Appeals Court Affirms Ruling In Schiavo Case

~No matter which way this case would be decided Delay, Frist, Bush, etc. thought they had a win-win situation...by using Mrs. Schiavo to "excite" their "culture of life" base, they were pandering to the evangelical base that keeps them in office. Using their political muscle they elevated this to the highest level of national attention, seemingly overnight.
But then if the courts and the laws didn't agree with their posturing, then they thought they could still win, because they could then point to "activist judges" who therefore need to be replaced by Bush's "conservative judges"....
what they didn't count on was this: the American people who are not going along with "the plan": the following NYTimes editorial covers the details:

A Political Victory That Wasn't

By ANDREW KOHUT NYT Published: March 23, 2005

Washington — THE Congressional vote on Monday allowing Terri Schiavo's parents to take her case to a federal court underscores the success of Christian conservatives in defining the last election as having been decided by moral values. But political strategists may not want to bank too heavily on this assessment. Especially on life-and-death issues, support for moral values among Americans must contend with a deeply held pragmatism.

It is rare for Washington politicians to buck public opinion. An ABC News poll conducted on Sunday found a 63 percent to 28 percent majority supporting removal of Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube. The poll also found that the public, by a margin of 70 percent to 27 percent, opposes Congressional involvement in the case. Fully 67 percent of the poll's participants thought members of Congress were more focused on using the Schiavo case for political advantage than on the principles involved.

The ABC poll tracks with a new Gallup poll and a Fox News survey in early March in which 59 percent of respondents said they would end Ms. Schiavo's life support if they were her guardian. Such wide margins in nationwide surveys reflect broad bipartisan support. The ABC survey had a 54 percent majority of conservatives and a 61 percent majority of Republicans supporting the decision to remove the feeding tube.

But despite such public sentiment, the Congressional vote was lopsided. Republicans encountered little resistance in their effort to give the federal courts jurisdiction over Ms. Schiavo's case. Many Democrats did not show up for the vote and those who did were split.

While there were probably more votes of conscience in Congress on the bill than the public thinks, it is also pretty clear that the Christian conservative movement now has the clout on life-and-death issues to do what the National Rifle Association has done for years on gun control. Strengthened by the results of the November elections, the movement can convey to legislators that the intensity of their constituents' beliefs is more important than the balance of national public opinion. Swayed by this reasoning, more than a few Democrats may be more interested in moving to the right on moral values than in staking out the middle of the political landscape.

The problem with this strategy for the Democrats, and even perhaps for many Republicans, is that Americans have a strong pragmatic streak. While most Americans may say they believe in creationism rather than evolution, on issues that directly affect their own lives, like health and protection of the quality of life, science wins.

Take note, for example, of the increasing support for stem-cell research. A nationwide Pew poll last August found respondents by a 52 percent to 34 percent margin saying it was more important to conduct stem-cell research that might result in new cures than to avoid destroying the potential life of embryos. Two years earlier, when this issue was first emerging, the public was more evenly divided, with 43 percent in favor and 38 percent against .

The August poll, taken during the presidential campaign, had another noteworthy lesson: the middle of the electorate, the swing voters, not only cared a lot about the stem-cell issue but also backed stem-cell research by nearly a two-to-one margin.

Demography is another cautionary constraint. As the electorate ages and baby boomers further dominate the political discussion, they will tend to push public opinion in the direction that reflects their own situations. Remember, Roe v. Wade was handed down in the 1970's, when this same generation was focused on procreation. Now it is struggling with aging, health care and end-of-life questions. As a consequence, these issues are as likely to evoke intense beliefs on both sides of the issue, not just on the conservative side. Witness the new ABC poll, which found that strong support for removing the feeding tubes was twice as great as strong support for keeping them in place.

Christian conservatives have a lot of political capital these days, most of it earned, some of it overstated. Public reaction to Congress's intervention in the Schiavo case may well test whether they have enough standing to run against public opinion on end-of-life issues. But unlike gun control, where groups like the National Rifle Association have disproportionate political power in rural areas and states, end-of-life issues are a full-court game.

