Posted on 11/02/2006 5:23:50 AM PST by 8mmMauser
Republican gubernatorial front-runner Charlie Crist says he was perfectly clear in opposing governmental intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.
He spoke out loudly.
And he was silent.
Loudly silent.
The day after limping through a tough nationally televised debate, the Republican attorney general wanted to talk about his plans to slash taxes. Instead reporters questioned him about his debate assertion that, Yes, I did speak out against Congress trying to force the reinsertion of the severely brain-damaged womans feeding tube in 2005.
Crist did not publicly express his opposition to the Schiavo intervention until April 2006, more than a year after the Pinellas womans death. But he maintained on Tuesday that he forcefully expressed his opposition from the start.
I spoke loudly, Crist said in Tallahassee. I think its important that when issues like that come up and you believe that government is the appropriate place for it that you act that out, and you walk the walk, and dont just talk the talk.
The attorney general noted that his office by not going to court and pushing the agenda on that issue, that was speaking out louder than anybody else did in Florida.
This is one of many issues from insurance reform to abortion and civil unions where Crist has been accused of ambiguity or trying please all sides.
Contrary to his comments Tuesday, during the Republican gubernatorial primary in August he stressed to the weekly newspaper of the Florida Baptist Convention that his office helped the governors office with legal work to keep Schiavo alive, even though he personally had qualms.
I dont remember that, but Ill check on it and see, Crist said when asked about that interview with the Florida Baptist Witness.
Gov. Jeb Bush came to his would-be successors defense. He spoke out to me, Bush told reporters. Crist, however, said he never directly talked to Bush.
There are few issues in the political realm so black and white as the Terri Schiavo case. People either supported the state and federal government intervening to keep her alive or they didnt.
But Crist is the second statewide candidate recently to face questions about how he acted during the Schiavo end-of-life controversies that erupted in 2003 in the Legislature and in 2005 in both the Legislature and Congress.
Democratic Attorney General candidate Walter Skip Campbell, a state senator from Broward County, has been on the defensive this week for having voted to keep Schiavo alive and later criticizing the governmental intervention. Crists involvement in the Schiavo case may be the only common ground between the Schindler family, Terri
Schiavos parents and siblings who fought to keep her alive, and her husband, Michael Schiavo, who insisted his wife did not want to be kept alive in a persistent vegetative state. Both sides have criticized Crist.
When he said in that debate that hes going to be a leader, my heart dropped. Hes not a leader, hes a follower, Michael Schiavo said Tuesday. If he really wanted to stand up he would have said, 'No, this is wrong. The government should stay out of this. ... Charlie Crist did not say a word, he was nowhere to be found. Hes a coward.
Terri Schiavos father, Bob Schindler, wrote an essay in August accusing Crist of snubbing the familys pleas for him to help their efforts. Florida Atty. Gen. Charlie Crist let my daughter die. He had it within his authority to save her life, but he turned a blind eye to her suffering, Schindler wrote.
The Florida Democratic Party issued a release saying Crist lied about his role in the Schiavo case, but at a brief campaign stop at Arco-Iris restaurant in Tampa on Tuesday, Davis would only say that Crist misrepresented his position.
I was up fighting George Bush and the entire United States Congress, both political parties, and Charlie Crist was unwilling to take a position, Davis said.
Davis, trailing in polls and campaign money, is hoping his debate performance Monday night will cut Crists advantages. No statewide viewership numbers were available Tuesday, but in the Tampa Bay area about 152,000 households tuned in a ratings jump for that time slot on WFLA and that doesnt include those who watched on MSNBC.
- Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet and staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8241.\
Terri "Where there's life, there's hope." Greer: "INADMISSABLE!" (he tampered with Terri's statement)
http://www.judgegeorgegreer.com/
Just sick that they are both vying to be the candidate who tried hardest
to help the murderous Michael pull off his evil deed, under the guise
of privacy!
You are crazy. Elect a RAT because of one person? C'mon now.
Terri had more due process than anyone in history. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE LAWS, work to change them, but please do not rewrite history.
