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deminks

(11,006 posts)
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 03:20 PM Dec 2014

Terri Schiavo’s Husband Speaks Out On Jeb Bush’s Presidential Bid

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/12/17/3604615/michael-schiavo-jeb-bush/

In his announcement Tuesday that he would explore a 2016 presidential bid, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) promised to focus on “ideas and policies that will expand opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.” But he made no mention of his most controversial act during his two terms in office: his attempts to take custody of Terri Schiavo and overrule her husband Michael’s decision to remove her feeding tube, fifteen years after cardiac arrest had left her in a vegetative state.

ThinkProgress spoke with Michael Schiavo and the attorney who represented him in the matter, George Felos, about Bush’s presidential candidacy. Both expressed concern that Bush’s record was one of government interference and opposing individual liberty.

(snip)

“It’s one thing to have your own personal beliefs,” Felos said, “It’s quite another to use your official powers and your official office to subvert the court and the lawful process.”

He also recalled that after Schiavo’s death, Jeb Bush went after Michael Schiavo personally, asking the state’s attorney to investigate whether he had called 911 fast enough. “It was very odd, almost like a personal vendetta the governor had towards Michael Schaivo.” The state’s attorney found no evidence against him and closed the case. “The propriety of using your office to hunt and harass people, as the governor did to Mr. Schiavo after his wife’s death, I think raises significant questions about his judgment and his character,” Felos said.

Michael Schiavo, nearly a decade later, said he believes Jeb Bush’s intervention was a purely political move and an act of buffoonery. “If you want a government that’s gonna be intrusive and interfere in your personal life, vote for Bush. If you want to live like that, want people to interfere in your personal lives, then vote for him,” he said.

(end snip)

