Posted on 04/03/2005 5:19:05 PM PDT by floriduh voter
Freeper friends, Terri's Memorial Service is this coming Tuesday night in Gulfport, Florida. Please check and see if www.baynews9.com will carry it on the internet.
I'm still sad and in disbelief that the rescue fell apart. It was on it's way. We were waiting there for ambulances but instead two Sheriff's cruisers arrived.
There's much work to do. There are many work groups here carrying on for Terri.
The April Daily Thread as before will be a meeting place, a news digest and even in the midst of sorrow, a place to make friends.
I want to thank everyone who did everything humanly possible for Terri and her family. Terri's safe now from a room with the blinds closed, strange people and armed guards. She'd still be here if it wasn't for judicial despots who it appears have never read the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. or Florida Constitution.
Freepers, Republicans and Democrats alike voted against Terri or didn't do enough to save her from Judge Greer.
I'd like to thank Ralph Nader, David Boies, Joe Lieberman and Wesley Smith, Phd, author of Forced Exit.
I have disdain for the Naughty Nine Republicans in the Florida Senate who vote "No" which barred Terri from legislative relief. The GOP House Members who voted "No" on Terri, shame on them too.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE AGENDA AND WHO IS IN CHARGE? I'm afraid that Judge George Greer is in charge - of everything.
PLEASE HELP FLORIDA... CALL YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN/WOMEN.
HELP US. We feel stranded by tyranny today, but Florida is ripe for change. We will demand it together as Americans.
Thanks, FV
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK!
God BLESS DR. DOBSON!!! http://www.family.org/fmedia/broadcast/a0036005.cfm
http://www.family.org/fmedia/broadcast/a0036005.cfm
A must listen!!!!!!
Please give me an update on Miss Mae...how many days has she been without food and water?
She is at UAB and out of hospice. SHE IS GETTING FLUIDS AND ALL SHE NEEDS MEDICALLY!
She was airlifted to UAB Saturday. You know that Kenneth's mom- Mae's sister had a heart attack from all the stress?
She was in ICU-- but when she heard the good news- she started to recover nicely and is now out of ICU and in a private room one floor below Miss Mae...
Listening right now, thanks Polly!
The Catch 22 of a 'Living Will'
What can be said about the moronic editorial in Sunday's newspaper? For starters, read a typical "Living Will." It has the statement "I do not want life prolonging measures." Now how in the world does that help someone who does want life saving measures? Is it possible that Terri Schiavo did not fill out a "Living Will" because she did want life saving measures?
In fact, in 1985 when Karen Ann Quinlin died, Terri Schiavo had told her best friend that she disagreed with the parents decision to remove their daughter's respirator. Does this sound like a woman who wanted to be dehydrated to death? Terri's friend testified to this before Judge Greer, but the Judge dismissed this testimony. He reasoned that Quinlin's respirator had been removed in 1976 and Terri would only have been 11 years old when this conversation took place. But the friend testified that Terri had said this when Quinlin died, which was nine years later. Terri would have been 20 years old.
But the death sentence for Terri was set by the first court ruling. Michael Schiavo testified that Terri had said that she didn't want to be kept alive if she was in a persistent vegetative state, therefore the court ordered that she must die. The Schindlers' inexperienced pro bono attorney was overwhelmed by the Attorney hired by Michael Schiavo, George Felos, a skilled euthanasia attorney who was paid for with money from Terri's trust fund.
And how did Felos get paid with Terri's money?
When Terri's parents were first concerned about their daughter's care, they consulted with attorney Shames. He would have helped them, but the Schindlers could not afford the retainer. This attorney Shames was later elected judge. When Michael Schiavo wanted money to pay for an expensive attorney to 'dispose' of his wife legally, he went to court. The judge was the same Shames who had been consulted by Terri's parents. Instead of recusing himself, Judge Shames gave Michael permission to use Terri's money.
Once hired by Michael Schiavo in 1998, attorney George Felos began lobbying the Florida legislature to change their current laws regarding end of life care to include "artificially provided sustenance and hydration" (i.e., a feeding tube supplying food and water) as a medical treatment that a patient could decline. He was successful and in 1999, Gov. Bush signed the revisions into law.