Potentially arrayed against conservatives are elderly people, who vote heavily, as well as baby boomers, who always have numbers on their side. These voters, increasingly concerned about these issues in their own lives, may well be wary of political constraints on the tough choices they or their families may face.

One-third of the respondents to the ABC News poll reported that a friend or relative had died after life support was stopped. And more than half of these respondents were involved in the decision. Like Social Security, end-of-life issues hit close to home, where ideology and partisanship play much less of a role than an all-too-human self-interest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/opinion/23Kohut.html?

'We wish them privacy.'

At some point privacy will return to this family. They will recede as some new story comes to replace them as the hot topic of discussion and debate. I also wish them all the wisdom to embrace that privacy when it finally comes. Don't write a book, don't make a movie, don't authorize essays, or endorse some unkown fame seekers attempt to write some scathing tome with Terri's picture on the cover. Whatever they do, I hope no one in this family 'sells' their story, and pockets money for some bogus foundation that keeps Terri in the spotlight in perpetuity.

High emotion, polls and opinions offered by people with no standing have not produced anything positive that will comfort Terri's family. Outrageous accusations will be long remembered and often quoted. To what end? For what purpose? Who benefits?

And, so, yes, I wish them privacy too, but along with that, I do wish them all the wisdom they will need to close the door on all of us. And all of us, who have stood witness to such enormous pain, should have the good grace to never approach their doors again.

It makes me just a little crazy to see the NYT bolster the Republicans and suggest that the Democrats move to the right and to see that go unchallenged in this forum.

These so called Righteous Republicans have built their political base on lies deceit and hacking to pieces the Bible and the Constitution or this United States of Ammerica. They so love to profess these writings as greatest living documents on earth but disrespect you, me and themselves and God Almightyby their showieness and theiving and lying and warring.

It is not the God I pray to that condones this.

My God! Isn't there such a thing as COMPASSION in those we elect! Let Terri live! By killing her, we are not only causing Terri suffering, but her parents and siblings as well! Let them care for their child with the love and compassion that many of us wish our own parents had! Allow these amazing people to continue to hold their child in their arms and in their hearts for as long as she is alive. Please insert the feeding tube!

OT but I'm sure nobody here will be surprised by this......

LIBERTY CITY

IRS probes politics at church

A Liberty City church's tax-exempt status is in jeopardy as the IRS has launched a probe into a visit by former candidate John Kerry last fall. Some wonder if the probe is politically motivated.

BY ANDREA ROBINSON

arobinson@herald.com

The IRS has notified a Liberty City church that it is under investigation for possibly engaging in political activity -- putting its tax-exempt status into question.

The probe is related to an appearance last October by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and several black leaders, including U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The reason for the investigation, an IRS official wrote in a 10-page letter obtained by The Herald, is that ``a reasonable belief exists that Friendship Missionary Baptist Church has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status as a church.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/11189136.htm

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this is perfectly AOK........

Churchgoers Get Direction From Bush Campaign

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 1, 2004; Page A06

The Bush-Cheney reelection campaign has sent a detailed plan of action to religious volunteers across the country asking them to turn over church directories to the campaign, distribute issue guides in their churches and persuade their pastors to hold voter registration drives.

Campaign officials said the instructions are part of an accelerating effort to mobilize President Bush's base of religious supporters. They said the suggested activities are intended to help churchgoers rally support for Bush without violating tax rules that prohibit churches from engaging in partisan activity.

"We strongly believe that our religious outreach program is well within the framework of the law," said Terry Holt, spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign.

But tax experts said the campaign is walking a fine line between permissible activity by individual congregants and impermissible activity by congregations. Supporters of Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, charged that the Bush-Cheney campaign is luring churches into risking their tax status.

"I think it is sinful of them to encourage pastors and churches to engage in partisan political activity and run the risk of losing their tax-exempt status," said Steve Rosenthal, chief executive officer of America Coming Together, a group working to defeat Bush.

