Great letter, Mark!! I was just thinking about exactly the same thing. It is the time to put a stop to this, law or no law. "Better to obey God than man."
Here's another great article:
http://www.anncoulter.org/cgi-lo....cgi?
article=47
Thanks Mark. I just sent the Bush brothers something similar, telling them that they have both been selected for just such desperate times. I promised God would bless their good actions and asked Our Lady of Guadalupe to strengthen them.
Good letter. You touch on a few of the important considerations. I've also pondered the notion of Governor Bush granting Terri a stay of execution. An execution is exactly what the state (Greer) has ordered.
Thanks for saying it for us. Mine is on its way to the Brothers Bush, and I'm copying it into a gang email to encourage others to send it, too.
Apparently, there is a chance that the CDF may intervene, and they do not need judicial OK to do so: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
new...RTICLE_ID=43458
That's about Terri's only hope.
Thanks, Mark. I've just sent my e-mail.
Can anyone explain to me why it is that the Democrats, who were recently banging the drum of embryonic stem cell research & how it will change the lives of folks like Terri, now are the most vociferous in calling for her death?
Just like you taught us, Mark: Sin makes you stupid.
I will send this letter when I can send it on behalf of EVERY person who is being taken off of a feeding tube.
I do not want the gov to interfere in this private matter. If they interfere now, then they can also interfere when someone petitions them to remove the feeding tube.
BTW, Mark & everyone else - the very happiest of Easters to you & your families!
May God richly bless you all!
Angelina,
Murder, by definition, is not a private matter.
I sent my own version to Jeb. While I like his brother, he seems to have washed his hands of this.
Great comments. I hope that the govenor and the president take them to heart.
But Mark, to paraphrase that classic line from a great western, "Come back Shea!"
Don't be too hard on J&W Bush. There's a lot involved in what we're asking. It would be burning some MAJOR bridges. The Rockafeller Republicans and libertarians and some conservatives would ALL bail on them.
I send the letters anyway. Just don't get your hopes up.
Dear Mark,
I don't usually go in for this sort of thing, but
you're absolutely right: desperate times do
call for desperate measures.
I just sent off my notes, and I've reprinted your
appeal on my website (www.newadvent.org).
Thanks for the push.
My letter is sent as well. A good idea.
I echo Sean...we've missed you Shea. Have a blessed Easter!
CNN just said that Gov. Bush has decided not to go in after Terri. I hope they are wrong.
Thanks Mark,
My letters have been sent. A Blessed Easter to all.
Jim
Thanks for doing the work of creating the letter and providing email addressses. In my busyness w/2 little ones every little bit helps.
God bless you and yours this Holy Lenten and Easter seasons.
Mark, today a caller into the Drew Mariani program on Relevant Radio suggested that someone contact the papal nuncio and give Terri diplomatic immunity. Then the President could send in the Secret Service or whoever and protect her. Or...even some other country, like Italy, who is very disturbed about this case, could possibly give her diplomatic immunity. Give her their stamp, or whatever. I don't know enough about this, but if you or anyone you know who has some influence with the papal nuncio or powerful pro-Terri bishops, please go for it.
Sorry but I know nothing about papal nuncios. And I'm dubious of this proposition. The Vatican, as a foreign state, can't tell the US what to do.
God bless you, Mark.
Thanks, Mark. I likewise sent the email.
"When we awaken from this queasy nightmare, people will ask how it could have been that a court could post a police officer by the bedside to insure that a dying woman succumbed to a ghastly death by thirst." --William Anderson, lecturer at Harvard University and Senior Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital
Done
Good post and good idea, Mark. But the POTUS doesn't have what it takes to strike a serious blow at judicial fascism. He had the greatest conceivable opportunity the other day--a state court judge who flatly defied a congressional subpoena. That was the time to strike--to send in Delta Force and extract Terri for transportation to a place of safety. He could then have told the nation: "I'm going to save this innocent woman from a horrible death, and if those black-robed hyenas and their lickspittles think they can impeach me for that, let them try. Bring it on." HE WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE WON, and he would have saved more than Terri. As it is, Terri will die, and the reign of judicial kakistocracy will continue unchallenged. After all, why rock the boat when it might jeopardize things that really matter--things like, say, private social security accounts?
It's taken me a while--I resisted for as long as I could--but I'll say it now. I was a damn fool to vote for him.
Hunk.
Do you think voting for the other guy would have been ay better?
I think only a real miracle will save Terri now.
God have mercy on us all - remember, we all also crucified Christ.
What about this that I found on http://www.terrisfight.org?
Greer is not a state judge as other media have misstated. He is a county probate judge—a step up from a town or village justice and has never had legal jurisdiction in the case as he violated state law and failed to qualify for office. He cannot claim to be a de facto judge as he has never held legal title to the judicial office. A public officer must first be a de jure officer or hold title before he can claim to be a de facto officer. In Greer’s case, by failing to qualify, he should not have even appeared on the ballot and was not legally elected.
Read the entire article at http://www.theempirejournal.com/
...vo_articles.htm
I've written this to the President and to his brother the Governor of Florida.
Where are the Heros willing to say: "Let's Roll!"
Mark,
I just got back from the Holy Thursday Mass. I will drop them a note as soon as I get everything straightened out at the altar of repose.
God bless you for initiating this Mark. Good does not always win in this fallen world, but by just struggling for the good as hard as we can I believe we do what God expects. This Holy Week has been horrible in many ways, but I think I am deriving a larger understanding of what innocent Christ suffered for all of us through it. May God spare Terri and all of us poor sinners.
May God bless you, Mark, for this initiative. I took the liberty of altering your fine letter so that it doesn't look like a mass mailing.
A Blessed Easter To You And Your Family.
John
Attention to all shocked and disgusted euthanasia endorsers, horrified by my heartless censorship of your opinion. I did not post this blog to ask your opinion. I posted it to give information on how to take a step to oppose euthanasia. So your helpful comments about accepting murder will continue to be deleted. If you want to start a blog urging people to get their theology from Newsweek, you are welcome to. But don't use mine.
