It must have really burned their grits when their hastily concocted new law was laid in front of a Federal judge appointed by one President William Jefferson Clinton.
As with all the Federal judges who preceded him in this case, Tampa U.S. District Judge James Whittemore upheld the Florida court ruling, finding no merit in the Schindlers' appeal.
More importantly than Terri or Michael or the Schindlers, Judge Whittemore did exactly what he should have for the good of our nation: He did not give in to the fascist bullies who have run amok these past four years without benefit of checks or balances in our Executive and Legislative Government branches.
A panel of three justices in the Tampa district concurred with Whittemore's assessment that this was not within Federal jurisdiction. The Schindler family later pressed the entire Tampa district court with the same result.
When that failed, Jebbie brought in a ringer in the form of a doctor friendly to the right-to-life movement. This resulted in jurists giving still more time to this singular case and extended media coverage. Oh, yeah, and increased airtime for Jeb Bush.
The U.S. Supreme Court again refused to consider this non-federal issue, so it was presented, for the umpteenth time, to the same Florida judge who has continually overturned the compulsory insertion of the feeding tube.
He didn't alter his previous rulings, so Jeb's next tactic was to get the Florida Department of Family and Children's Services to come out of left field and accuse Michael of abuse. You may remember that it was these same good DFACS folks who, under Jeb's careful watch, lost a child a few years back (the youngster has never been located). DFACS said they're going to take control of Mrs. Schiavo; the judge has given them an order to stay out of it.
We shall see.
This end run by Congressional Republicans around the sovereignty of the State of Florida, abetted by its governor, has the very distinct stench of the onset of tyranny.
During the past eight years these representatives of their own self-interests have done everything possible to chip away at the personal freedoms of the people whose Constitution they have sworn to uphold.
It has only gotten worse since the election debacle of November, 2000.
Just as we've entered an era of wondrous new audio-visual delivery systems, the entertainment providers have been frightened by the specter of unreasonably huge fines into making all television family-friendly - based on singular complaints within a nation of 300 million. Frankly, I found Dennis Franz's bare bottom ("NYPD Blue") to be a rare thing of beauty.
Movie theatres refuse to accept certain films because they might offend a ridiculously small segment of the population (who wouldn't even consider seeing them, anyway). Michael Eisner washed Disney's hands of Michael Moore's masterpiece, Fahrenheit 9/11, which they had bankrolled, because he was afraid that its anti-Bush polemic would result in Jeb and the Florida legislature stripping the company of its lucrative tax shelters.
Several chain stores refuse to carry mainstream, often award-winning books and movies on DVD because of minor content, even in true contexts, that might offend parents with small children or their more "conservatively" sensitive clientele.
Despite being obviously over 50, I must show an ID in many places just to purchase a beer or "Dirty Harry" movie.
Our national anthem concludes with a reminder that the U.S.A. is, --the land of the free, and the home of the brave." But disagreement with the Bush administration is treasonous. Censorship in all its ugly forms runs rampant all around us.
As with all the Federal judges who preceded him in this case, Tampa U.S. District Judge James Whittemore upheld the Florida court ruling, finding no merit in the Schindlers' appeal.
More importantly than Terri or Michael or the Schindlers, Judge Whittemore did exactly what he should have for the good of our nation: He did not give in to the fascist bullies who have run amok these past four years without benefit of checks or balances in our Executive and Legislative Government branches.
A panel of three justices in the Tampa district concurred with Whittemore's assessment that this was not within Federal jurisdiction. The Schindler family later pressed the entire Tampa district court with the same result.
The U.S. Supreme Court again refused to consider this non-federal issue, so it was presented, for the umpteenth time, to the same Florida judge who has continually overturned the compulsory insertion of the feeding tube.
He didn't alter his previous rulings, so Jeb's next tactic was to get the Florida Department of Family and Children's Services to come out of left field and accuse Michael of abuse. You may remember that it was these same good DFACS folks who, under Jeb's careful watch, lost a child a few years back (the youngster has never been located). DFACS said they're going to take control of Mrs. Schiavo; the judge has given them an order to stay out of it.
We shall see.
This end run by Congressional Republicans around the sovereignty of the State of Florida, abetted by its governor, has the very distinct stench of the onset of tyranny.
During the past eight years these representatives of their own self-interests have done everything possible to chip away at the personal freedoms of the people whose Constitution they have sworn to uphold.
It has only gotten worse since the election debacle of November, 2000.
Just as we've entered an era of wondrous new audio-visual delivery systems, the entertainment providers have been frightened by the specter of unreasonably huge fines into making all television family-friendly - based on singular complaints within a nation of 300 million. Frankly, I found Dennis Franz's bare bottom ("NYPD Blue") to be a rare thing of beauty.
Movie theatres refuse to accept certain films because they might offend a ridiculously small segment of the population (who wouldn't even consider seeing them, anyway). Michael Eisner washed Disney's hands of Michael Moore's masterpiece, Fahrenheit 9/11, which they had bankrolled, because he was afraid that its anti-Bush polemic would result in Jeb and the Florida legislature stripping the company of its lucrative tax shelters.
Several chain stores refuse to carry mainstream, often award-winning books and movies on DVD because of minor content, even in true contexts, that might offend parents with small children or their more "conservatively" sensitive clientele.
Despite being obviously over 50, I must show an ID in many places just to purchase a beer or "Dirty Harry" movie.
Our national anthem concludes with a reminder that the U.S.A. is, --the land of the free, and the home of the brave." But disagreement with the Bush administration is treasonous. Censorship in all its ugly forms runs rampant all around us.
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