Articles by Derek Newton
Crist Praises Schiavo Judges
Yesterday, based on this post at Florida News, we noted that Charlie Crist was scheduled to speak at the annual meeting of the Florida Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates back in mid-July. At this meeting, Jurists of the Year awards were presented to Sixth Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer and U.S. District Court Judge James Whittemore of Tampa, the two judges most involved in the Terri Schiavo case. Crist was scheduled to be the keynote speaker (scroll down to .pdf link), but we had not confirmed that he actually attended or spoke at the event.
Well, it turns out that Charlie was there, and boy did he have something to say:
Rising to the podium, Crist, who can use the support of fellow Florida lawyers in his gubernatorial bid, did not mention the Schiavo case by name or declare precisely how he felt about the outcome."Miami Business Journal, July 25, 2005 ,'Inside Track'" (subscribers only).
But he did join the chorus of those who stressed the need to preserve judicial independence. ...
And in a nod to Greer and Whittemore, Crist said he was "proud" of the two judges.
"You are heroes to all of us, and your defense of the judiciary and what is right is beyond admirable," he said.
"Believe it or not," he said, "I'm not a partisan guy."
More power to Crist. If he can survive the forces of darkness that control the Florida Republican primary, he will be a tough man to beat.
4 Comments:
Crist played this issue well. He didn't get involved, or even defend in Court what the legislature did, when he actually had a duty to do so.
If this speech gets out, I bet it helps him. Most republicans can see the Schiavo intervention was a disgusting misuse of government power. Just a few whack jobs feel otherwise. And they're not going to flood over to Gallagher, who was pro-choice up until yesterday.
winning elections is not about the electorate as a whole. it's about winning small pockets of support. The christian conservatives are an important block. This hurts Crist a lot.
Crist is clearly making a calculated and conscious effort to distance himself the religious conservatives. That is well and good, but it seems that this is going a bit too far - with stuff like this, Crist is outright antagonizing the religious right.
Actually, for those of us that know how to read, neither Congress nor Jeb Bush wanted to get involved in the Schiavo case. They were overwhelmed by letters, calls and emails from people aware of the fraud Michael Schiavo was committing in order to exact revenge against his in laws and a wife he mistakenly thought was unfaithful.
Many of us think parents fighting to save their disabled daughter is okay and that killing your wife and taking her money (what you haven't spent trying to kill her) is naughty, especially when you're already bedding some other woman. One wonders what was in it for Greer before it went astropolitical.
Florida has the most corrupt government in the union. Now I see why. How many communities reelect a judge that's already ripped them off of enough money to purchase a small country, jeopardizes citizen safety and embarrasses them by killing and stealing from those that cannot defend themselves, like Terri Schiavo.
Now that's a no brainer by description and fact.
Sincerely, A Whack Job
PS: You guys need to read your Florida Statutes – Chap. 765, especially the last few pages. Most ;people that know of such things say the Floridians are being set up. (again and more) No joke. It's creepy.
Post a Comment
<< Home