Comprende?
Only six months ago, the Democrats said they were going to make Christopher Reeve get up out of his wheelchair and walk again. Now we know what they really think of the disabled. They simply vote them off the island. This is exactly why they filibuster judicial nominations. They can continue to lose elections yet still control the government as long as they own the judges.
The Pilate's and Caiaphas' of the world are having their way again this Holy Week. After Terry's legal battle to survive was on a slow burn for so many years, to have it climax on Good Friday is absolutely eerie. I'm afraid we are being tested and, apparently, going to fail. We continue to allow the murder of innocents, just as the Germans wouldn't or couldn't stop the Nazi atrocities. Just following orders and all that, you know. "It's a shame about Terry, but the judges have spoken; I have to go wash my hands now." Woe to us all. Let's hope the Iraqis aren't watching this. We can topple a dictator in the name of freedom and democracy but we can't save one woman from two-bit terrorists in black robes.
Ready Ape, wonderful piece. If the Bush Brothers don't display the courage of their convictions and excercise the power that has been granted to them by God to prevent this murder, about 20 million of us pro-lifers are going to stay home in 2008 and let the nation have Hillary. We elected them because they professed to value human life, and would fight to protect it. It is time to pay to play. If they place more value in avoiding the political cost that a showdown with the Judiciary would entail, if they think it better sacrifice the life of one innocent woman for the good of the Republican party based on the opinion polls, then they do not deserve to govern, and they will lose. The precedent this establishes, however, will return in spades onto the Baby Boomers. When, in 20-30 years, they are bankrupting the economy via Social Security consuming the entire budget, they will be urged by their children and grandchildren who are today watching them establish the precedent that some lifes are worth throwing away, to do the right thing, and stop being such a burden on the nation and the economy...
Appalled:
You are correct that Andrew Jackson's motivation for defying the court were morally flawed, and that in so doing, he perpetuated treating the Indians as subhuman. So it is correct, then, in this case, for Jeb Bush to *refuse* to defy the court--in order for Terri to be treated as even more subhuman than were the Indians, for one currently in the state of innocence found only in newborns to be sacrifice to the dark gods of the death worshipping neo-Nazis mistakenly referred to as compassionate liberals?
I second the emotion Mark, but let's be careful using the "let him enforce it" quotation. If I'm not mistaken this phrase was coined by Andrew Jackson in 1832 when the Supreme Court ruled he could not run the Cherokees out of their nation. The result was the infamous "Trail of Tears", the forced march to Oklahoma along which nearly 4000 of them died -- and in much the same way Terri will if something isn't done.
appalled,
Perhaps you are so appalled because you hold a mistaken view of the teaching of the Church regarding the sanctity of life. To back up your charge of political extremism you incorrectly cite the catechism. The catechism reads:
2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected. (all emphasis mine)
Further, the Holy Father has not been silent on these moral issues and the Vatican has even been very vocal in this particular case. A recent quote: "It's not euthanasia in the literal sense of the word," Sgreccia said. "It's not a good death, it's a death provoked by a cruel act. It's not a medical act," Sgreccia said.
When you begin to understand Terri’s plight for what it is, you might become somewhat “extremist” yourself.
Looks messy now. Judge Greer announces one more time keep those feeding tubes out go away. But one of those ironies- today is both Good Friday and The Feast of The Annunciation. Refuse to believe that either Jesus or His Mother will ignore the prayers of the saints for Terri. Hang on. We ain't done yet. Neither is Terri.
Clarification- Judge Whittmore was the one who ruled this morning keep the feeding tubes out go away. Six of one. Half a dozen of the other.
To view this item online, visit
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
new...RTICLE_ID=43489
Friday, March 25, 2005
Terri's crucifixion
Posted: March 25, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joseph Farah
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
It wouldn't surprise me if Terri Schiavo died today.
It will be a tragedy.
I will be very mournful.
I suspect it will feel like losing a member of the family for many of us.
But it will not surprise me if she died on Good Friday, the day Jesus died.
I want to be optimistic. I want to believe there is still some virility,
some manhood, some courage, some godliness, some morality and some
intestinal fortitude in public officials who could save her life with the
stroke of a pen, with a phone call.
But as Terri, now in her eighth day of court-ordered starvation, weakens,
I am forced to contemplate the strong possibility that this young lady may
be purposely and torturously killed with the whole world watching.
Good Friday. Imagine that.
Like Jesus, Terri was an innocent - at least for the last 15 years. By
definition, she was virtually incapable of committing sin during her
disability. Yet, she was treated more harshly than our society would ever
treat even the most abominable serial killer.
Like Jesus, Terri was betrayed. She had her Judas. His name is Michael
Schiavo. He claims he is starving her to death because that would be what
Terri would want. And this specious, unsupported claim is the sole basis
for starving to death a young handicapped woman denied rehabilitative
efforts by her so-called "guardian."
Like Jesus, Terri's mother has been forced to watch this public execution
helplessly. Imagine what this must be like for mother Mary Schindler. Can
anyone reading my words today imagine watching your child starve to death
by court order? Can you imagine what it must be like to be kept from your
loving child in these hours by armed guards?
Like Jesus, Terri has her accusers. The high priests today wear black
robes. Judge George Greer, an obscure county bureaucrat just a few weeks
ago, is having his 15 minutes of fame at Terri's expense. Driven either by
some blind ideological desire to pull the plug on handicapped people or in
the death grip of fear of admitting a mistake, Greer was not so much a
judge as he was the prosecutor and executioner. His supporting cast
included the entire U.S. Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court and the
entire 11th Circuit.
Like Jesus, Terri had her Herod. In this case, his name was U.S. District
Judge James Whittemore, a Bill Clinton appointee who could have saved her
or decided to hear the case himself. He could have listened to the will of
Congress and the president of the United States. Instead, like Herod, he
kicked the case back to Greer.
