Posted on 07/31/2006 4:58:07 PM PDT by Quiet Man Jr.
Charlie Crist Let My Daughter Die
by Robert Schindler, Sr. Posted Jul 31, 2006
As most Americans know, on March 31, 2005, my daughter, Terri Schindler Schiavo died of starvation and thirst after having her feeding tube removed by court order. The sad chain of events that concluded with Terri’s death ignited a media firestorm nationally and internationally. What few saw or heard was the callous inaction of aspiring governor Charlie Crist.
Florida Atty. Gen. Charlie Crist let my daughter die. He had it within his authority to save her life, but he turned a blind eye to her suffering. Even worse, he worked to ensure her death.
Terri lived in a neurologically compromised state for reasons that are still unknown, and my family wanted nothing more than permission to care for Terri for the span of her natural life. We were denied.
My daughter tenaciously fought for her life for more than 13 days after being deprived of the most basic, natural and constant need that we all share—the need for nourishment—food and water. Terri was not on a respirator, nor terminally ill. She was not dying, nor succumbing to a dreadful disease. She was disabled. She was dependent on others, but still very much a life, a woman, and a person.
Over the course of several years, our family, our lawyers, and our friends pleaded for help from local, county, and state police and regulatory agencies with constitutional and statutory authority to investigate the many sworn statements of extreme abuse and neglect suffered by our daughter.
Hoping to save my daughter’s life, our family sought the help of Attorney General Charlie Crist. Not only did Charlie Crist refuse our family lawful access to the assets of his office, but he violated his oath of office by actively cooperated with those in positions of political and judicial authority whom denied us legal access to the police and regulatory systems meant to protect the weak. Multiple sworn agents from responsible police and regulatory agencies who found probable cause to investigate allegations of abuse in Terri's judicial and physical care, were ordered to shut down those probes. This heavy-handedness made us powerless.
Information of direct interest to Attorney General Charlie Crist's office was directly delivered to his personal hands, and he refused to properly execute the duties of his office. And it was with deliberate decision that he failed to attend a scheduled Tallahassee meeting with our family. On another occasion, we approached each other by chance. Upon recognizing me, Charlie Crist abruptly stopped and walked away.
That callous action encapsulates Charlie Crist. He walked away from a man whose daughter’s fate he controlled. At that moment, he turned his back on Terri. And he turned his back on the most fundamental duties of his office.
It is quite clear that Charlie Crist, to this day, has demonstrated no public affection for the cause of life, or Christianity, or any set of core values. He has been posturing to become governor for decades. With each voting audience he has crafted a message based on the expediency of the moment.
To add insult to injury, at a recent banquet, our alleged pro-life candidate for the Governor of Florida said the following about Judge George Greer and other judges involved in the death of my daughter, "You are heroes to all of us, and your defense of the judiciary and what is right is beyond admirable."
Through his actions, Charlie Crist has demonstrated that he has no regard for our most vulnerable citizens, the high duties of public office, or life itself. Charlie Crist’s celebration of the merciless judges who condemned Terri to death speaks to his true character.
--------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2006 HUMAN EVENTS. All Rights Reserved.
This is a wonderful quote, but you probably didn't see the wisdom inherent in your comment when you typed it up.
I made my point. To compare a full-time, media-created professional protester and ninny like Sheehan to a grieving father with a fair complaint against one politician, is nutsy.
That's where you are wrong. He does not have a fair complaint.
The ultra-conservatives in FL are trying to make several races into 2 issue contests, and Mr. Schindler is a willing participant readily using his daughter's name to support a political position. My once massive sympathy for him wanes every time he injects himself politically.
You can convince yourself there is no difference and you will still be wrong. The tragedy of her death, the despicableness of Michael Schiavo - those issues are going to be lost forever when you insist on placing blame where it cannot logically or rationally be placed and when it is done with clear political motivations.
If and when Mr. Schindler realizes that he is being used by the irrational Buchannen right to injur the GOP and Mr. Crist I hope he will do the right thing.
NEVER???? You missed some of the best comedy...EVER.
And gave me a good laugh too :-) The media lapped up their news out of George Felos's cupped hands. They were his puppy dogs. They bought his lines every time. Even George marveled at how easily he could gull them and have them report his assertions as medical "facts."
Oh, pooh. If Bob Schindler turns into a full-time professional protestor and wins the hearts of the media and starts to hug people like Hugo Chavez, I will admit I misjudged him. And buy you a beer.
It would have cost very little money for the Schindler to have cared for their daughter in their own home. People who have no personal knowledge of feeding tubes do not know anything about feeding tubes at all, as far as I can tell. The devices are VERY SIMPLE and inexpensive when handled in a home setting. The Schindlers probably could have fed Terri soft foods and used the tube for a supplement. Yes, I know Terri's "doctors" said she would be unable to swallow, but she was not allowed anything soft.
Exactly!
Right. Being in a hospice was not the place for Terri to begin with - just a place where MS had free reign while shouting 'when is the $itch going to die'. After all, he denied her everything that would help her, her loved ones, sunshine, therapy, music, etc. - worse than a prison and she hung on and wouldn't give him what HE wanted - to die.
I would not have awarded him a penny. Just because I don't consider him a killer doesn't make him a hero to me.
The Lord would not encourage lost causes but would welcome Terri home rather than have her left in a living hell.
And who paid for the years of care?
You must have been hysterical reading the autopsy report.
Your hope will not be fulfilled.
Please, take the time to explain to me how those details are in any way linked to his ability to circumvent an ongoing court case?
What do his comments about the judges AFTER THE FACT, or the attendance of Janet Reno and he at the same dinner have to do with his ability to act at the time? President Bush has been seen with Bill Clinton smiling, in pictures. Ronald Reagan was seen in many pictures smiling and laughing with Jimmy Carter.
Your arguments are disjointed and nonsensical.
What the heck did you people want him to do that he actually had the legal authority and power to make happen? Remember for a moment that the state legislature passed a law to protect her, the governor signed it, Crist offered an opinion of constitutionality, and that was NOT ENOUGH. Legislative and executive action were NOT ENOUGH. People with more authority and power than he could do NOTHING. It was a pending case and the judiciary maintained exclusive jurisdiction.
Why, please tell me, is it unreasonable for a state AG to take the position that a case pending before the courts is out of his jurisdiction, and that the right thing to do is to let the system play itself out? Doing anything else would have been to ursuro his own authority, probably that of the governor as well, and he would have been slapped down in the process making the case a further political spectacle, and accomplishing nothing on behalf of Teri.
You people want a scapegoat. You are angry, you are hurt, you are looking for revenge. Fine - all normal emotional reactions to loss. But you seem to have forgotten - she had a husband who made the decision - his name is Michael. That is where this fight began and it is where responsibility for her death ends.
Without MAN intervening she would have been dead before we even heard about it. MS did not cause her injuries though it is a favorite whack job theory that he did. Somehow the gigantic conspiracy was able to hide his guilt from the law. Oh, I forget the law was part of the conspiracy.
In the Lord, there are no lost causes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.