Rarely has any politician shot straighter than this. If there is any man with whom we should entrust the future of our country, this is him.

——————-

The New York Times
Editorial/Op-Ed

Schiavo’s Life and Death
Published: June 18, 2005

To the Editor:

The New York Times’s grotesque and chilling disrespect for the sanctity of life has never been more apparent than in your June 16 editorial “Autopsy on the Schiavo Tragedy.”

Terri Schiavo was a deeply loved daughter, wife, sister and friend. The fact that her brain was atrophied or that she was blind or could not have been rehabilitated doesn’t change that fact.

While many medical professionals said she was in a persistent vegetative state, still other highly respected neurologists said there was a chance that she was not.

In cases where patients do not have an expressed written directive regarding end-of-life decisions and where the patient’s guardian has a conflict of interest, it only makes sense to err on the side of life.

Terri’s life and her death remind us all that life is fragile and must be valued.

Despite claims of cynicism and being “agenda-driven,” we will continue to strive to protect our most vulnerable citizens. All innocent human life is precious, and government has a duty to protect the weak, the disabled and the vulnerable.

Jeb Bush
Governor
Tallahassee, Fla., June 17, 2005

Congratulations are in order, specifically to the newly elected officers of the Florida Chapter of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA-FL). Elected by the state’s convention this weekend in Jupiter, they are:

John Parsons - President
Tom Gaitens - 1st Vice President
Patty McClure - 2nd Vice President
David Wood - 3rd Vice President
Jeanne Karr - Secretary
John Hallman - Treasurer
——
Robert S. Dlouhy - National Committeeman
Sherri R. Martin - National Committeewoman

The convention featured an address by Richard Engle, the NFRA’s national president, and had an excellent cross-section of Florida conservatives, including representatives from Vanguard PAC, FreedomWorks, the Christian Coalition, the NRA, Eagle Forum, various right to life groups and virtually any other major conservative outfit you could name.

That sort of coalition-building is what sets the NFRA apart, and ultimately reflects the point of the Republican Assembly movement: to make sure that the ideals of conservatism — overwhelmingly the dominant viewpoint of Republicans across the nation — are consistently the ideals of the Republican Party, both in its nominated candidates and in its party officers. From their roots in California in the 1930s, RAs have had an enormous impact leading the party in just that direction, and Ronald Reagan himself said that he could not have won any of his elections without the work of his own state RA in California.

Florida is a wonderful state, and the progress of Republicans here has been tremendous. Yet there’s always more to do, and growth frequently brings unfortunate, needless compromises. I think we can all look to the NFRA Florida Chapter as proof that the Party will be on the right track for years to come, emphasizing activism, holding to its roots and expanding its base, not merely to win public office but to positively change public policy. It will certainly have some excellent people helping it reach those goals.

Doug Kern is a great writer over at TechCentralStation, and this piece is a good example of why. A fairy tale demonstrating the foolishness of combining Political Correctness with the War on Terror (as the attacks on Gitmo are so mightily attempting to do).

http://remotefarm.techcentralstation.com/061005A.html