Like Jesus, Terri may, too, have her Pontius Pilate. It's not too late for
Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida to avoid playing this role. He doesn't have to
wash his hands of the matter. He has found no fault in the woman. He has
spoken favorably of her and championed her plight. But he is uniquely
positioned at this moment to save her. He, himself has already
acknowledged he has the power and the legal authority to do it. He has
even threatened to do it. But, like Pilate, he seems to be weighing the
political implications of saving her life rather than using the scale of
moral imperative.
I pray today Jeb Bush is reflecting on all this. I pray he has considered
he has a big decision to make. I pray he listens to that still small voice
in his heart that, I suspect, is speaking to him right now about this. I
pray he is not distracted by the routine business of the governorship of
his state to see this matter clearly. I pray he recognizes that if he
washes his hands, pretending he did everything he could possibly do under
the law that he will become complicit in this horrible crime.
"How utterly evil you are."
For deleting a Haloscan comment? Fascinating.
How utterly hysterical you are.
Hello Mark,
We sent such a letter already yesterday, and and followed up by spending the night praying outside the hospice up in Tampa.
If Jeb fails to act I am not going to write him off, because it seems to me that he has bent over backwards to try to save her, or certainly more than anyone else in office has. Legally, he has been boxed in pretty tightly by the courts. Which allows me to reaffirm the old saying about the law being an @ss.
Unfortunately, we in Florida have been living with the consequences of years of activist judge appointments, many but not all by Democrats. Jeb hasn't been in power long enough to replace enough of them.
Only six months ago, the Democrats said they were going to make Christopher Reeve get up out of his wheelchair and walk again.
I can't help the sinking feeling that for some, Reeve was only useful as a poster boy for cannabilizing human embryos.
Hello Appalled,
Your political extremism is blinding your moral judgment. The removal of the feeding tube is consistent with the teachings of the catholic church as detailed in the catechism.
That's funny.
My copy of the Cathechism says otherwise.
Try re-reading it again. Particularly sections 2276 to 2283.
I've emailed Jeb twice. I called the White House. It won't help. Hunk is right; they don't have the stones to pull the trigger on this issue (and I'm not all that surprised). Barring a miracle, Terri is dead.
Personally, I'd like to see St. Michael bring her the Precious Blood at 3 pm and then skin Michael Schiavo alive in front of CNN cameras, but you can't have everything.
The Republicans must be made to pay for this. Don, for all his good intentions, misses the point. Kerry would not have been better, but he wouldn't be in office forever, and we need a solid, reliable political party fighting for us if we are to get anything done ever. There is no point in fighting if you are too disorganized to win, and right now that's us. There will be other elections; right now, we need to see to fundamentals. First things first.
Mark, I'm not sure it's wise to delete the garbage from people like Appalled. Not only because it enables them to snivel and whine about how they are being censored etc. etc., but because the spectacle of shameless, brazen evil, in all its naked hideousness, can be a powerful motivating tool. I know that every time I feel like giving up from sheer battle fatigue, someone like Appalled comes along with his bucket of filth and it makes me say, "Nope. Rest some other time. Maybe can't stop people like that from winning, but you mustn't just let them."
Bravo.
Hunk:
Too late. FWIW, I'll just repeat what I said before. I wasn't blogging this to ask for a debate but to provide a little help for the tongue-tied. My mind is cheerfully closed on this subject, because the Church is clear that murdering somebody by dehydration is murder. I have no interest at all in the feelings of popinjays who get their rocks off feeling persecuted in a combox. My sole goal was to provide a little help to people who wanted to send a brief message to Bush about what now must be done.
Blessings on your Easter!
Bryan:
I'm not sure handing the country over to Hillary is a good idea. Let's not make any long-term plans about how to respond to lack of GOP heroism until emotions have cooled. They're just Republican pols, after all. Suddenly expecting potentially suicidal heroism from them seems to me to be unrealistic. The *real* test will be seeing if they use this opportunity to rein in the Judiciary via the system (because that will be the long term fix to these nightmares), or if they just remain members of the country club. Do we really want Hillary to be handed the Judiciary appointments for another eight years? Seems like cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
"If I'm not mistaken this phrase was coined by Andrew Jackson in 1832 when the Supreme Court ruled he could not run the Cherokees out of their nation".
I checked my copy of Boller & George's resource THEY NEVER SAID IT (OUP 1989), and sure enough, this is another of those pseudo-quotes Everybody Knows which were never spoken. Although the epigram represents Jackson's attitude, the closest they could find was a private letter saying "The decision of the Supreme Court has fell [sic] still born, and they find that it cannot coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate."
Mark, I'm sorry if my post led you to think I care about Appalled's feelings. I don't give a turkey t**d about them. In fact, as long as his head and heart are where they are, the more unhappy he is, the better I like it.
Blessed Easter to you. No irony--we can lose battles, but He has won the war. Let's not forget that, folks.
Mark,
Thanks again for posting this. As you know, I used the language you suggested and augmented it with some of my own to draft and send an email yesterday.
At the time I sent it, I had my doubts that it would do any good. If I were in the Bushes' shoes, I think I would act to save Terri through executive fiat. They have chosen, to date, not to.
But I think we should give them credit for taking a clear pro-life stand throughout this crisis. It may be that they did not do "enough" to save Terri. Okay, fair enough. But they didn't do "nothing" either.
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Mark,
I do hope that Terri's impending martyrdom will galvanize the pro-life movement sufficiently to place enough pressure on the GOP to take back the courts. If the GOP caves to the moderate wing and fails in this, then I do think you will see a mass exodus into the Constitutional party, enough to make it a viable third party--and strong enough by 2012 to throw Hillary out
and strong enough by 2012 to throw Hillary out
That would be highly, highly doubtful. The electoral college system is heavily stacked against third parties ever winning.
