Despite the potential last minute moves of the 11th Circuit Court, Terri Schiavo is out of our reach now. The legal options appear to be exhausted and there is no recourse through any other branch of government. The judges have spoken and the advocates for “rights of privacy” and “death with dignity” have had their day. A judicial “finding of fact,” namely that it was Terri’s wish that she would not be sustained artificially has been the uncrackable acorn. That a request was made by Congress to review the case “de novo,” has been ignored. That Michael Schiavo remembered Terri’s wishes after he had received the settlement money and despite several witnesses coming forward saying that Michael had told them early on he wished he knew what Terri had wanted should gnaw at the conscience of those jurists…but I doubt it will. But now it is time for those of us on the side of life to return to the political trenches and not to turn on those that can help us most. The Randall Terry/Reverend Mahoney screeching does nothing for the cause except harden the hearts of those on the left and alienate the uninvolved and persuadable people in the middle.
Dear reader, the Rumbler has not gone soft...I do not advocate a policy of squishy accommodation…”can’t we all just get along?” Rather, we must steel our hearts and minds to the task at hand and that is to steadily replace the current cadre of judges with men and women who will read the law and the Constitution and administer justice accordingly. These are folks who will not invent rights or push a social agenda…they are the product of a growingly conservative society that is sick of watching travesties like being forced to watch Terri starve to death or the repeat offenses of recidivist criminals who are set loose on us because of some judge’s “compassion.” It is difficult to understand a judicial system that has more compassion for a repeat child molester than a poor woman who has the misfortune to be brain damaged.
It is time for us to push for changes in our state laws. If there is no living will or medical power of attorney, we must err on the side of life...especially in the case of the mentally challenged or the infrim. Let Terri be an Alamo for us that we can move on to legislative San Jacintos with, but let’s not blow it by acting like people who need anger management classes.
Governor Bush in Florida and President Bush in Washington have both followed the law. The Congress of the United States followed the law. It is the judiciary that has not. To have Jeb ride in with Florida State Troopers, the National Guard and the ill-performing Department of Family Services would be a travesty along the lines of the seizure of Elian Gonzalez.
Let the ghoulish words of Michael Schiavo’s lawyer, George Felos , that Terri was “beautiful and at peace” as she starved to death galvanize us and move us forward. There is nothing beautiful about Auschwitz…there is nothing beautiful about murdering the helpless…there is nothing peaceful about dying publicly.