We worked to change the laws, too, but those who were for starving Terri didn't like it when we did that, either. So we're denigrated when we do and we're denigrated when we don't. It was lose/lose. Forced death won out. I will not be happy about that ever. Crist can blow wind up my rear, for all I care.
So you only worked to change the law for Terri? You lost, so you gave up hope? All laws were followed in her case. I'm saying why aren't you guys out trying to change the laws for next time?
Not just for Terri, for everyone. It's not just about Terri. It's about the right-to-life for everyone. No, I haven't given up or lost hope. And if you think that all the laws were followed in her case, then I have some swamp land to sell you. Good day to you, Hildy!
All laws were followed. Actually, that's the fact you don't like about it. And that's my point, if you believe those laws are so bad for us all, work to change them.
ALL laws were not followed. Just because Crist didn't want to revisit the affair after Terri's death, doesn't mean those laws were followed. I'll give you a hint. Greer was one of the main perpetrators. There were plenty of laws that were not enforced.
For the record, work is ongoing to get some of the most horrible laws changed around this country. For that, I am grateful to Terri and her family. They woke up a sleeping bear. I am not interested in going further around on this. I need to get back to the work I was doing before I took a break. Like I said before, have a good day!
You have a great day as well.
Murder is already against the law.
Gallagher's campaign manager is emailing Gallagher's supporters re: amendments. I emailed him back that I was patient and hopefully, the GOP would run a decent candidate for guv in four years.
In NYS we have A.G. Eliot Spitzer running for gov. who is HORRIBLY antilife, and way ahead in the polls. And he wants to be president.
We have far too many fools in NYS, and many of them retire in FL. We're both in trouble, FV.
Spitzer is running against John Faso, a social and fiscal conservative, so we put two John Faso signs on our property.
The deputies and the nurse have not been charged. The medical examiner is being treated w/kid gloves too, imo.
Will Martin Anderson haunt him too?
I'll be glad when the election is over. The Crist billboard in the area replaced the corpse exhibit billboard. I'm not a fan of either.
Here's an account.
http://www.nospank.net/anderson.htm
I have been repeating the Terri Factor as it emerges in race after race this season, separating clearly the candidates by what they defend.
Bringing up what happened to Terri has been a watershed, separating those who are pro-life from those who are pro-death in a clear way, eliminating much of the haze and confusion of middle ground. For the most part, it is the decent candidates of the GOP and some dems against the libs, the far left, the clintonists, the communists, and Al Jazeera, (and their terrorist pals...) Sometimes it is RINO's who took the side of death as in Washington State, and perhaps we can learn on the next go-around and park them during the primaries. Certainly it is the case of Crist and I have not hidden my disdain of Crist, and he is not in a Congressional or Senate race. Moreover, not being resident of Florida, I have no action to attach to my opinions, but would consider the lesser of two evils here, too.
Right now we are facing a crucial election coming up, a danger of no more decent judges being appointed if we lose the House/Senate, and yes, the RINO candidates. If the numbers change enough, it could mean committee assignment shifts, a phalanx of resistance against any true conservative efforts like decent judicial appointments.
That is why I invoke the tag line of T'wit, Due to Original Sin, the lesser of two evils is the only choice we've ever had. Vote GOP! and why I consider the axiom that we not cut off our noses to spite our faces.
The left would love for us to dilute our votes on the RINO's so they would have the advantage in Congress. Without a balance on the Supreme Court, the Terri's of the future would suffer a similar fate. No matter how good we may feel about not voting, or voting for someone not likely to win, we are in effect voting for the candidate of the left and are doing the work the death culture wants.
The left expects it of us, knowing we as conservatives are quick to condemn those who fail in our name even as we ignore the antics of the lefties benefiting from our skirmishes.
I believe my perspective squares with the pro-life stance of FreeRepublic.
8mm
"You forgot an important reason why someone ought NOT vote for Fortenberry. Terry Schiavo. Mr. Fortenberry voted with the pack that wanted to interfere with the most sacred commitment - a marriage and say they knew better than the husband what the wife wanted. The Supreme Court slapped Congress back to their side of the Constitution for that. Do you, the voters of the First District, want someone who voted that way to represent you? For shame Journal Star for this endorsement."
Fortenberry is our choice in 1st District
8mm
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