O.K., I know we’re all sick of the subject, but an excellent column by Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times talks about how hard it is to be a “moderate” Republican when the wingnuts rule.
What ever happened to that Republican “big tent” that was supposed to welcome those with differing ideas?
Some members of the Florida Senate are questioning where the tent went and why they are being made to feel like lepers by the Christian right wing.
Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, and eight others were the targets of extreme pressure over the past week…
Democrats often say the GOP is in the hands of extremists. The Schiavo case supports that notion.
Instead of winning support for a bill aimed at restoring Schiavo’s feeding tube, many protesters angered senators who were bombarded with obscene telephone calls and death threats…
Jeb only made things worse for all concerned when he impotently hinted he might have the Department of Children and Families finish the job Bo Gritz started.
[Jeb] Bush didn’t do himself a favor when he said he believes he has the authority to seize custody of Schiavo and provide her with treatment…
Finally Bush surfaced briefly Thursday afternoon to say he would not violate court orders that have denied the state access to Schiavo.
By then it was too late to silence the clamor that was rising among vociferous protesters outside the Capitol.
Loudest among them was Operation Rescue’s Randall Terry, who said “there will be hell to pay” if Bush doesn’t intervene.
Somewhere in all of this the rule of law must prevail, or we are all lost. Bush’s brief flirtation with taking the law into his own hands was a serious mistake that could cost the GOP for years to come.
In the short term, a backlash is taking shape. But memories tend to be even shorter.
One by one, Republicans around the state began announcing: “Enough.”
“I am a longstanding registered, voting Republican, but after watching this disgusting display, I am gone,” wrote Ray Snyder of Crawfordville in a letter to the editor in the Tallahassee Democrat Friday. “I see the dark ages of the Inquisition being born again. Someone needs a large dose of sanity and common sense, but it may already be too late.”
Asked about the impact of the case on the GOP, Larry Sabato, professor of politics at the University of Virginia, says he thinks there will be some temporary backlash but voters will have forgotten by the next election…
No one wins. And once again Florida looks incredibly stupid.
The two party system is dead, it just has to be buried. That is the problem. For now, I suggest everyone to stop voting. It makes no difference whatsoever. This is no idle choice, it is an ethical and moral choice and must be done if we are to begin anew and rebuild this destroyed nation and all the rights we lost by the present administration!