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."
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/10/State/A_ruling_for_wine_lov.shtml
http://www.theempirejournal.com/08100513_Forensic_Profiler_Jeanne_Boylan_May_Be_ Able_to_Unlock_Schiavo_Case.html
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 Forensic Profiler Jeanne Boylan May Be Able to Unlock Schiavo Case
There’s a witness who may have valuable information surrounding the events of Feb. 25, 1990, in the St. Petersburg apartment of Terri and Michael Schiavo that could help to bring closure about what really happened. Except he may not know it.
Remember Floridians, if a candidate is from PINELLAS COUNTY for a state office, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM: CHARLIE CRIST, EVERETT RICE to be specific.
TOM GALLAGHER FOR GOVERNOR (r), Katherine Harris for US Senate. (very short list).
slimeandjanetevening,you will see a stranger...
The M.E. was working for Jeb Bush. He found what the State wanted him to find or say.
Maybe Jodi's an animal too. Being sadistic is non-gender specific.
And yet he still couldn't stretch the truth enough to claim she died before March 31, 2005. Where are the trolls coming up with that claim?
This thread has the apfn link on it from yesterday. I took a picture from their web site and they have AUDIO OF TERRI CRYING when she found out the tube was coming out in March of 2005. She tried to say she wanted to live but the cop lied, said it never happened. The cops were right in there killing her too.
At first the cop stated that he heard her. Then he denied it.
273 link to Terri crying on audio. Takes awhile to download. Go to the home page if you don't see it on the page I pasted here.
Direct link to the audio file. http://www.apfn.org/audio/terri.mp3
Warning! If you have any morals at all, this will be hard to listen to. If you get off on torturing and murdering disabled people, you'll really enjoy this.
http://www.newsreview.info/article/20050810/NEWS/50810004
The Prez is true to form. culture of life are just words?
I'm inclined to not jump to conclusions about this private interview. It looks like Roberts' statement may very have been taken out of context, and applied to Terri Schindler, using questionable tactics. Then again, it might be true. I'll withhold judgement until I come across something more believable.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050809/NEWS/508090317/1001
One side of the controversial case of Terri Schiavo, whose parents fought her husband Michael against removal of life support, may soon be produced as a book. Literary agent, David Vigliano, reportedly is sending proposals for the book by Terri’s husband to publishers. Vigliano has been quoted as saying, “I think this is the seminal case in the right to die with dignity story.”
ANYBODY heard of this literary agent Vigliano?
John Roberts said "congress can prescribe standards but when congress starts to act like a court, congress has overstepped its bounds." White House says it was taken out of context and wasn't about Terri Schiavo. John Roberts per the white house refused to comment about Terri. I guess if Roberts is approved, and there's another Terri, if Roberts votes to kill them or save them, we'll know.
"BARF, HINO wants to sue medical providers for Terri for what?"
He does like to keep his name in the news...wonder who his target is this time.
"an alternative to google"
Was it alltheweb?
And the useful idiots said he was not in it for the money.
Let's review, just off the top of my head. There's the info that provided in Post 285, Michael's book, possibly a movie if the antilife tv aren't afraid of the boycotts of their advertisers, and Michael sued for malpractice, saying that he would take care of Terri for the rest of his life, and use the money for her care, but "remembered" right after receiving the malpractice money, that Terri did not want to live like that.
Here's some quick background.
Regarding Terri’s care, according to Cindy Shook, Michael's girlfriend 1 1/2 years after Terri was hurt, Michael Schiavo said:
"How the hell should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the hell should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this."
http://www.zimp.org/stuff/06%20-%20CindyShookDepo.htm
Hey, I thought Terri talked to him about what she would want if disabled. Oh yeah, that was AFTER Michael received the $1.7 malpractice that he remembered.
Quotes from Bob Schindler (Terri's dad) to Michael Schiavo
“Long before and during the malpractice trial, you made a number of commitments to Mary and myself. One of your commitments was that award money was to be used to enhance Terri’s medical and neurological care.”
BOB SCHINDLER: And after the money came in, it was maybe two months after that, and I confronted him and asked him when are you going to begin Terri's rehabilitation? And he told me to mind my own business. Now, he had, you know, promised that before. So it was a complete change. And that was the onset of the problem.
[url]http://www.zimp.org/stuff/contradictions.htm[/url]
Alltheweb.com is one, and here's another which includes google, yahoo, etc. http://www.dogpile.com/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.