Some people have emailed me asking if I think President Bush or Governor Bush should be "doing something" to prolong Terri Schiavo's life, but it looks like Jeb is doing everything he can, legally, and it's not clear what anyone thinks the President should do. Send in federal marshals to put the tube back in? I suppose he could do that.
It seems to me though that most people who want to see that happen are less concerned with Terry Schiavo than with seeing one of the Bushes force a constitutional showdown with the obstructionist courts. I agree that our judges are far overpowered and should be more deferential to the executive branch, but in this case I think the courts have pretty much followed the letter of the law, even if I don't like the results. No legal system is perfect, but I'm hard-pressed to think of a different set of rules for dealing with disabled patients. Most of the time, allowing the next-of-kin to make life decisions in the absence of a living will is the right thing to do.
If anyone should be pissed, it's the state and federal legislators who have been ignored and dismissed by every judge involved in this case, from top to bottom. By extension, the public who elects the Florida legislature and the American Congress should be angered by these unelected tyrants spurning the instructions of our representatives and assuming that they know better than our legislators what is and what is not Constitutional. Judges aren't the only people who can make that determination, and they should be more humble and keep in mind that they are not representatives of the people, but appointees. (Although Florida state judges other than those on the Florida Supreme Court are elected. About the Florida Government.)
So what, if anything, would you do if you were President or Governor?