The stage was set. The court had already ruled that Terri was PVS and that she did not want to live in that condition. And now Michael Schiavo and George Felos had a new state law that would allow Terri's feeding tube to be removed.
How would a "Living Will" have changed anything for Terri? How will a "Living Will" protect you? Sure, we don't want to live with a brain injury, but when actually faced with it, would we want to die by dehydration instead? Does a "Living Will" allow a patient to change his mind? Not if he or she can't communicate or is deemed incompetent to make their own decisions. Does a "Living Will" take into account misdiagnosis? Medical advancements? Changes in the law?
And what is to keep such a horrific situation from happening here?
Linda Martinez
Kismet
======================================================
Better to review other options, such as The National Right to Life WILL TO LIVE
Was this fact presented at the trial that gave Schiavo the Power to kill his wife?!
If not, it shouldda been, and if it was, the judge musta just wanted to kill Terri, fer what purpose, I have no idea!!
FReegards...MUD
http://www.stopactivistjudges.org
They despise Judge Greer and who can blame them? (their conference was on c-span this past Thursday and re-aired on Saturday). FV
Terri ping to 809! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
This is Schiavo-Gate, much worse than Monica-gate. Monica went on to make ugly handbags. Clinton and Bush 41 and 43 are pals now.
Judges stuck together and Terri was murdered by judicial fiat, a first for a probate judge (that we know of).
that thread was pulled. just noticed. no further details. i'm just a freeper.
I agree totalyl with you Floriduh voter, but the fact that nothing is being done about it now shows me they have no plans for anything to be done. This is starting to scare me. Do not Bush and the rest of the Republicans know that the majority of Americans are pissed over this??? How can they not? They must be outright ignoring us! I am so ashamed!
Michael was not a respiratory therapist at the time of Terri's collapse. He was a restaurant manager, and I believe, knew CPR for those duties. In court testimony, when asked why he didn't perform CPR on Terri, he doesn't say because he didn't know it, he says he didn't because he panicked. He also panicked to the point that he couldn't think to phone 911 before he dialed his father-in-law's phone number to tell him that "Terri fainted". He's a piece of dirt.
I'm sticking with Tom Delay and other Republicans who aren't in lock step against him. If they try to kick him out of his leadership role, then we can yell and scream about that now can't we?
Timing is everything. I dare them to kick Delay out of his leadership role. Then they'll see how ticked we are about Judge Greer killing an American in cold blood with pen and paper.
I'm thinking that this would be a good idea, except that surely the statute of limitations is up on those. It would be a great idea because it would take Michael out of the equation to a degree. Surely some lawyer would know how to proceed and what to do from here.
I also wish we could get Terri's guardianship records looked at. And that DCF report too. This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach, still. I want some answers, and of course the Schindlers do, too. God bless them!
I'm with Delay as well. And I pray that he doesn't fold to the pressure from his fellow Republicans! He needs to take the heat and roll it off his shoulders! I pray he will!
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Old names give political passage to fresh faces
Bilirakis. Castor. Chiles. Young. Florida increasingly taps bloodlines for its next generation of leaders.
By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor
Published January 24, 2005
In Miami, Democrat Kendrick Meek waltzed into his mother's congressional seat in 2003 without breaking a sweat. He serves in Washington alongside the Republican Diaz-Balart brothers, Lincoln and Mario.
In the Tampa Bay area, one of lowest-profile members of the state legislature, Gus Bilirakis, will be tough to beat for a rare open congressional seat. Why? Because his father, Michael Bilirakis, is the one vacating office.
In Polk County, the first confirmed candidate for governor in 2006 heard plenty of enthusiasm as he worked the crowd the other day. "People were saying, "If you're half the man your father was -," recounted Lawton "Bud" Chiles III.
Political nepotism is thriving in Florida. In a state dominated lately by the Bush family, aspiring political dynasties are popping up everywhere, especially around the Tampa Bay area.
Consider:
If Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, runs for governor as many expect, he may face former state Education Commissioner and Senate candidate Betty Castor. Her daughter, Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor, is looking at running for Davis' congressional seat. And a likely Kathy Castor rival for that congressional seat is state Sen. Les Miller, husband of Tampa City Council member Gwen Miller.