Jebby and Christ Christy have that GOPer bully thing going on.
69 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Terri Schiavo’s Husband Speaks Out On Jeb Bush’s Presidential Bid (Original Post) deminks Dec 2014 OP
kick samsingh Dec 2014 #1
K & R. Bush's modus operandi: "The propriety of using your office to hunt and harass people" FSogol Dec 2014 #2
unless those peeps are family friends like the bin ladens elehhhhna Dec 2014 #27
he's a bush. it goes back to 1889, the weak genetics and sadism in that family roguevalley Dec 2014 #37
That first quote applies perfectly to Pam Bondi and her marriage license crusade. lpbk2713 Dec 2014 #3
Jeb, George, and 150+ members of congress Dawson Leery Dec 2014 #4
R#12 & K n/t UTUSN Dec 2014 #5
The SCIAVO case is why I don't despise WASSERMAN-SHULTZ because she and her UTUSN Dec 2014 #46
k&r.... spanone Dec 2014 #6
Yes, I remember it well rocktivity Dec 2014 #7
So glad Michael Schiavo is speaking out mcar Dec 2014 #8
du rec. xchrom Dec 2014 #9
Exactly! BrotherIvan Dec 2014 #16
Jeb is persona non-grata with all the libertarians I know at work. AtheistCrusader Dec 2014 #61
Let's hope BrotherIvan Dec 2014 #69
he's a bush so he has no judgement or character belzabubba333 Dec 2014 #10
Truth to Power... Blue Idaho Dec 2014 #11
Dubya shoved his stupid monkey face into the middle of things, too Rob H. Dec 2014 #12
And every member who voted "aye", including Dawson Leery Dec 2014 #49
K & R !!! WillyT Dec 2014 #13
'Christ' Christy? Stainless Dec 2014 #14
I can't believe we even have to discuss putting another Bush in charge of the country world wide wally Dec 2014 #15
NEVER underestimate the general stupidity and willful ignorance Bigmack Dec 2014 #17
Now watch Jeb claim he has never been a stooge for the Republican Party or Conservatives. Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2014 #18
KnR Hekate Dec 2014 #19
K&R nt Duval Dec 2014 #20
k&r nt DesertRat Dec 2014 #21
k & r & thanks & screw the bushes! n/t wildbilln864 Dec 2014 #22
My guess is he did not give a damn about that woman Kingofalldems Dec 2014 #23
+1 You nailed it. Enthusiast Dec 2014 #25
Kicked and recommended a whole bunch! "It was an act of buffoonery." Enthusiast Dec 2014 #24
i didn't even remember Jeb's role Enrique Dec 2014 #26
umm. I did not know Jeb had Michael Schiavo investigated. Sounds vindictive riversedge Dec 2014 #28
FWIW - Jeb was probably just being puppeteered by the religious wrong. MH1 Dec 2014 #32
I love the word "buffoonery" used in this context. It's perfectly aligned with the Bush family. nt longship Dec 2014 #29
I love the word "buffoonery" used in this context. AlbertCat Dec 2014 #30
I have nothing nice to say to that jerk PatrynXX Dec 2014 #31
Terri Schiavo was never claimed to be "brain dead" KinMd Dec 2014 #34
Ironically I figured PatrynXX Dec 2014 #68
She was in 'a persistent vegetative state' Ineeda Dec 2014 #36
+1 (nt) a2liberal Dec 2014 #39
do you know the difference between "knew" and "new"? hate to tell you this, but, under niyad Dec 2014 #41
There are also strong rumors that he put her in that condition Reter Dec 2014 #43
Strong rumors? Seriously? evirus Dec 2014 #54
He DID step in. Ineeda Dec 2014 #59
Well OK then! "Strong Rumors!" Let's just have a cop pull him over and shoot him, right? hatrack Dec 2014 #60
Way to swallow the reich-wing pro-life line of bullshit hook, line and sinker. AtheistCrusader Dec 2014 #65
Terri Schiavo was not persistently vegetative: she was as dead as a dinosaur. rocktivity Dec 2014 #63
You know basically nothing at all about the medical aspects of this case. AtheistCrusader Dec 2014 #64
It was shameful the way Michael Schiavo was villified KinMd Dec 2014 #33
K trof Dec 2014 #35
That whole episode was an embarrassing exhibition of Republican hysteria, Chemisse Dec 2014 #38
k and r-I hope michael is in front of him every time he opens his mouth. niyad Dec 2014 #40
does someone have a list of the congressional members who signed that bill? I have been niyad Dec 2014 #42
K & R Liberal_Dog Dec 2014 #44
Side note: Remember Christ on a trailer hitch? pinboy3niner Dec 2014 #45
Yes---that was the only bright, shining light in that whole mess. And I'm trying to find the pic msanthrope Dec 2014 #57
I called it "The Freeper Jesus Freak Show!" rocktivity Dec 2014 #58
And both gag me. lonestarnot Dec 2014 #47
That poor man (Schiavo, of course). What that asshole Bush and the other GOP assholes put him thru. valerief Dec 2014 #48
I admire him for not going postal. sarge43 Dec 2014 #56
Sorry you went through that, but thank goodness you didn't have to deal with bullshit politics. nt valerief Dec 2014 #62
thanking Mr. Schiavo Skittles Dec 2014 #50
Barack Obama, Lame Duck, just pulled the rug out from under Jeb's candidacy with this Cuba deal. nt MADem Dec 2014 #51
K&R ReRe Dec 2014 #52
GOP "small gov't" & "personal freedoms" at its finest Myrina Dec 2014 #53
Kickin' Faux pas Dec 2014 #55
Wouln't that be "widower"? KamaAina Dec 2014 #66
Ol' Jeb has LOTS of skeletons in his closet and negative press, maybe more.... George II Dec 2014 #67

FSogol

(45,357 posts)
2. K & R. Bush's modus operandi: "The propriety of using your office to hunt and harass people"
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 03:24 PM
Dec 2014

True for the entire Bush family.

lpbk2713

(42,696 posts)
3. That first quote applies perfectly to Pam Bondi and her marriage license crusade.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 03:25 PM
Dec 2014



“It’s one thing to have your own personal beliefs,” Felos said, “It’s quite another to use
your official powers and your official office to subvert the court and the lawful process.”


UTUSN

(70,496 posts)
46. The SCIAVO case is why I don't despise WASSERMAN-SHULTZ because she and her
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 11:20 PM
Dec 2014

fellow Congressman who is now gone went out there and said our values to the cameras those days.

rocktivity

(44,555 posts)
7. Yes, I remember it well
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 04:01 PM
Dec 2014

There was a brilliant editorial on Jeb vs. Michael:

Gov. Jeb Bush...indulged his worst impulses by asking prosecutors to review the circumstances surrounding Terri Schiavo's collapse 15 years ago. It is a callous, arrogant, defiant act by a stubborn governor who can't accept facts at odds with his own views.

And don't forget that Jeb tried to have the state police remove Terri Schiavo from her hospice despite a court order forbidding it. Fortunately, the state cops realized they'd be blamed and tipped off the local cops, who formed a perimeter around the hospice which the state cops courteously refused to cross.

