Did Senate Dems vote for Terri bill to protect Bill Nelson in 2006?

[madfloridian]

This Miami Herald article implies that. I know Bill is very vulnerable. The worst thing he can do is to be afraid and try to be more like them. His vote for the bankruptcy bill is one example...there are others.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/11183112.htm

SNIP..."As the legislation faltered in Florida, the governor sought federal intervention, and there, critics charge, the politics were truly palpable. Michael Schiavo's attorney leveled a blistering criticism of U.S. Senate Democrats, who went along with the GOP, accusing them of allowing Congress to treat Schiavo like a ``pawn in a political football game.''

Senate Democrats had anguished about stepping in on a family decision, but eventually relented, partly out of fear that the case could adversely affect the reelection hopes of Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who has looked to position himself as a moderate, a senior Democratic official in the Senate said.

A spokesman for Nelson -- one of the prime targets for Republicans in 2006 -- rejected suggestions that the Senate Democrats went along with their GOP colleagues to protect the freshman senator. Spokesman Bryan Gulley said Republicans had the votes and that Nelson agreed to the legislation only after it was narrowed to affect only Schiavo.

''He supported giving the family one final timely appeal in federal court,'' Gulley said."

[JDPriestly]

1. Maybe it was Nelson's call.

It's really a Florida matter.

[madfloridian]

11. Not just a Florida matter anymore.

This is about right to life issues. I posted on one thread about Toobin on CNN, a legal analyst, saying this issue was really about the abortion issue. I think it is in GD forum.

This is the business of all of us when the congress intervenes and overthrows the judgements of years of judges, conservative ones. This is about all of us.

[Sandpiper]

2. So, fear persuaded them to vote for a Bill of Attainder?

Grow a spine you pack of snivelling cowards.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Pitiful, isn't it?

I suppose they so were afraid of catching a ration of crap from the wingers for wanting to "kill" Terri that they voted for this bill, even knowing it's unconstitutional. It's disgusting that they didn't stand up and say, "We can't vote for a bill of attainder; it's unconstitutional." But this way the lily-livered, chickenshit, spineless cowards get political cover by voting for it ("Hey, we didn't vote to KILL Terri!"), and at the same time knowing it probably will never go into effect because it's unlikely to survive a court challenge.

Feh.

[Cuban_Liberal]

8. It's not a bill of attainder.

bill of attainder
n. pl. bills of attainder
A legislative act pronouncing a person guilty of a crime, usually treason, without trial and subjecting that person to capital punishment and attainder. Such acts are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=bill%20of%20attainder

[jsw_81]

4. Yes

It's all about pandering to the clueless red-state "values" voters who -- narrowly -- gave Bush a second term. Jesus, even *Tom Harkin* is supporting this Schiavo crap!

[madfloridian]

5. It hurt to see Harkin standing there with Santorum.

It really did.

[madfloridian]

6. This Florida Republican lawmaker has more courage...standing against.

SNIP..."Sen. Nancy Argenziano, a Dunnellon Republican, wept on the Senate floor Friday as she explained why she voted against the Schiavo legislation and said she'd already received threatening phone calls and been called some ''very nasty names'' including ``murderer.''

Argenziano said she spent a restless night after the Senate vote, reviewing the Scriptures and ''searching through my soul,'' but believes -- as Schiavo's husband, Michael contends -- that Terri Schiavo wouldn't have wanted to live by artificial means.

''Sometimes modern medical technology doesn't prolong life, it only delays death,'' Argenziano said. ``We may actually be trying to be doing something God has not willed.''END SNIP

I turned on the TV just once earlier, turned it back off. Terri's mother was pleading with and actually warning the ones who would vote against her daughter.

My husband turned it to the Food Channel, and he said leave it there.

[UTUSN]

7. Yep, There Are Scoundrelism and Cowardice on BOTH Sides

********UNQUOTE*******

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=1&u=/latimests/20050319/ts_latimes/schiavotakenofffoodsupply

After the procedure was complete, Felos launched into a caustic attack on Republican leaders, describing their subpoenas directed to the Schiavos as "nothing short of thuggery."

"Apparently, according to the House of Representatives, any committee member can direct a subpoena to any American citizen, forcing them to have medical treatment against their will," Felos said. "It was odious. It was shocking."

DeLay said House Republicans would not be deterred by Friday's events. He called Greer's order "barbaric" and cited Felos as "the personification of evil."



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2270&ncid=2270&e=3&u=/krwashbureau/20050319/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_braindamagedwoman_subpoena_wa

In Florida, Michael Schiavo's lawyer, George Felos, called the House subpoena "odious," but he was especially harsh on Senate Democrats for even allowing any legislation affecting Schiavo to pass.

Democrats were clearly uncomfortable with any suggestion they had helped defeat legislation to keep Schiavo alive. Wyden Friday rejected Felos' characterization that he had helped defeat the legislation, saying he only wanted to be sure that any legislation would not affect Oregon's assisted suicide laws.

Eventually, Democrats agreed to pass a bill partly out of fear that the case could adversely affect the re-election hopes of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record) of Florida.

Nelson kept a low profile during the discussions, compared to Florida's other senator, Republican Mel Martinez, who was in the forefront of negotiations.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2270&ncid=2270&e=2&u=/krwashbureau/20050319/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_braindamagedwoman_guardian_wa

.... Wolfson was appointed by a Florida court in the fall of 2003 to be Schiavo's guardian ad litem, or guardian at law, to deduce Schiavo's best interests and represent neither her husband nor her parents but Terri Schiavo herself.

This makes Wolfson one of the very few people to have spent extended time with Schiavo and gauged her level of awareness without having a vested interest at stake.

In the end, after long hours at Schiavo's bedside and after poring over 30,000 pages of legal documents, Wolfson concluded that Schiavo was indeed in a permanent vegetative state. ....

But Schiavo never made eye contact. When Wolfson visited her when her parents were there, she never made eye contact with them either, he said. And for all of Wolfson's pleadings and coaxing, he never got what he most wanted: a sign. ....

Wolfson was dismayed to learn Friday that Barbara Weller, an attorney for the Schindlers, claimed that Schiavo tried to speak. "Terri does not speak," he said. "To claim otherwise reduces her to a fiction." ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[madfloridian]

9. I have heard that Weller woman on TV. She does claim Terri talks to her.

"Wolfson was dismayed to learn Friday that Barbara Weller, an attorney for the Schindlers, claimed that Schiavo tried to speak. "Terri does not speak," he said. "To claim otherwise reduces her to a fiction." ...".

I heard her saying that Terri was saying to her "I want to live." She then sort of backed off, saying she did not really get the last word out.

[UTUSN]

10. CNN Poll: Do you approve of Congress intervening in the Terri Schiavo case

CNN Poll: Do you approve of Congress intervening in the Terri Schiavo case? http://www.cnn.com/
83% NO 17-Yes.

[bluedog]

12. Fl here.......I don't care

I care if they voted to save her..we are sick of this CRAP our side is being shut out of this cause.........I feel the Democrats should take a stand and just say the StaTe courts ruled.its been in and out of court 7 years+............the SS court won't touch it........Just say you go with the courts decision and the law is the law...........if it was not that way....then the actions taken in 2000 are out and out illegal.....

[Malva Zebrina]

13. what the Dems are doing seems to be the elephant in the living room

and is not mentioned here on DU.

So I won't mention it.

[madfloridian]

14. Yes, I know.

We don't talk about those elephants...hell, in fact we don't even think about them.