Meanwhile, chiropractor Rod Jones, the son of 27-year state legislator Dennis Jones, is looking at running to succeed Frank Farkas, R-St. Petersburg, in the state House.
Pinellas politicos are wondering whether Billy Young, the 20-year-old son of veteran Republican Rep. C.W. Bill Young, will run for office soon or wait a few years until his father is ready to retire. Rep. Young noted that Billy, a junior at the University of South Florida, has political ambitions but has to wait until he's 25 to run for Congress.
In other words, Florida could have a Bilirakis and a Young in its delegation for years to come.
As a former senator's son, newly elected Rep. Connie Mack IV would be the first to note that the list list goes on and on. He's from Broward County, where the son of Democratic Sheriff Ken Jenne is running for the state House.
Government watchdogs complain of special interest money or gerrymandered districts eliminating competition in political races, but bloodlines can have the same potential.
"It's a bit of a change for Florida, where we've grown so fast and had so much new blood coming in for 30 or 40 years, we really haven't had time for political dynasties to develop," said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett.
"But in politics you have a much better chance of winning if your mom or dad have gained a lot of respect and name recognition in office, and you can use their contacts and their name recognition."
So Bud Chiles enters the Democratic gubernatorial primary as a first-time candidate with far more name recognition across Florida than his major potential rivals: Davis, state Democratic Chairman Scott Maddox and state Sen. Rod Smith. (As if one iconic political name isn't enough, New Times in Miami reported that some Democrats want Ted Kennedy's 39-year-old nephew, Anthony Kennedy Shriver, to jump into the race).
Asked about his lack of political experience, Bud Chiles pointed to another once-untested but ambitious rookie: Jeb Bush.
Family ties explain why some Republican strategists expect low-key Gus Bilirakis to scare away some formidable candidates who otherwise might jump at an open congressional seat.
The Bilirakis name is well-established in the strongly Republican district, and constituents note that Gus Bilirakis has taken lately to emphasizing his middle name - as in Gus Michael Bilirakis. What's more, Michael Bilirakis is a ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce committee and in a position to ensure plenty of Washington campaign donations flow into Gus' account.
"There's no question that the politician's son or daughter has an advantage right off the bat by virtue of their name recognition and their ability to raise more money early. It's an uphill battle for their challengers," said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who said he is being encouraged to run for Bilirakis' congressional seat but hasn't seriously looked at it.
Fasano said voters ultimately examine each candidate individually, and political pedigree is not necessarily the deciding factor.
Tiffany Todd, the daughter of former county commissioner Barbara Sheen Todd and the late school board member Tom Todd, can vouch for that, having lost her school board bid in 2002. Likewise, Kathy Castor lost a legislative race in 2000, and Jeb Bush lost his first gubernatorial campaign.
Former Republican state Sen. John Grant of Tampa is looking at challenging Gus Bilirakis. "Congress is something you earn and not something you inherit," he said last week.
The young Bilirakis agreed: "It's not going to be inherited. It's the people's seat, and I'm going to earn it. This will be a grass roots campaign."
That politicians spawn politicians should be no more surprising than doctors raising doctors. Children who grow up immersed in political campaigning and policy debates often catch the bug themselves.
"I probably wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to do this if I hadn't been raised the way I was," said Bud Chiles, 51, recounting political activity going back to his kindergarten years. "There's a DNA factor, I guess. My genetic code."
Kathy Castor said her passion for public policy comes largely from her mother and father, former County Judge Don Castor. To this day, she turns to her parents for advice and bounces ideas off them.
Gus Bilirakis, meanwhile, said his political and policy interests are not necessarily inherited from his father. He was a political junkie even as a kid, he said, and as an 18-year-old was probably more interested in politics than his father, when party leaders recruited him to run for Congress.
The mini-monarchies sprouting across the state are hardly unique to Florida. When President Bush greeted the freshman class of Congress a few weeks ago, he noted that the group included at least four members who were preceded in Congress by their mother or father.
"I get a little nervous when the son follows the father," the president quipped. I know something about having a brother in politics, too."
Let's bombard Jeb and others at the bottom of the article with our e-mails to remove Greer from the bench! Send them the article from TEJ.
Terri ping to 843! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
Make sure you read the good news at 851!
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