The instruction sheet circulated by the Bush-Cheney campaign to religious volunteers lists 22 "duties" to be performed by specific dates. By July 31, for example, volunteers are to "send your Church Directory to your State Bush-Cheney '04 Headquarters or give [it] to a BC04 Field Rep" and "Talk to your Pastor about holding a Citizenship Sunday and Voter Registration Drive."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19082-2004Jun30.html

I don't think the NYT op/ed writer was advocating that Democrats "move to the right". In my opinion it sounds like he was stating that "IF" some Democrats think they can garner votes by "moving to the right of center" then the opinion numbers point out that when it comes to pragmatic issues that affect the everyday lives of Americans, then the idealogical "values" issue gives way to more practical views:

"Like Social Security, end-of-life issues hit close to home, where ideology and partisanship play much less of a role than an all-too-human self-interest."

Val Hoover, re-inserting a tube and force-feeding the body that formerly supported the person named Terri Schiavo, in express violation of her wishes, would be the most terribly non-compassionate thing to do. And that is not to address any of the legal issues, simply the moral ones.

A little humor this morning..
THE OIL SHORTAGE

A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in America.
~~~
Well, there's a very simple answer.
~~~
Nobody bothered to check the oil.
~~~
We just didn't know we were getting low.
~~~
The reason for that is purely geographical.
~~~
Our OIL is located in
~~~
Alaska
~~~
California
~~~
Oklahoma
and
TEXAS
~~~
~~~
Our DIPSTICKS are located in Washington DC

Ms. Hoover--

I can see that you have strong feelings, but I wonder if you are completely educated. May I suggest that you go back to the thread on this site; Terri Schiavo, When Politics, Religion and Science Collide and read the posts from Spinnaker at 5:44 PM and DiAnne at 6:57 PM.

Our entire foucus has been to point out how much government does not belong in this personal, private family issue. It is not the place of any of us to make blanket judgments about the people who know and love Terri. The main concern here is not necessarily to grant either parents or husband what THEY want, but to remember that we are called on to respect what TERRI herself wants.
Sadly, she is not going to answer that question for us now. But, either you accept that her husband has the right to speak for her, in that he is expressing HER WISHES, or you overrule Terri herself and grant her parents wishes. And, if you do that, then you are in fact admitting that Terri has no say in her own life. Is that because you agree that she is in a persistent vegetative state, and therefore she has no mind to make up?

There is no cure for death. We are all going to die of something at some point. We all know the hurt when that happens. No one here is lacking in compassion. What is important is to understand that nonoe of us has the right to intrude on a family we do not know.

tutterfly, thanks for your post, which rightfully focuses on TS's wishes. a slight nuance however: the court has ruled, based on testimony from others as well as MS, that TS would not have wanted to continue tubal feeding. thus we have to respect what the court has ruled about TS's wishes, not what MS says. in fact, MS's wishes and statements are now irrelevant. he has not ordered the stop to the forced feeding. the court has. but you're right of course on your main points.

tutterfly knows...

Welcome home Marc!!!!!

Hello stand-up. Of course you are right about the case law. I truly cannot think of one person that I know who would willingly be dragged through the court system in such a manner. Of course the courts did their best to give Terri her voice. Too bad so many people refuse to listen........

Posted by: nancyjane at March 23, 2005 10:54 AM

Gee, I'm stunned. Spreading liberty and freedom everywhere but Liberty City.

Nice work.

A Principled and Practical Plan to Provide Health Care for All Americans

March 23, 2005

Since 2000, the number of uninsured Americans has risen by five million, to 45 million, or nearly 16 percent of all Americans. The United States spends $41 billion per year on "uncompensated" care for people with no insurance, while the economy loses between $65 billion and $130 billion in productivity. More than 18,000 25- to 64-year-olds die every year because they don't have health insurance. We can do better. Today, the Center for American Progress presents a comprehensive plan to improve the health of all Americans. The Plan for a Healthy America provides an innovative blueprint for affordable, quality health coverage, building on the strengths of our current system while responding to its serious shortcomings.

Goal #1: Provide affordable coverage for all Americans. Under American Progress's plan, health coverage would be available and affordable for all Americans, through either employee-sponsored insurance, Medicaid, or a new group insurance pool modeled on the system used by federal employees and members of Congress. In return for guaranteed access to affordable coverage, all Americans would be expected to enroll in one of the available options or pay an income-related charge to support the care they will inevitably use.