Publius--well, we will just have to dismantle the Republican party as the Tories were prior to the Republican's birth, then, won't we
I am afraid the Democrats are correct in one accusation against the national GOP: When economic interests conflict with moral interests, despite all the lip service paid to the pro-life\social conservative constituencies, the GOP will decide in favor of the economic. There is a huge economic agenda in the GOP, one that I happen to favor. What I do not favor is the unwillingness by the GOP to spend the political capital needed in taking the Judicial branch to the mat on this, but preserving that capital for their economic agenda. Essentially, like the Sanhedrin, the GOP leadership has determined that it is better that one innocent life be taken than to sacrifice what they see as being the good of the nation.
Say what you will about Janet Reno, at least she had the courage of her convictions to defy the Florida courts and send in armed INS agents to take out Elian. Hopefully Terri’s death-and martyrdom-will serve to galvanize sufficient pressure against the Senate to stop letting the left decide who gets to sit on the Supreme Court based upon their embrace of Moloch. It seems abortion is no longer a sufficient appeasement to their gods; they now require full blown human sacrifice.
If the GOP controlled Senate fails to bring the imperial judiciary back in line because they placed the economic good of the nation before the lives of innocents, then, like the Sanhedrin, they too will have lost the moral authority to govern. And I, and millions of others, will begin to look elsewhere.
If Terri's martyrdom continues to its conclusion -(not yet inevitable, but with each hour is more likely) it can be a huge motivating force for the Pro-life movement to use like a weapon against the culture of death brigade.
The loss of Terri is the loss of another battle, but not the war. So it is wrong to suggest that you should dump the J & GW Bush/ Republican party, because your cause would be much harder.
No hasty decisions - keep cool heads.
Sorry if I sound a little patronising - I too have donated to Kerri's cause from my little patch in the South Pacific, but I guess I am far away enough to be a little more objective.
Prayers are continuing for Terri.
Have a Joyful and Blessed Easter - at least , as much as you can under the circumstances.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/.../25/
91525.shtml
Terri's Passion on Good Friday EWTN tonight
NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, March 25, 2005
As Christians reflect on Jesus' death this solemn Good Friday, some also
are giving special attention to Terri Schiavo - particularly Roman
Catholics who count Schiavo as one of their own, and whose church has been
increasingly vocal this week in calling for the reinsertion of a feeding
tube into the brain-damaged Florida woman.
Eternal Word Television Network, an Alabama-based Catholic cable service
that reaches more than 100 million homes worldwide, is interrupting
previously scheduled sacred programs for a Friday evening broadcast that
expects to treat the Schiavo case through interviews with a family member
and a neurologist.
News Director Raymond Arroyo said the network's "extraordinary"
programming switch was driven by the public outpouring of concern over
both Schiavo's plight and the frail health of Pope John Paul II.
"You have a collusion of events that I think only the spiritually blind
would ignore," Arroyo said. "It's not hard to see the similarities between
the pope and what Terri Schiavo is going through, to some extent, and the
sufferings of Christ that we commemorate Good Friday."
Also, there is a plea out now to contact Florida dcf to move with authority: 850-487-1111
dcf-osc@dcf.state.fl.us
Meanwhile,I (and I'm sure many others too) have been pouring all of the squashed evidence about Michael, the guardian, to many, but concentrating on Rita Cosby - with her "Big Story". She is usually quite a force for a cause. She just announced that tomorrow night at 9:00 she'll be looking into facts of whether the Schindlers have evidence to accuse Michael of crimes!!
Sorry to arrive so late, but this is a great idea. I will join my voice to yours. This is nothing but murder, and it is a sad comment on our nation that there would be more negative response to a dog being starved to death than this woman.
The Republicans are weak but the Liberals are evil. I only wish we had Republican leaders with the morals of the Bush brothers but the Will of Janet Reno or the Clintons.
It's amazing. God save Terri. God forgive her scumbag husband & the scumbag judge Grear.
Don, it is precisely my hope that Terri's death will serve as a martyr's blood in galvanizing the pro-life movement into exerting sufficient pressure on the GOP to use the 'nuclear option' and end the filibustering of Constructionist judicial nominees in the Senate. I am not bailing on the GOP quite yet, just appalled at the lack of spine--as BenYachov noted, it would be nice to see them display the sheer will of the Clintons, and for a truly just cause. Hell may laugh for a day or three, but if Terri's death furthers the pro-life cause by drawing more awareness to the fact that the judicial branch has breached its constitutional perogatives and is now operating as a de facto tyranny by judging, leglisting and literally executing, then Heaven will have the last laugh.
*If* the GOP fails in this, however, then I think you will see a major split with the social conservatives and the other flavors. In that case, Terri's death could very well serve as the catalyst to the birth of a new major political party. This is just speculation, but there are a lot of us, and though electorally we could not reallistically hope to take the white house, we could certainly win enough congressional seats (not to mention local and state level elections based on the blue\red state regionalism) to hold the GOPs feet to the fire. The two parties combined would still outweigh the dems in Congress, but for the GOP to get their economic and foreign policy objectives enacted, they would need to respect the pro-life agenda with more than just words...
This is just speculation, but there are a lot of us, and though electorally we could not reallistically hope to take the white house, we could certainly win enough congressional seats (not to mention local and state level elections based on the blue\red state regionalism) to hold the GOPs feet to the fire.
That would only ensure democratic dominance for the next twenty years. For better or worse, the two-party system is so ingrained into our political system that third parties don't stand a chance. A SoCon splinter party might win a few seats (though I doubt it would be more than 20 or 30), but it would cause far more Republican seats to go to Democrats, since in the vast majority of states plurality rules (i.e., if SoCon congressional candidate got 35% of the vote, GOP candidate got 25%, and the Dem got 40%, the Dem would still win even though 60% were against him). If all states had a run-off system like in Louisiana, it might be a different story, but as it is... The only reason to vote third party is either as a protest (e.g., in an off-year election to send the GOP a message) or because both sides are completely unacceptable. It isn't a realistic option.
That would only ensure democratic dominance for the next twenty years.
I meant Democratic dominance.
Saturday's Miami Herald is reporting that Jeb sent State Cops to get her out of the hospice. The local (city and county) cops refused to stand down and threatened the state guys with a cop-on-cop shootout, so Jeb called them off.