Proceed, ex-governor -- and "ex"-governor for VERY good reason!


rocktivity

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
9. du rec.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 04:25 PM
Dec 2014

i hope michael schiavo goes after jeb like a dog on abone.

what jeb and other did to that family was horrible.

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
16. Exactly!
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 05:27 PM
Dec 2014

Let those libertarian-conservative types learn allllllllllll about it. There is so much dirt on Jeb, I hope they can't keep it down. He will be the Republican nominee without a doubt if they don't go after him now.

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)
61. Jeb is persona non-grata with all the libertarians I know at work.
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:16 PM
Dec 2014

They'd sooner spit than say his name, and this issue is one of the reasons why.

Honestly, I think this is a gingrich-like book tour move. Does he have a book out? I bet he does.

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
69. Let's hope
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:16 AM
Dec 2014

They ended up bringing the good conservatives into the fold to vote for Mitt who they hated (for the most part). I thought they were going to wait for Jeb just a little longer, but perhaps they think they can polish him up because Clinton in vulnerable. He is the perfect republican candidate: soulless, entitled, and will lie with his last breath.

Rob H.

(5,340 posts)
12. Dubya shoved his stupid monkey face into the middle of things, too
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 04:59 PM
Dec 2014

From wikipedia:

On March 21, Congress passed a bill, S.686, that allowed Schiavo's case to be moved into a federal court. The controversial law is colloquially known as the Palm Sunday Compromise. It passed the Senate on Sunday afternoon unanimously, 3-0, with 97 of 100 Senators not present. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, deliberation ran from 9pm EST to just past midnight during an unusual Sunday session. The bill was passed 203-58 (156 Republicans and 47 Democrats in favor, 5 Republicans and 53 Democrats against), with 174 Representatives (74 Republicans and 100 Democrats) not present on the floor at the time of the vote at 12:41 a.m. EST. President Bush returned from vacation in Crawford, Texas to sign the bill into law at 1:11 that morning.


Emphasis added.

Dawson Leery

(19,348 posts)
49. And every member who voted "aye", including
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:44 AM
Dec 2014

those 47 Democrats (Bart Stupak comes to mine) should have been impeached and convicted.

world wide wally

(21,719 posts)
15. I can't believe we even have to discuss putting another Bush in charge of the country
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 05:16 PM
Dec 2014

It's either a joke or my worst nightmare has come true….
This country is even dumber than I thought?
Amazing!

Kingofalldems

(38,361 posts)
23. My guess is he did not give a damn about that woman
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 05:53 PM
Dec 2014

just did it for political expediency. She wasn't from money, why would he care about her?

Enthusiast

(50,983 posts)
24. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch! "It was an act of buffoonery."
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:00 PM
Dec 2014

Right on!

The Bushes have mastered the art of buffoonery.

Enrique

(27,461 posts)
26. i didn't even remember Jeb's role
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:05 PM
Dec 2014

hopefully this will come up in the primaries, maybe Rand Paul will bring it up at one of the debates. Of course Huckabee and Santorum will line up with Big Government making these personal decisions, what about the others?

riversedge

(69,721 posts)
28. umm. I did not know Jeb had Michael Schiavo investigated. Sounds vindictive
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:09 PM
Dec 2014

to me.


I have only a vague recall of that issue. Strange but I recall Hannity from Fox sitting outside the nursing home that the woman was in night after night. Odd memory.

I do remember being concerned about it the issue. Last wills are important-and she had none but there was no reason not to believe her husband.

MH1

(17,537 posts)
32. FWIW - Jeb was probably just being puppeteered by the religious wrong.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:43 PM
Dec 2014

He probably didn't give a shit one way or the other but thought it would make him look good with the extreme nutjob faction that one has to woo these days to get a republican nomination.

longship

(40,416 posts)
29. I love the word "buffoonery" used in this context. It's perfectly aligned with the Bush family. nt
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:15 PM
Dec 2014

R&

PatrynXX

(5,668 posts)
31. I have nothing nice to say to that jerk
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:32 PM
Dec 2014

This is why we now have "death panels" ahem they aren't. Jeb was trying to rule for the parents. Michael simply wanted to get a knew wife. and she clearly wasn't brain dead. bout the only think Jeb did right.

