Senator (Martinez) changes mind on Schiavo

[kskiska]

Sen. Mel Martinez, nearly a year after leading the charge for federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, now says he may have been off-base.

"Perhaps this was not in the realm of federal concern. It may have been better left to state courts to deal with it," Martinez said in a taped interview for Political Connections that airs today on Bay News 9.

(snip)

Martinez was the Senate's point person pushing a bill to give federal courts jurisdiction in the case as part of an effort to force the brain-damaged Pinellas County woman's feeding tubes to be reinserted.

The effort to keep her alive proved unsuccessful and enormously unpopular with the public. It was particularly damaging to Martinez after it turned out his legal counsel had drafted a memo describing the Schiavo legislation as "a great political issue." That aide left Martinez's staff.

more…
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/12/Tampabay/Senator_changes_mind_.shtml

[ret5hd]

1. maybe, just maybe...

it shouldn't be up to the feds OR the state...maybe it should be left up to the family.

just sayin'...

[catmother]

11. exactly. the whole thing became a political and religious fiasco.

:puke:

[Erika]

2. The radicals are now running scared n/t

[WhiteTara]

3. I hope your constituents remember you

and turn on you come election day 2006. You slimy rot

[calimary]

17. If it fades from their memory, don't worry too much. Michael Schiavo

is coming out with a book - a little later this year (I think late summer or early fall - at any rate, I remember thinking that the timing was going to be SO WONDERFUL in view of the impending midterm elections) that details the nonstop torment and persecution he weathered by these extremist nutcases trying to trample all over his privacy and bring the full weight of the federal government down on his head - in a private family issue that was NONE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S BUSINESS.

I've seen him interviewed (Olbermann had an exclusive earlier this month) and he still seethes with a quiet rage about it. That's the point he intends to make in his book - that it was a private, personal family matter and family tragedy, and NOT ONE of these outsiders deserved a place at the table. Hell, they demanded the whole frickin' dining room! BTW - Schiavo says he INVITED ALL these folks to come and talk to him, personally, and to meet Terri. If any one of them had spent any time actually in the room with her, he said, they would have seen with their own eyes that she was little more than a piece of meat. I remember him saying things like "they'd say - 'Here! Look at me, Terri,' and she wouldn't. And 'talk to me, Terri! Say something, shake your head, Terri!' She wouldn't."

And please everybody remember: THIS was the one thing that got bush off his ass in Crawford, in the middle of the night, on a weekend, to climb into Air Force One and hightail it back to Washington to sign that bill to allow the feds to stomp in - for all those nice, willing cameras and microphones of the Washington Press Corps. You'd have thought since he proved he was capable of doing that - that he could have done likewise at the height of Hurricane Katrina, wouldn't you?

Nice of this republi-TURD to have a "change of heart" now, isn't it? But it appears he's only experienced such since he's seen the polls and the enormously unpopular readings from the public on what he and his pals tried to do.

These people make me ill. And YES. I'm ANGRY. THIS SHIT MAKES ME DAMNED ANGRY!!! DEAL WITH IT.

[WhiteTara]

20. thanks for that. I remember

the interview with Schaivo and him saying that they shouldn't have f*cked with him. Glad for that bit of good news. We may turn this worm yet.

[Ian David]

25. There was a whole city full of Terri Schiavo's, and Bush let them drown

Over forty drowned in their beds in one nursing home alone.

Where was pro-life Bush who came out in his pajamas to sign a bill for Terri?

[Arkansas Granny]

34. It's good to know that they have their priorities "straight".

:sarcasm:

[indie_voter]

4. Weasel n/t

[marmar]

5. Sorry Mel...

You and your contemporaries from that nasty cesspool of a political parties can't run away from this one. :yoiks: There is a price to be paid for playing politics with a braindead woman.

[Initech]

6. Kind of late to be making that decision, huh?

[Judi Lynn]

7. Yeah, Mel's a real winner.

Here's a photo of him taking little Elián Gonzalez to Disney World, when the little nipper should have been back in Cuba with his own dad, not holding the hand of a grimey politician who was using him for photo ops.



But, heh! Mel's a fast learner. From the article posted by kskiska:

Martinez has previously stood by his role in the Schiavo controversy, but his latest comments come two weeks after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recounted the lessons he learned from the Schiavo controversy: "The American people don't want you involved in these decisions."

[rodeodance]

8. "maybe"--"perhaps"

Sen. Mel Martinez, nearly a year after leading the charge for federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, now says he may have been off-base.

"Perhaps this was not in the realm of federal concern. It may have been better left to state courts to deal with it," Martinez said in a taped interview for Political Connections that airs today on Bay News 9.

[wakeme2008]

9. Just proves you can read polls better than cat-killer can

read a video tape :grr:

[rodeodance]

10. Frist, a while ago has also said " I learned a lesson"

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. He beat Betty Castor by 1% of the vote

and we know that the Repug vote was padded in every way possible.