Yes, it appears that Jeb attempted to do exactly what Mark asked. Regarding Mark's statement challenging Judge Greer to enforce his own ruling, apparently he is doing exactly that.
The local law enforcement are working for him and ignoring any higher authority.
Jeb has the courage of his convictions but an intervention by force, with hundreds of protesters in the crossfire, could quickly turn into a fiasco worse than Waco. The media would use such an incident to disparage the pro-life movement for decades.
From what has been shown through the media, the local police there appear to be calm, steady, etc., but a wonderful Catholic friend who runs a daily program - Divine Mercy chaplet for the Poor Souls - and who has been caring for his beloved, sickly mother for years, went down to the Hospice to pray and said he got a size 12 shoe on his back. Perhaps he chose the wrong spot or something? I don't know. Only heard the report from another prayer warrior and friend of his.
Mark - Hi. Long time no speak. Great letter to Mr Bush, I will send one too. What's up with your website? I don't have permission to view any of your pages?!
Take care - Richard (I still owe you $$$ for a book you didn't send)
I gotta give Jeb credit. And I agree that he couldn't risk an armed confrontation between the cops.
The attitude of the local police is rich. Routinely police in civil matters in my area, central Illinois, will not enforce court orders, for example, visitation. Their usual litany is that it is a civil matter and that if Party A believes that Party B is in violation of a court order, it is up to Party A to bring it to the court's attention through a Petition for Rule to Show Cause to have Party B held in contempt. I think it is also interesting that the local cops are serving as round the clock enforcers of a court's order in a civil case. I've never seen that done before. Of course everything about the rulings of the trial court have been bizarre, so why shouldn't this aspect be also?
Thanks for the letter ... I have sent it and will be posting it on my site.
Does anyone have contact numbers or addresses for the local cops? Not only are they cooperating in what they obviously must know by now is a horrible judicial homicide; in keeping a mother from her child in death; but it appears they would also endanger innocent peaceful bystanders with their thoughts of a shoot out with their own state protective service. Didn't realize this area of Florida takes their training lessons from the stormtroopers. Arresting a little 10 year old who obediently turns in his glass of water after he makes his statement? They should have turned him around and given him back to his parents. Grrrrrr!
The Democrats are already circulating petitions to impeach Jeb because of his attempt to break Terri out of the hospice. It almost appears as if this was a trap they had planned for either Bush who attempted to save Terri by force. The Dems figure when Terri dies, the Bushes look impotent, Christians get disgusted and stay home for a few election cycles. If either of them tries force, congressional hearings and impeachment proceedings will follow.
From Spiritdaily.com:
JUDGE SET UP ELABORATE SECURITY AND COP BRAGGED THEY KEPT PRESIDENT, GOVERNOR OUT
[The following report to Spirit Daily comes from Jackie Doucette, a close friend of the Schindlers who has fought by their sides for years]:
Yesterday during the hospice vigil, I recognized three undercover sheriff's deputies in plain clothes spying on Terri supporters. They work for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office as deputies.
I told him that it was obvious that he was spying on the protestors. My friends and I asked him why there were so many special police units, a swat team, K-9 units, and undercover cops swarming around hospice. His face became red and he said he didn't know what we were talking about. He stammered and told us that he was only there to learn and to watch. I told him he was an undercover deputy and was there to spy on us.
I watched him spy on Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski as he was giving an interview with a local TV station. Randy stood next to the monsignor trying to hear the conversation. I told Randy that I knew what he was doing.
Several weeks ago during a court hearing, Judge George Greer told an attorney for Michael Schiavo, Deborah Bushnell, that he made arrangements for hospice to be covered with police from the Pinellas Park Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Greer bragged during the hearing that the Sheriff's Office had installed high-tech surveillance equipment and monitoring devices to keep an eye on the demonstrators. Greer boasted that he was able to get all the special police units to guard hospice. Judge Greer is a close friend with former Pinellas County Sheriff Everett Rice (now a Florida House Representative who recently voted against the Terri bill) and the current sheriff, James Coats.
Yesterday, a police officer from the Pinellas Park Police Department told us that they were proud to be able to block President Bush and Governor Jeb Bush from taking Terri into protective custody.
Several days ago, Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski wanted to place a drop of the Precious Blood of Jesus on Terri's tongue. The police officer standing guard in Terri's room threatened to arrest the monsignor if he attempts to place anything in Terri's mouth. Monsignor told me of this incident after the Holy Thursday Mass. He's a very holy and humble man. He's ministered to Terri for over four years.
Don't be too hard on the cops, they are only following orders. Wait, haven't we heard that before?
These so called cops are Nazis. Michael & Grear are scumbags & the Republicans are still weak. However I can understand Jeb not wanting a firefight. But it is amazing to me how these asshole so called cops will die for an murderous adulterer & risk the lives of innocents threatining a firefight with state police.
Just goes to show how the Pro-death crowd will use Our value of Human life against us. They have neither honor nor shame. Bastards.
Anyway I think the Priest should give the Precious Blood to Terri anyway. Becasue it is right, & becasue it's a blow against tyranny. Let Jeb Bush pardon him.
Here's the "little fear filled man", Mr. Felos:
From: http://www.floridabaptistwitness...om/
1782.article
George Felos' book, "Litigation as Spiritual Practice" (Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2002) contains the following quotes.
