Another reason not to trust Jeb Bush

OK, did anyone doubt that "the smart Bush brother" would eventually run for President? The only reason he wouldn't is if there were enough scandals in his background to make him unelectable. Of course, some of us think that handing the 2000 election to his brother is enough to disqualify him, but there's a lot more.

Including what I'm about to describe, which almost certainly won't be talked about in the campaign, but IMO is very important. It takes a bit of explaining, so bear with me…

Remember Terri Schiavo? The woman who was in a permanent vegetative state in Florida back in 2005? Her husband had a state court order to disconnect her life support, and her parents objected. They appealed to Federal court, which (quite properly) declined to get involved, noting this was a state matter. 

The Christian Right staged a massive freakout, which led to a special session of Congress passing a law to "save Terri" by transferring her case to Federal court. President Dubya flew back from Texas to sign the bill at 1:00 in the morning. (The Federal courts denied the appeals and Schiavo was eventually allowed to die.) 

The interesting thing about the case is that the right wing, which endlessly beats the drum about individual liberty, states' rights, and limited government, was anxious for the Federal government to get involved. One of the few sane Republicans, Chris Shays (from the Northeast, naturally), said "My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing. This couldn't be a more classic case of a state responsibility. This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy." 

There. He said it. In fact, it appears that the Schiavo matter was basically an early test case for the right wing in using the power of the Federal government to enforce their religious beliefs. 

In explaining how this involves Jeb Bush, I'll quote from Frederic Rich's novel Christian Nation: 

I think this incident is incredibly revealing of what we can expect from the fundamentalists. And it's not just the casualness with which personal liberty, states' rights, and the rest were thrown aside. This was a manufactured 'crisis.' Millions of good people around the country were manipulated into really caring about the woman. They cried when she died. And so the movement gained a martyr—a symbol that the puppet masters, when it suits their purposes, can use to reconnect the faithful with that emotion. … The movement flirted with violent resistance. [Governor] Jeb Bush actually dispatched armed state agents to forcibly remove Terri Schiavo from the hospice in violation of court orders, but those state agents were stopped by the local police who upheld the law. Jeb Bush should have been impeached and jailed for that stunt. But instead he became one of the heroes. 

I doubt Jeb cared much one way or the other about Schiavo's fate. But he was more than willing to use the power of his office to pander to the wishes of a group of religious fundamentalists for political purposes. Despite his bland exterior, the man is a snake. 

But hey, if you don't like Jeb for President, there's always Chris Christie (another snake), and, Lord help us, Mitt Rmoney!