Goal #2: Improve the quality of health care for everyone. American Progress's plan seeks to improve the value of health coverage in three ways. First, the plan puts wellness ahead of illness by calling for a national focus on disease prevention and health promotion. Coverage for preventive services would be taken out of the insurance system and coordinated through a new, nationwide but community-based benefit focused on training people to be better managers of their own health. Second, the plan would increase funding for research on "comparative effectiveness," so individuals and their providers would have access to the information required to make good treatment decisions. Finally, the plan would seek to improve health care productivity through information technology. An investment in cutting edge technology would eventually lead to better quality and more efficient health care.

Goal #3: Fully finance universal health coverage. Because of the fiscal deterioration that has occurred under President Bush's watch – transforming a record surplus into a record deficit – the Plan for a Healthy America calls on Americans to make an investment in improving their health care. The plan seeks to do this through a small value-added tax (VAT), the revenues from which would go to a trust fund used exclusively to finance the plan. A VAT is a tax on the value of a good or service during various stages of production. Targeted exemptions would ensure the tax is broad-based and fair, and would reduce its impact on low-income individuals. Ensuring affordable, quality health care is this generation's great challenge. With conviction and persistence, armed with a practical, fair and responsible plan, this worthy goal can be achieved.

Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund.

My main concern is the rights of Terri be upheld and that the proper dilegence has been done. The husband is speaking properly for Terri, the medical establishment constantly rules according to her wishes and so do the courts. The right wingers would have us think there is some sort of heinous conspiracy to end a life wrongly.
It is too bad they don't show concern after conception.
I think the attack on the right about their lack of morals is paying off. They know the constant hits about their lack of morals is having an effect on their followers and they are using this poor women to try and shore up a shrinking base.

Too bad, they are wrong on this issue also.

Benson is about DeLay..
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

Mark,

Bush has not been been spreading liberty and freedom, he has been OUTSOURCING it, that's why you have so little left!

By the way, how does it happen that so good minded and compassionate people suddenly drop by, supporting Bush and ignoring the explanations that have been given here?
Hmm, smells of old trolls manners (with less fun)
I found how our law on the subject is called "The Right to Die" in decency. After the case has been brainstormed,the ultimate decision is made by the doctors pool and the family is not allowed to intrude. The law was voted at full majority in the National Assembly last year and the public opinion backed it fully. Not a word ever since, it remains a private matter.

As OC discussed last night, Frist can be censured for blathering how he could tell by watching videos that Terri wasn't in a Persistent Vegative State. He is as bad a doctor as he is a Senator!
So how do we go about it?

Okay see I look at the News and get stunned the 11th is one of the most conservative courts in the country, Republicans need to realize that their opinion on this should be the final, its done its all over. They screwed up when they made this personal tragedy political and it will cost them, and cost them dearly. Most thinking Americans will think this is a sick way to throw smoke out to mask the fire.

Battlebob, OC reported him to the Tennessee board of medicine.

Listening to Laura Ingrim on may way home from court today I learned that the far far right are now tring to link up with the disabled. They are now trying to scare MS patients with the message that Dems are coming after you next. What a joke. Since when does the Republican party care one iota about the disabled. Should we remind them that it took almost 10 years to get the Americans With Disabilites Act through Republican filibusters in Congress.

When are we going to stop being afraid of our own shadows and taking on these irrational people. Are we ever going to win these voters?H** No.
Its time that we treat these fundamentalists extremists for the nut jobs they are. In a way I think voters are holding their collective breaths waiting to see if Dems have a backbone and are willing to stand up to them.As of yet I have yet to see one Democrat willing to call it what it is; Religious Extremism who have gone off the deep end.
For those that think that overturning Roe v Wade is the end of their agenda, I have news for you, it is only their beginning.