About the Jews, George Felos wrote, "The Jewish people, long ago in their collective consciousness, agreed to play the role of the lamb whose slaughter was necessary to shock humanity into a new moral consciousness. Their sacrifice saved humanity at the brink of extinction and propelled us into a new age." (pg 240)
Felos further wrote, "If our minds can conceive of an uplifting Holocaust, can it be so difficult to look another way at the slights and injuries and abuses we perceive were inflicted upon us?" (pg 240)
Describing the period he was separated from his ex-wife, "that weekend I experienced rage. Savage, unadulterated, and murderous rage." (pg 6) (don't take it out on Terri)
Felos wrote about his ex-wife, "To her, I seemed unattractive, sexually unexciting, balding, boring, and just not enough fun to be with....she didn't need me anymore. For her, marriage to me inflicted a fate worse than death. She admitted that for the past year or so she had wished for my death, and whenever I flew hoped the plane would crash." (pg 7)
About his anger towards his ex-wife, "I was on fire, fueled by thoughts of bludgeoning and tearing her apart." (pg 23)
Describing the period he was recuperating from his divorce, "it consisted mostly of dreams of being tormented in some inferno." (pg 27)
and then more of Mr. Felos' "awakening"....(no wonder he can't identify with suffering):
Subject and object merged, and in some way I experienced the essence of each thing my consciousness touched. I felt the joy of grass as it grew and sense the genetic code by which it manifested into physical reality. In ecstasy I became the solemn grace and beauty of a tree and new the freedom of the passing clouds. I don’t speak metaphorically.” (50) He then cites Isaiah 55:12. (51)
He describes the same experience with other individuals at the center: “When I perceived and felt someone so completely, I often could hear her thoughts and knew what she was going to say before she said it. It was as if the individual before me was transparent and I could see the person’s form, yet look through it at the same time.” (51)
And this is Greer's buddy.
The Republicans must be made to pay for this.
Why? Granted they probably could have done more, but you're ignoring the fact that they're the only powerful ally that Terri has. If they were merely poll-watchers as many have speculated, then there never would have been a Terri's Law in Florida, there never would have been any late-night sessions in the federal House or Senate, and there wouldn't have been any federal hearings. The media is portraying this as a right-to-die case, so there's relatively little public support to keep Terri alive. If they were poll-watching, they never would have touched this case. The federal courts had a very narrow question of due process to consider; the bulk of this case is a Florida issue, and particularly a Florida court issue. When Terri's Law was passed, the courts struck it down as an attempt to circumvent the law. Judges in Florida (and elsewhere) think that they make the law. You think that problem gets fixed by punishing the Republican party for not being heroic?
Excellent point. Blaming the Republicans for bad judges is like blaming the Pope for bad bishops. To paraphrase Mark, we get the judges we want. Public opinion is mostly on Michael Schiavo's side and many people honestly can't understand why we are making such a big deal over Terri. It's the culture that's the problem.
Today's Terri's ninth day without food or water. For someone who was supposed to be ``dead already'' or ``dying anyway,'' she's hanging pretty tough, isn't she? Mike Schiavo must be pulling his perfectly coiffed hair out by the roots.
And I'm not sure I agree that most of the public is with Mike and the MSM on this, if only because the MSM's tone in the last few days has become increasingly shrill and desperate. They sound like high-powered career females telling you why it's *better* to let their kids be raised by Bolivian nannies while they themselves work 100 hours a week on two continents. They don't believe it themselves, but they're trying to persuade us. No wonder it doesn't work.
Thanks, Mark, done and done. I added this:
I know you have done what you could without crossing into the purvey of these unjust judges. But they themselves have thrust us into a constitutional crisis, dangerously weakening both the executive and legislative branches of our government. Please stand in the role into which history has pressed you, and take your stand against this man Greer who stands in the place of God for Terri.
You have both shown resolve, honor and principle in your efforts on Terri's behalf. Please do not falter or fail to complete the task.
No
compelling reason to kill Terri Schiavo
Click here to sign a petition to impeach Judge Greer:
http://www.petitiononline.com/ij...0/
petition.html
The best article I've seen written on this tragic case is by Peggy Noonan, writing for the Wall Street Journal.
www.opinionjournal.com
The American people must rise up and take our government back from an out-of-control judiary.
If anything good comes out of this poor women's tragic death, it will be that.
Well, if Clinton can use force to send Elian Gonzales back to the communist hell of Cuba (to loud cheers by liberals), I suppose the Bush brothers can too.
Then why don't they?
I know that's a naive question.
If the local police supporting a corrupt, 2 bit so called judge like Greer had stood in the way of the Executive executing his constitutional perogrative to defend the life of one of his citizens, then frankly, Jeb should have sent in the national guard and blown them away. There are times when moral considerations transcend political considerations; Pontius Pilate too did all that was *within reason* to avoid executing Jesus of Nazareth, and washed his hands of it. I for one will not accept excuses. Jeb had the power to do the right thing, and failed. End of story. I have voted Republican faithfully since I was 18, but Moral Truth transcends the GOP. When the rubber hit the road, Jeb was afraid to go to the mat in a rightful confrontation with an out of control judiciary. Shame on him.
I don't care about the political fallout. I don't care about how the pro-life movement would be portrayed, hell, we are already portrayed as lunatics anyways. I care about a clear cut and dry case of having the power, the authority, and the moral obligation to doing the right thing, and failing. Jeb failed.
I would add that all the arguments defending Jeb based on political considerations strike me as variations of Caiphas stating that it better for one man to die that the whole nation to suffer. Likewise, better Terri die and Jeb avoid a showdown, rather the the GOP face loss of political power and ability to promote their economic and geopolitical agenda, which evidently trumps being morally worthy of the power to effect such far reaching changes to the course of world history. No, I am afraid Peggy Noonan has it right. It is the failure to go to the mat on this that will result in the loss of GOP power in 2006 and 2008. Granted, they did do something. Doing something is not, however, the same thing as doing enough. Scoring 50 on a test still gets you an F--and this, imo, was a test, from the Head Schoolmaster Himself. Are the neo-cons morally worthy of running the future course of Global History, of establishing the New American Century? Hmmm. Let's see if they have the moral integrity to fight for the life of one innocent human being...As far as the argument that the GOP is best friend that the SoCons have, so deal with the reality of political compromise? I would counter with the proposal to dealing with the reality of losing in the polls until you truly stand up and make law the the lip serice given to our concerns .
Bryan
Well, if Clinton can use force to send Elian Gonzales back to the communist hell of Cuba (to loud cheers by liberals), I suppose the Bush brothers can too.