PatrynXX

(5,668 posts)
68. Ironically I figured
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 03:03 PM
Dec 2014

I'd get juried on this one didn't think I'd be on being anti torture. but whatever. Guess people don't wanna hear or read about torture methods. Thought it was common knowledge. This one though is more opinion. She wasn't brain dead that was my main problem. Second problem was I'm not fan of the husband. The parents had made the better case. Persistent vegetative state is basically brain dead. I'm fairly sure she didn't want to be starved to death which is of course what she died of. Starvation. Thats my opinion though not fact.

Ineeda

(3,626 posts)
36. She was in 'a persistent vegetative state'
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 08:20 PM
Dec 2014

Last edited Wed Dec 17, 2014, 10:30 PM - Edit history (1)

which means no brain activity. Bush and the other RWNJs claimed to discern actual cognizance -- eye contact, reaction to various stimuli, etc. -- NONE of which could possibly be true. Upon autopsy, the legitimate doctors' evaluations bore out the truth. Her brain was basically jello. So she clearly had no meaningful future. After fifteen years of that, Michael certainly had a right to hope for more in his life. Obviously, there was nothing simple about it. It's understandable, in a way, that Terry's heartbroken, desperate parents saw what they wanted to see. But Jeb and his cohorts were out-and-out assholes. This was the absolute worst thing he did while governor, and that's saying a lot.

niyad

(112,434 posts)
41. do you know the difference between "knew" and "new"? hate to tell you this, but, under
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 10:58 PM
Dec 2014

the law, the next of kin is the HUSBAND, NOT the parents. ole jebby had no right to "rule for the parents", he had no business interfering at all.

your post is an embarrassing display of reichwing bs.

 

Reter

(2,188 posts)
43. There are also strong rumors that he put her in that condition
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 11:04 PM
Dec 2014

So fuck him. Bush should have stopped it, and if he couldn't Shrub should have stepped in.

evirus

(852 posts)
54. Strong rumors? Seriously?
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 08:42 AM
Dec 2014

You can't take away some ones rights as a spouse simply because of rumors.

What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Ineeda

(3,626 posts)
59. He DID step in.
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:00 PM
Dec 2014

Dimson freaking called back Congress!!! After a number (more than a dozen) court actions gave them decisions they didn't like. And who do you think was behind those despicable, unfounded rumors? There was absolutely no evidence of wrong-doing except in the minds of right-wing assholes determined to pander to the fanatical religious right. Check your facts and go back to FR or wherever you call home.

hatrack

(59,439 posts)
60. Well OK then! "Strong Rumors!" Let's just have a cop pull him over and shoot him, right?
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:07 PM
Dec 2014

If that's your standard of "proof", then good luck with the rest of your life.

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)
65. Way to swallow the reich-wing pro-life line of bullshit hook, line and sinker.
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:29 PM
Dec 2014

You're as bad as Jeb. He directed prosecutors to investigate whether there was anything he could be charged with, 15 years after the fact.

Now, you're no governor, and have no power, but here's how you are just as bad; almost a decade on you're out there, pimping the lies and smears that he was cleared of, all over again.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

rocktivity

(44,555 posts)
63. Terri Schiavo was not persistently vegetative: she was as dead as a dinosaur.
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:19 PM
Dec 2014

Last edited Fri Aug 5, 2022, 07:10 PM - Edit history (22)



...The blue areas are remaining brain tissue but most of the scan shows black areas which are essentially fluid (cerebrospinal fluid). The normal body reaction to irreversibly damaged tissue is to replace it with fluid and this is clearly what has happened after Mrs. Schiavo suffered severe anoxic damage to her cerebral cortex. Most of what remains of her brain is essentially a fluid filled sac surrounded by a thin shell of brain tissue rather then the solid structure we normally associate with a brain...


At the time, Terri Schiavo was neither persisting, vegetating nor pining for her native Florida Everglades; she had passed on. She was no more; she had ceased to be. She had expired and gone to meet her maker: Terri was late. She was a stiff, bereft of life and resting in peace. If she hadn't been impaled by feeding tubes, she'd be pushing up the daisies. Her metabolic processes were history; she was off the twig. She had kicked the bucket, shuffled off her mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible -- " target="_blank">SHE WAS AN EX-TERRI!


rocktivity

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)
64. You know basically nothing at all about the medical aspects of this case.
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:23 PM
Dec 2014

PVS is not 'brain death', though a significant percentage of her brain had in fact died, and long since been replaced by cerebro-spinal fluid.


