(only JIM KING of the 9 is up for re-election in 2006. He needs to get voted out one way or the other).
Posted on 07/31/2005 3:38:47 AM PDT by amdgmary
TALLAHASSEE - It was one of the shortest speeches of Charlie Crist's career, but as a campaign for governor unfolds, it may prove to be one of the most memorable.
Two weeks ago, the Republican attorney general and candidate for governor gave a late-night speech to a roomful of lawyers in Miami where he referred to the judges in the Terri Schiavo case as "heroes."
Crist insists he wasn't endorsing court rulings that prevented the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube from being reconnected, but critics view it differently. And by appearing to break his silence in the Schiavo case, Crist has sharpened the contrast between himself and Republican rival Tom Gallagher, who has said he favored government action to "prevent Terri's starvation."
At the dinner in Miami, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer and U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa were honored as jurists of the year by the Florida chapter of ABOTA, the American Board of Trial Advocates. The group champions judicial independence and its members are lawyers who represent both plaintiffs and defendants.
Greer is the judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed, rejecting a subpoena from Congress and pleas from Gov. Jeb Bush, and Whittemore also denied emergency requests to reinsert the tube in the weeks before Schiavo died March 31. Both men's decisions were later upheld by higher courts, and both were praised and vilified by opposing sides of the emotionally charged end-of-life case.
Crist said he was "proud" of both judges.
"You are heroes to all of us, and your defense of the judiciary and what is right is beyond admirable," Crist was quoted in the Daily Business Review, a Miami newspaper that provided the only news account of the July 15 event at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.
In an interview, Crist did not dispute the quotations. Nor did he offer a view of whether he agreed with their decisions. Rather, he said, he praised them for fulfilling their constitutional duty to provide checks and balances against the other two branches of government.
"I try to say nice things about judges. I'm sure I was complimentary," said Crist, who as the state's chief legal officer often speaks at bar-related events. "I didn't talk about any specific case. ... It's important that those checks and balances exist. Our system of government needs to have that."
Crist's comments have resonated far beyond the Biltmore.
"Judge Greer is a poster child for everything that's wrong with the judiciary," said Gary Cass, executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America, a grass roots Christian political group in Fort Lauderdale that lists "sanctity of life" as one of its priorities and plans to form a political action committee.
"For Charlie Crist to hold that up as an example of good judicial practice concerns me," Cass said. "I think it was a mistake for Charlie to say that. I don't know how anybody can be happy about a woman being deprived food and water."
Rep. Dennis Baxley, the Republican from Ocala who sponsored legislation last spring to force the tube to be reconnected, said Crist's speech was revealing.
"I think it is one of those very important moments for us to know where he (Crist) stands," Baxley said. "I truly believe there's a lot of people out there who were sensitive to this case who are going to find those comments, and that association, very instructive. I'm understanding where people line up on this."
Baxley said that while Crist was "conspicuously absent" from the Schiavo debate in the Legislature, Gallagher sent Baxley a personal letter of support last spring. While activists in the Schiavo debate take aim at Crist, his Republican rival Gallagher is not.
"Tom's made his position very clear in the past. There's really no comment we're going to make on that," said David Johnson, a Gallagher adviser.
Polls show a majority of Americans agreed with the judges' decisions to order the removal of Schiavo's tube, as her husband, Michael, said she wanted. By a greater margin, polls show people were opposed to Congress' intervention in the case.
But to those who view the long-running Schiavo saga as a test case of support for the sanctity of life - like abortion - Greer and Whittemore are "judicial activists" who starved a woman to death.
Many of those people can vote in the Republican primary for governor in September 2006. Crist's stand on the Schiavo case could prove to be an asset if he wins the GOP nomination and faces a Democrat. But one Republican strategist said the damage has been done.
"Schiavo killed the Republicans. They've lost the women's vote," said Matt Towery, an ex-Republican legislator who now runs an Atlanta media and polling firm. "It's one of those turning points that you just can't get away from."
Uh-oh!
Can't believe this came from a Republican. Is someone running against him?
Ping!
http://www.conservative-spirit.org/pages/1/index.htm
His comment certainly sets my vote apart from him. I will be listening to Mr. Gallagher and the others who are in the primary.
BUMP to 259
I won't be voting for Crist...as it stands now Katherine Harris will get my vote for whatever office she runs for.
The better choice is Tom Gallagher, Florida's current CFO (GOP).
Sheriff Rice, hired Michael Schiavo to be a jail nurse, quit the sheriff's dept., went to Tallahassee in the house to vote against Terri's life. He wants Crist's job as Fla AG. It's a wonder Floridians don't have ulcers or strokes over these life and death politics.
Sheriff Rice also stopped the initial investigation when Terri first collapsed, was strangled, or hit from behind. State Attorney McCabe is friends with Rice and they are pals with Greer so they were listening to HINO a lot earlier than we may imagine imo.
Be sure folks don't vote for Everett Rice either. He won't be talking about his involvement in Terri's life and death. Just so you know, if Rice becomes Florida'a AG, his IQ is at Crist's or smaller imo. We are doomed. lol (if I don't put lol, CP will start a new thread that I didn't take my meds today).
You'll like HINO's caricature.
Another innocent woman was murdered in Florida. Crist usually gets on national tv when there is another senseless crime that happened on his watch as chief law enforcement officer.
I'm not sure he'll go on The Factor again though. O' Reilly has Florida figured out and good for him.
TEJ never singled Everett Rice out. They have extensive background on Greer and Crist too. Here's the Times article. (Sometimes it looks like the Times reads TEJ to get story ideas.)
http://groups.msn.com/PRISONLONGHOUSE/schiavowebrumorpegseverettriceasavillain.msnw
(only JIM KING of the 9 is up for re-election in 2006. He needs to get voted out one way or the other).
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/Terri_sheriff.htm
The web link above asserts that Rice is a Director on Hospice's Board. That was a MAJOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST for him to vote against Terri's life in addition to hiring HINO and all the other derelictions of duty of Rice.
From www.apfn.org
Gotta run errands. FV
So MOSI is not connected to USF. Thanks for the clarification. I worked for an attorney who knew Alvarez, et al in Tampa. Wasn't Alvarez the judge who was snooping around another judge's office in the dark? What a place Florida is! Never a dull moment.
Allegedly Alvarez sent his friend, Ex-Judge Robert Bonanno, to snoop in Judge Holders office. Ex-TPD-Major Rocky Rodriguez is also tied up in this as is the late Prosecutor Harry Lee Coe, who was involved in gambling and the sex business in Tampa.
Judge Holder was also the target of a JQC investigation of plagarism, from an anonymous source, on a graduate school thesis. Apparently the evidence was slipped under the door of the prosecutor's office. The JQC laughed the allegations out of court.
Judge Holder heroically had been suppling evidence to the FBI in this case.
A detailed article is here:
http://loadedmouth.com/node/1639
So, Charlie Crist gets a pic snapped with Ex-Chief Judge Alvarez....
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