This was originally posted by Beth over at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.
The following was in the comments of my “Gathering steam” post. You all probably could guess that I’m a die-hard Bush supporter (all of them), but this definitely warrants its own post, because despite my unwavering support of the Bushes, there are some things that I don’t agree with–and Terri Schiavo’s case is beyond politics, anyway. Doc Washburn is a radio talk show host in Panama City, Florida, and has this:
I am a radio talk show host in Florida. I feel so strongly about Terri’s plight (and Jeb Bush’s refusal to save her life) that I wrote a 750-word column to try to get it into the msm. Thus far, there has been no response from the Washington Times or National Review. I e-mailed the editor of the Wall Street Journal this evening. I am about ready to try USA Today. It is very frustrating. Anyway, here is what I wrote:
“Jeb Bush Could Save Terri Schiavo’s Life…If He Wanted To”
By Doc Washburn
Recently, the US Supreme Court paved the way for the execution of Terri Schiavo beginning February 22. She is the brain-damaged woman whose husband has been trying to starve and dehydrate her to death for years. Florida Governor Jeb Bush should have responded, ”you better believe I’m not going to allow an innocent woman to be executed in the most cruel way imaginable in my state! We wouldn’t do that to a dog, and I’m not about to let it happen to Terri Schiavo! No sir, not on my watch”! Instead, we got: “I will do whatever I can do within the powers that have been granted to me by law and by statute. I will do whatever I can. I’m not going to do more than that,” and “I really don’t know what options we have available, but I will take whatever options I think there are".
Perhaps I can help. Florida’s state constitution says “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, to pursue happiness…No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability.” The fact that a Circuit Judge continues to ignore Florida statutes does not change the state constitution. Jeb Bush took an oath to uphold that constitution and yet (despite receiving 120,000 e-mails begging him to save her), he let Terri Schiavo starve (and dehydrate) for six days back in October 2003 until the Florida legislature passed a law that gave him political cover. Now that the courts have struck down “Terri’s Law”, don’t be surprised if Jeb behaves as if the constitution he swore to uphold is still not relevant to Terri Schiavo. Don’t be surprised if he allows her husband to slowly starve and dehydrate her to death.
As you know by now if you’ve seen the videos, Terri tries to communicate and is fully aware of what is going on around her. There is also medical evidence to suggest that a criminal investigation should be launched to try to determine whether her husband may have caused her current disabled state back in 1990. What you probably don’t know is: (A) there never was a local criminal investigation of Terri’s case in Pinellas County; (B) I personally handed the medical evidence to Jeb at a public appearance he made at a nursing home dedication on August 21, 2003: and © former federal prosecutors (now with the Thomas More Law Center) gave Jeb all the legal justification he would have needed to personally intervene on Terri’s behalf on the first two days of her six-day ordeal!
Consider his track record. On Day Two of Terri’s starvation (October 16,2003), Jeb said his legal staff could find no statutory justification to intervene in the court decision that approved Terri’s death. Richard Thompson (chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center) shot back: “Nobody is asking the Governor to intervene in the civil case. We are asking him to initiate an independent criminal investigation based on a list of facts that suggest criminal wrongdoing. We have outlined for the Governor some of these facts, and confirmed his Constitutional authority to act. The fact that he has chosen to confuse the public by referring to the civil case, completely ignoring the request that we presented, reveals a lack of moral courage and political will. We expect the Governor to do the right thing, and so far, he has refused to do so.”
In the ensuing 16 months, Jeb has steadfastly refused to order the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to do an investigation. Is he more concerned about how he is perceived by the editorial boards of Florida’s big daily papers (most of whom want Terri dead) than with saving an innocent woman’s life? Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family recently “renewed his call for the preservation of the life of Terri Schiavo". If we really want that to happen, we need to put the heat on Jeb. E-mail him at jeb.bush@myflorida.com.
P.S. Did you catch what the swiftvets did to John Kerry? For that matter, have you noticed the growing influence of blogs? If Jeb lets Terri die, it probably would not be wise for him to run for office again.
Thanks, Doc. While I don’t have quite the circulation of the NR, Washington Times, or USA Today, I’ll give you column inches here. Maybe others will pick it up as well! Good luck, and THANK YOU!
And for what it’s worth, we bloggers know the feeling. We’ve been trying to get the attention of several of the top bloggers and right-to-life pundits, to no avail.
[/End channeling of Beth's spirit]
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