Things we can add to the list of "Things We Have Always Known And Can Now Prove"

Senator Doctor Doctor Cat Killer Bill Frist is an oppotunistic lying heartless creep who would clamber over the grief of a family tragedy to forward his greedy little agenda. Now the proof of this is out there:

Frist wrote a book in 1989 called Transplant where he advocated changing the definition of "brain dead" to include anencephalic babies. Anencephalic babies are in the same state as Terri Schiavo except that she suffered a physical trauma that put her into a vegetative state while the anencephalic babies are born that way.

This remarkable discovery buttresses the argument that Frist's advocacy for Schiavo is wholly political. How does he explain this remarkable inconsistency? Here is the relevant passage on Frist as quoted by the New Republic in 2003:

"And, although Frist writes frequently about the ethical issues surrounding transplants--for example, the question of when death begins--he approaches these issues in starkly scientific terms, with little patience for religious objections.

"Near the end of the book, for example, Frist suggests changing the legal definition of 'brain death' to include anencephalic babies, who are born with a fatal neurological disorder but show just the slightest hint of brain-stem activity. Such a change would make it possible to harvest their organs for transplant--something the Catholic Church and pro-life groups oppose. 'Three thousand anencephalic babies were born a year, enough to solve our demand many times over--but we never used them.'"

Via Atrios, credit DC Inside Scoop

http://dcinsidescoop.blogspot.com/2005/03/frist-urged-changing-definition-of.html

Re: The Schaivo update, Otter sez:

the neocons think they can get away with being in a Persistent Legislative State... well, that's not going to work

My God! Isn't there such a thing as COMPASSION in those we elect! Let OUR SOLDIERS AND IRAQUIS live! By killing them, we are not only causing their suffering, but their parents and siblings as well! Let them care for their child with the love and compassion that many of us wish our own parents had by NOT TAKING AWAY VETERANS BENEFITS AND NOT CLOSING VA HOSPITALS AND NOT KILLING AND RAPING INNOCENT IRAQUIS! Allow these amazing people to continue to hold their child in their arms and in their hearts for as long as they are alive. Please BRING THEM HOME FROM IRAQ!

NOT Posted by: Val Hoover at March 23, 2005 10:41 AM

I guess compassion doesn't really exist to you Mr. Hoover!

Val Hoover,

Are you aware that this is the 2 year anniversary of our fearless, lying president sending soldiers to war without proper equipment, without the means and the plans to keep them safe, and all because he lied?

Most of us here, are feeling compassion for those soldiers, their families and friends, and we're worried about their lives and saddened that their lives just don't seem important.

We're saddened that Bush, while governor of Texas, signed a bill that would take away life support from poor people just because the hospital wanted to not lose money. We're saddened that he put to death the highest amount of prisoners under the death penalty, including a retarded person who had no thinking ability higher than a seven year old. He also put to death another person whose lawyer fell asleep during the trial (repeatedly).

And while my mind is on it, I'm saddened for the people who live in poverty and the elderly who are starving daily and can't make enough money on minimum wage to pay for food, health care, rent, etc and they starve daily and they feel the hunger pains--as do their children.

I had elderly neighbors who ate less food than a one year old. They were starving and unable to make it on their social security. They can't afford their asthma medicine, the heart medicine, the high bloodpressure medicine, and the diabetes medicine. I'm really tremendously sad and concerned for them.

And I fear for others who are just like that and I'm worried that the policies of this administration and the current majority party have forgotten about the suffering their causing out here.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/fc/US/assisted_suicide/news_stories/SIG=125mnlv8b/*http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58069-2005Mar22.html

Case puts the spotlight on rising medical costs. But have no fear...there is not one republican who will support helping US by providing national health care coverage.

I, myself, had an interesting discussion with my Republican representative, a former doctor from Grand Rapids, and he supports low income health care offices, like he had in Grand Rapids. Interesting thing though, what about the thousands of RURAL poor people who wouldn't have access to a rare low income facility and must instead use a local hospital. Imagine, a medical clinic for poor people springing up like Mcdonalds all across the U.S.A. and in the rural areas too, just because they would rather do that then provide the SAME and EQUAL (high quality) care that another rich person can get if they have health care insurance. (Sounds like the same separate but equal arguments of Jim Crow laws and Brown v. Board of Education)