If you were to assume that sending Elian back to his father was the right thing to do, then would you also agree that Clinton's use of force was justified and a proper use of government authority?
Likewise, better Terri die and Jeb avoid a showdown, rather the the GOP face loss of political power and ability to promote their economic and geopolitical agenda,
Jeb's been involved in political showdowns for the better part of a year in this case. He's passed unpopular laws, and taken on the judiciary. The proposed "showdown" being discussed is not symbolic or metaphorical; it would involve real state troopers with real guns against real local police, also with real guns. Say what you want about federal Republicans, but Jeb isn't avoiding anything for political expediency. He went so far as to literally "send in the troops," and was then faced with the choice of whether or not to start a potential gun fight. If you think he still made the wrong decision, then say so while considering the loss of multiple lives, not a loss of "political power."
With regards to federal Republicans, what Constitutional authority do they have beyond the question of due process?
then frankly, Jeb should have sent in the national guard and blown them away. There are times when moral considerations transcend political considerations;
Bryan, do you really consider the possibility of the national guard blowing away a group of police officers (with protesters nearby, to boot)a mere "political consideration?"
Well, if Clinton can use force to send Elian Gonzales back to the communist hell of Cuba (to loud cheers by liberals), I suppose the Bush brothers can too.
Two things:
1) IIRC, the courts (and probably our immigration law, which needs reform) supported Clinton
2) once Elian was back in Cuba, it was a done deal. They couldn't exactly invade Cuba and get him back if the Miami relatives won in some court.
We have the opposite situation here, where the courts just about everywhere are against Terri and where Jeb would not only have to save her but keep her, which would be impossible. Jeb is governor of Florida, not emperor. He might buy her a couple of weeks, or maybe a month at most, but she would still die and doing so would most likely get him impeached and damage any chance of saving others in the future.
Jeb had the power to do the right thing, and failed.
He doesn't have the power to do anymore. He's already stuck his neck way out on this one. If he were to send the troops in now, without any substantive legal basis that a court would buy, shooting up the hospice to get in, Terri would only be restored to her feeding tube for a very little while before the troopers were ordered to leave by a judge. This isn't the 1820s, the government of Florida doesn't work under the spoils system and Jeb Bush isn't Andrew Jackson.
I would add that all the arguments defending Jeb based on political considerations strike me as variations of Caiphas stating that it better for one man to die that the whole nation to suffer.
Oh, yes. Facing reality about the situation is the same as plotting to kill God. I see the connection completely. Right. Look, I fully supported every legislative attempt to keep Terri alive, politics be damned. I can't support this because it is futile and would end up costing more lives in the future. If it had a chance to work, that might be another story.
1) IIRC, the courts (and probably our immigration law, which needs reform) supported Clinton
I just read on another blog that the Florida courts were against Clinton's action. I guess I'll have to review the case. Anyway, my second point still stands: once it was done, it was done. No court was about to try to get troops sent in to Cuba to retake physical custody of the boy. The same is most emphatically not the case with putting Terri's feeding tube back in.
Publius;
That is the joy of blogging; one can hit the send button before reason has the chance to transcend heated emotions 
Jeb did do a lot, I realize that. And no, I don't consider sending in the guard to blow away the troopers to be a political consideration, but a moral one: To consider the essence of it, is it just to threaten the lives of those who are assisting in evil in order to preserve the life of one who is innocent? Realistically, I think the local cops would have backed down, and no lives lost. But I would dispute the notion that Jeb could have only held Terri briefly; the case has been remanded by the higher courts, not actually considered. This obviously would have forced the higher courts to actually look at the case, and that process could take years, not weeks. Jeb doesn't stand for reelection, and though a movement to impeach might be initiated against him, the odds of success are unlikely. But better to be impeached over defending an innocent life than recieving favors in the oval office.
Too, asserting the lawful perogative of the executive would not constitute behaving like an emperor; to the contrary, the courts are behaving so, and it is high time for the executive and legislative branches to bring the courts to account and force them back to their proper roles; Alan Keyes has written wonderfully on this topic. They are acting in the capacity of Judiciary, Legislative and Executive, and Greer epitomizes what is wrong on a national level. He has struck down valid laws to save Terri's life based on his 'interpretation' of the Florida constitution, thus acting as lawmaker; he has positioned men with guns to protect his ruling, thus acting as executor. He has overstepped his bounds on all accounts, is obviously corrupt (taking campaign money from Micheal's attorney). Jeb would be within his moral rights and constitutional authority to confont this by force. This confrontation will have happen sooner or later if the courts are to cease their Imperial reign over the American social fabric; it can be debated whether or not this was the right time and event to force the confrontation by people of good faith. In my opinion, this was the perfect opportunity, but I will concede I am speaking from a great deal of moral outrage. I do, however, see the wisdom in those who argue that it is best to preserve the political capital for the real fight that is soon to begin in the Senate: Reshaping the supreme court with Constructionist judges is the linchpin to a long term strategy to bringing the Federal and local courts to heel. The benefit of this sad story is that many Democrats will now see that it is the out-of-control Judiciary that has led to this tragic end; 47 of 100 democrats present did vote to allow the federal courts to hear the case; liberals such as Nader have transcended traditional politics and weighed in on Terri's favor. Perhaps the end result will be that Bush has an easier job of it when it comes to reshaping the supreme court, and that forcing the issue now would work against long term success. I will withhold final judgement until the outcome of this fight is determined.