There should have been a recount but Castor choose to walk away.

[chelsea0011]

13. "perhaps this was not"? Is that the best he can come up with?

He should be apologize to the family and nation and flat out admit he was wrong. Kinda, shoulda, maybe doesn't cut it.

[salin]

14. Matinez's aide's memo:

about how much hay they could make politically on this issue - included possibly riding it to push for a law that would, in essence, nullify living wills. Hard to fully distance oneself from *that*.

[adriennui]

15. what a hypocrite

too late asshole, south floridians aren't going to forget what a circus you and your masters made out of this poor woman's death.

[Obamarama]

16. Nope, Martinez. You DON'T get to change your mind NOW.

What a two-faced political whore, out to save his own ass.

[calimary]

18. It's only because he feels the cold breath of imminent unemployment

wafting over the back of his neck. Making all those little hairs back there stand up.

So he's not only an extremist. He's a whore. Saying strictly what he thinks is needed to get reelected. DAMN, I hope the folks don't forget. I hope Michael Schiavo's book makes a LOT of noise. That'll be one more Senate seat...

[0007]

23. And the cold reality that his time coming to an end is effecting

that yellow condition located in his spine

[Solly Mack]

19. always sorry after the fact

nevermind all the damage caused during the fact - let's be sorry after the fact - and that just erases everything I suppose?

fuck that kind of thinking

[tanyev]

21. Changed his mind only because the stunt backfired.

Cry me a river, Mel.

[NYC Liberal]

22. Too fucking LATE!!

He's trying to have it both ways here -- supporting Congress getting involved when it mattered but then "changing his mind" before the election. Nice try :eyes:

[Liberal Veteran]

24. Maybe he should dig up her ashes and examine them?

Just to be sure....

Jeez....I fucking hate these fuckers.

[yorkiemommie1]

26. ooops

another GOP miscalculation.

how does that florida crow taste, mel?

[UTUSN]

27. Best Word: TOO FUCKING LATE ASSOHOLE WINGNUT n/t

[UTUSN]

28. I can't believe this thread has only ONE K&R n/t

[ninkasi]

29. Just in case Republicans forget...

their boy wonder Bush signed a bill while still governor of Texas, allowing indigent patients to be disconnected from life support in spite of their family's wishes, if they couldn't pay the bills. If they couldn't find a facility who would provide the care in spite of no finances, the patient could be removed from life support. It's not about a "culture of life" for these pricks, it's about money and political power.

[MiniMe]

30. Must be up for re-election n/t

[Fovea]

31. Headline: Senatorial career taken off respirator

pronounced brain dead.

[f-bush]

32. What a phony motherfucker..

the only reason he's backing off is because he figured out the politically he'd lose his ass with that original position.

[Andromeda]

33. Terri was used as a pawn of the religious right...

and the whole thing just ballooned way out of proportion. Something that was a private matter turned into a political fiasco and everybody was jumping on the bandwagon to make political points.

Disgusting.

The grieving family was not served very well when they listened to the advice of fundies instead of the doctors, or at least most of the doctors.

Too little, too late, Martinez.

[Kber]

35. Ya think he's up for re-election or something? nt

[sabra]

36. (Sen. Mel) Martinez regrets his role in Schiavo case

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13857775.htm

Martinez regrets his role in Schiavo case

TALLAHASSEE - (AP) -- Nearly a year after calling for federal involvement to keep a brain-damaged woman alive against her husband's wishes, Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez has said it was a mistake to become involved.

Martinez, who has just completed his first year in office, led the Senate charge pushing a bill that would have given federal courts jurisdiction to reinstate Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
''If I had to take one lesson away, it's perhaps decisions of this nature really belong in state courts, not federal courts,'' Martinez said in a taped interview for Political Connections that aired Sunday on Bay News 9 in the Tampa area.

''Perhaps this was not in the realm of federal concern. It may have been better left to state courts to deal with it,'' Martinez said.

[madaboutharry]

37. Hey Mel, You're a day late and

a dollar short with your self-serving bullshit.

[bballny]

38. Equal to

Mewt saying if he had to do it over he would fight in Vietnam

[SpecialK]

39. shut up, Mel

sorry, we Floridians aren't going to forget this as fast as you'd like.

yet another hypocritical rightwing asshole.

[mitchum]

40. He's just an OPPORTUNIST who is now tryng to adjust his position...

after he saw how the majority of the country felt about the issue.
A craven sonofabitch.

[DarienComp]

41. flippity floppity floo

[GetTheRightVote]

42. I called Mel and told him I would not forget come election day

I quess he is hearing those words ringing in his ears now, to late though he must go down like the rest of his party !!!!!!

:kick:

[phoebe]

43. William Greene of Rightmarch.com has vowed to fight Schiavo's PAC

every step of the way. He is busy defending Tom Delay and John Bolton as well as other issues..

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00062.htm