the powers of the executive branch and the state social services.
But--unfortunately time is running out--and probably the best thing we can do right now is pray for Terri. I have prayed all week that something would happen to save her life--but now I am also praying just that God watch over her in her suffering--and I am also praying that God help her family bear this burden.
If he will send in the State Police......
Exactly, but if he doesn't, he dies a certain political death.
He has put himself into this position by letting it out that he was prepared to take drastic action if necessary. If he doesn't, he will forever be perceived as someone who spoke, but didn't act, and that he had the last chance to save Terri, and didn't!
Words still mean something to many of us.
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