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."
Nothing short of Jeb rolling up to the hospice in a national guard tank with guns blazing will appease the radicals around here.
After everyone sees how the pro-life movement excoriates Jeb and GW for not tearing up the Constitution and acting like Afghan warlords, the pro-life movement will be a pariah in not only the rat party but the republican party as well.
And that stinks. But thats what happens when you kick the very people who have helped you the most, I guess.
"So what exactly did Gov Bush do other than to further certify that the executive and legislative branches of government have yet again been rendered irrelevant by the judiciary. The NYT applauds good intentions over action."
That's what he did.
Carolyn
Red
> Legally, I am not sure if pardon applies
Here's what's in Florida's Constitution on the subject of pardons.
SECTION 8. Clemency.--
(a) Except in cases of treason and in cases where impeachment results in conviction, the governor may, by executive order filed with the custodian of state records, suspend collection of fines and forfeitures, grant reprieves not exceeding sixty days and, with the approval of two members of the cabinet, grant full or conditional pardons, restore civil rights, commute punishment, and remit fines and forfeitures for offenses.
Traditionally, there's a perception that pardons are associated with criminal behavior, which is why the requirement of approval from two members of the governor's cabinet. The operative word is perception. As you can see from the above construction, criminal acts are not linked to granting of pardons. Since criminality is not involved in Terri's situation, it's entirely reasonable to believe that approval would be a slam dunk.
Since use of the pardon function has not heretofore been mentioned, I'm suspicious that there's a sinister, unspoken-of agenda here.
> it is not as though she is being punished for a crime for which a pardon would lift the punishment.
She is being executed--capital punishment. Incidentally, Florida law allows only two modes of execution; lethal injection and the electric chair. I've been told the electric chair is now prohibited as being too cruel. Yet an innocent person is being subjected to a mode of execution not permitted for murderers. Because she being punished by a civil order for execution, Gov. Bush most certainly could grant a pardon.
Look at how JINO Greer has bent, folded, spindled and mutilated Florida laws to achieve his objectives to protect the HINO/Felos/Greer triumvar. The above wording is ample enough for Bush to utilize -- if he's truly concerned about saving Terri.
Well-reasoned clarity here:
Speaking of scumbag Democrats, how's your week going?
Very well put. People seem to think politicians are gods or superheroes, when in fact they serve the law. The law is NOT about getting our way every time; the law is a framework, a system we agree to abide by even if we don't like the results. When we go by the law when we like the result and break it when we don't, there's no reason to have laws.
me too. While I'm a little disappointed that Jeb didn't act as quickly as I feel he lead us to believe, I don't hate him...I just feel sorry for everyone involved...This hurts us a lot more than it hurts the left..who are rejoicing in Terri's death.
You forgot the (/6-year-old) at the end of your post.
Other than that, it was the same clever and witty stuff you usually puke around here.
Have a nice life.
not to worry, this too will pass
the proclamations of damage to the
Republican Party are just wishful thinking by the DhimmoRats.
when its time to circle the wagons, we will all be there
Did you read the Freeper poll on this? 28% of Freepers have lost a great deal of respect and the majority believe he should have defied Judge Greer? Are we conservatives first and Bush supporters second--or is it the other way around?
Even the NYT knows the push polls are fakes. This is not a loss for republicans in the political sense. The leftists are spining overtime to say this does not matter. One FNC talking head said Hitlary was smart to protect herself by staying in NY.
Terri's plight, her execution by a circuit court judge and the rubber stamping of the judge's ruling regarding which evidence will be allowed into the record --to fit the outcome he preordained-- will now have focus and will lead to a battle of governmental branches, if legislators will step up and do what they've been elected to do.
I pray that this battle leads to the legislative branches reigning in the judiciary, perhaps even resulting in U.S. Legislation that ANY court ruling like Greer's will have a de novo review prior to a judge having the power to order the execution of a non-criminal, disabled person. THAT will be a truly lasting gift Terri's heinous execution could have for the rest of her nation.
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