Peace of Christ,
Bryan
On further reflection, I actually find the comparison of the “plot to kill God” with “facing reality” (i.e., capitulating to the murder of a woman unable to speak for herself by allowing a two bit county probate judge to violate due process and the Florida state constitution) is actually quite apropos, for the simple reason that “whatsoever you have done to the least of these, you have done unto me.” His words, not mine. But of course that is a straw man in any case, for the analogy was one of process, not of product: Jeb caved, as did Pontius. The comparison was not between the divinity of the two being put to death, but by the capitulation to cowardice by the governors involved. The analogy stands. No one is claiming permitting the murder of Terri is the equivalent of plotting to kill God, but the process of allowing it to take place can certainly be seen as analogous. The political decision not to go to the mat for Terri compares with the decision of Caiaphas, in that political expediency trumped morality; to reiterate, the analogy is one of process, not product. Better minds than my own concur:
…the courts failed Terri, and Congress and the Florida Legislature failed Terri, the governor of Florida, who took an oath to defend the constitutional rights of Florida's citizens, should have taken custody of Terri, ordered the tube reinserted and let the federal courts proceed with the de novo hearing of the evidence, while Terri was still alive. When Gov. John Peter Altgeld of Illinois came to believe that those convicted of murder in the infamous Haymarket Massacre of 1886 were innocent, that a judicial outrage had been committed, he pardoned them. "I am a dead man politically," he told Clarence Darrow. Jeb Bush should have done the same thing, the right thing. He should have rescued Terri from the death sentence unjustly imposed upon her. If the court held him in contempt, so what? Who does not hold that Florida court in contempt?
Pat Buchanan, at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
new...RTICLE_ID=43541
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told us last week he just didn't have the power and authority to save one innocent woman forced by court order and armed guard to starve to death in his state.
I don't believe that's true. Not for a minute do I believe it. Jeb Bush blinked. And that weakness that he showed for the whole world should represent the end of his political career.
It's unfortunate, because I believe Jeb Bush knew, deep in his convictions, it was wrong to let Terri Schiavo be murdered by a judge's order. He even dispatched a team of state law enforcement officers to seize her hours after Judge George Greer refused to listen to his pleadings in the courtroom. But he backed down. When local cops informed the state officers that they would enforce the judge's order, the agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement stopped. That's not leadership. That's capitulation. Gov. Jeb Bush shouldn't have merely dispatched officers to the scene to negotiate with the local cops, he should have led them. He should have personally persuaded those local officers that he was the highest law enforcement official in the state and he was ordering them to stand down. He should have walked up to that hospice with overwhelming force behind him. He should have done so with the whole world watching. Jeb Bush has been talked about as a potential presidential candidate. But who is going to seriously consider a commander in chief who backs down at the first sign of resistance? Bush may have been trying to take the safe route in this crisis, but it represents, in my estimation, the end of his political ambitions. Jeb Bush was tested, and he was found lacking. He allowed a terribly immoral action to take place in his state and did nothing but huff and puff about it. he sat by and watched his authority breached by a puny, little county bureaucrat, a local politician, Judge George Greer. Does the Florida governor have any authority? He could have been a hero. He could have been a leader...
Joseph Farah, at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
new...RTICLE_ID=43542
The Florida state constitution declares unequivocally that in the state of Florida "the supreme executive power shall be vested in a governor ." There can be no executive authority in the state of Florida higher than the governor. No state law can create an executive authority higher than highest in the Florida constitution. Therefore no court order based upon such a law can constitutionally create such an authority. Since Florida's highest law grants him supreme executive power, the governor's action would be lawful. No one in the Florida judiciary can say otherwise, since the whole basis for the doctrine of judicial review (which they invoked when they refused to apply "Terri's law") is that any law at variance with the constitution is no law at all. Gov. Bush has said that he recognizes the injustice being done to Terri Schiavo but is powerless to stop it. He is obviously not powerless, and his view of injustice is fully warranted. The Florida state constitution declares: "All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty …" The word "inalienable" means that the rights in question cannot be given away or transferred to another by law. Now, by allowing Michael Schiavo to starve his wife to death, Judge George W. Greer transfers to Schiavo the exercise of her right to life, doing on her behalf what the Florida state constitution declares she herself could not do…As supreme executive, he is obliged to act in their defense, and no court order can relieve him of this responsibility. Any order by Judge Greer that seeks to prevent him from doing his sworn duty, as he sees fit, is invalid, and any attempt by the judge to incite armed forces to enforce his order would be an act of judicial insurrection against the constitution and government of Florida. The judge may have whatever opinion he pleases, but when he attempts to use force to back it up, he breaks the law, going against the constitution of the state, which is to say against the supreme law in Florida. In Federalist 81, when Alexander Hamilton lists the safeguards against "judiciary encroachments on the legislative authority," he cites in particular "its total incapacity to support its usurpations by force." Accepting the notion that judicial orders at any level may constitute an executive power superior to the chief executive would give the judiciary just such a forceful capacity. When every judicial decision carries the implied threat of armed insurrection, a key safeguard of liberty and self-government is removed. If any state governor, or the president of the United States acts so as to encourage the judiciary to assume such executive power, or the people to believe that it may constitutionally do so, he undermines the integrity of all our constitutions, and of American self-government as a whole.
Alan Keyes at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
new...RTICLE_ID=43536
I would say in short I believe Keyes has the correct understanding here. Unfortunatly Jeb doesn't believe Keyes' understanding of the Florida State Constitution to be the correct one. Well maybe I should give Jeb the benefit of the doubt? I don't know....But I do know I'm tired of having to choose between the Evil Kill-the-Innocent Party Vs the Spineless Weakling Party.
I *might* change my mind if the Republicans grown spines & start impeaching Judges. They in my view don't even have to convict any of them. Just put the fear of God into them by starting the process. Still that won't in the end matter to poor Terri who will soon be with Our Lord & Lady.
Murdering your wife is illegal in 49 out of 50 states.
I am afraid the Democrats are correct in one accusation against the national GOP: When economic interests conflict with moral interests, despite all the lip service paid to the pro-life\social conservative constituencies, the GOP will decide in favor of the economic. There is a huge economic agenda in the GOP, one that I happen to favor. What I do not favor is the unwillingness by the GOP to spend the political capital needed in taking the Judicial branch to the mat on this, but preserving that capital for their economic agenda. Essentially, like the Sanhedrin, the GOP leadership has determined that it is better that one innocent life be taken than to sacrifice what they see as being the good of the nation.
Bryan, those comments will be the next installment of my "points to ponder" weblog thread. Well said.
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