After her death, Schiavo's body was taken to the Office of the District 6 Medical Examiner for Pinellas and Pasco counties, based in Largo, Florida. The autopsy occurred on April 1, 2005. It revealed extensive brain damage. The manner of death was certified as "undetermined". The autopsy was led by Chief Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin, M.D. In addition to consultation with a neuropathologist (Stephen J. Nelson, M.D.), Dr. Thogmartin also arranged for specialized cardiac and genetic examinations to be made. The official autopsy report[26] was released on June 15, 2005. In addition to studying Terri Schiavo's remains, Thogmartin scoured court, medical and other records and interviewed her family members, doctors and other relevant parties. Examination of Schiavo's nervous system by neuropathologist Stephen J. Nelson, M.D., revealed extensive injury. The brain itself weighed only 615 g (21.7 oz), only half the weight expected for a female of her age, height, and weight, an effect caused by the loss of a massive number of neurons. Microscopic examination revealed extensive damage to nearly all brain regions, including the cerebral cortex, the thalami, the basal ganglia, the hippocampus, the cerebellum, and the midbrain. The neuropathologic changes in her brain were precisely of the type seen in patients who enter a PVS following cardiac arrest. Throughout the cerebral cortex, the large pyramidal neurons that comprise some 70% of cortical cells – critical to the functioning of the cortex – were completely lost. The pattern of damage to the cortex, with injury tending to worsen from the front of the cortex to the back, was also typical. There was marked damage to important relay circuits deep in the brain (the thalami) – another common pathologic finding in cases of PVS. The damage was, in the words of Thogmartin, "irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."[67]


The 'person' of Terri Schaivo was long dead, and MOTHERFUCKING RIGHT WING GOOSESTEPPING EVANGLICAL ASSHOLES like Jeb Bush forced her body to remain on life support in a form of living death for SEVEN YEARS on no medical knowledge whatsoever, and against the best last known wishes of Terri herself.

Sad to see people here on DU falling for Jeb Bush's complete and utter bullshit and power-mad tyranny. Public office is the last place a creature like him belongs.

Chemisse

(30,793 posts)
38. That whole episode was an embarrassing exhibition of Republican hysteria,
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:12 PM
Dec 2014

Much like the Elian Gonzales episode.

They were ludicrous, and it's good to remember them and those who stirred the pot.

I had forgotten J. Bush'es part in this.

niyad

(112,434 posts)
42. does someone have a list of the congressional members who signed that bill? I have been
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 11:03 PM
Dec 2014

searching, and cannot find it.

Liberal_Dog

(11,075 posts)
44. K & R
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 11:09 PM
Dec 2014

That whole episode was Republican hypocrisy at its finest.

Hopefully, it will come back to haunt them.

pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)
45. Side note: Remember Christ on a trailer hitch?
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 11:09 PM
Dec 2014

iirc, that was from a fundie demonstration outside Terri Schiavo's hospice.

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
57. Yes---that was the only bright, shining light in that whole mess. And I'm trying to find the pic
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 10:18 AM
Dec 2014

of the protester outside the hospice who was kneeling, praying, and looking like she was about to drop something from an orifice....

rocktivity

(44,555 posts)
58. I called it "The Freeper Jesus Freak Show!"
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 11:58 AM
Dec 2014

And it helped mortify enough religious moderates to get us Congress in 2006




rocktivity

sarge43

(28,939 posts)
56. I admire him for not going postal.
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 10:15 AM
Dec 2014

Last edited Thu Dec 18, 2014, 01:56 PM - Edit history (1)

My father and brother died in a PVS. It was an insane, terrible experience for my family, damn near killed my mother. To have asshole bullies in the mix would have sent me over the edge.

valerief

(53,235 posts)
62. Sorry you went through that, but thank goodness you didn't have to deal with bullshit politics. nt
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 12:17 PM
Dec 2014

MADem

(135,425 posts)
51. Barack Obama, Lame Duck, just pulled the rug out from under Jeb's candidacy with this Cuba deal. nt
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 01:46 AM
Dec 2014

George II

(67,782 posts)
67. Ol' Jeb has LOTS of skeletons in his closet and negative press, maybe more....
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 02:20 PM
Dec 2014

....than his brother had.

As an aside, off topic (and this will get me in trouble, I'm sure!), do people understand what "kick" means? It's used to move a post up after it has found it's way down the list over time. "Kick"-ing a post just minutes after it's first posted is basically pointless.

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