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TERRI SCHINDLER AND THE REPUBLIC

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05/02/06 The matter of Terri Schindler/Schiavo unique? It gets worse in the matter of Haleigh Poutre, who, it seems everyone wants to kill except her stepfather who will otherwise be charged with murder if she dies. This is a totally degusting story. Find out the details by searching the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the Massachusetts Supreme Court and www.MichelleMalkin.com.

03/29/05 SUMMARY OF ITEMS TO DATE FROM LFMOWEB 236 LETTER 05-02 (READ FROM TOP DOWN)

02/xx/05 The court battle continues in Terri Schiavo's battle for life. We watch intently to see if there is a judge in Florida willing to order her murder. Stay tuned. www.terrisfight.org www.LifeNews.com JES

03/13/05 Returning to Terri Schiavo. There are those who wonder about Michael Schiavo and his stubborn refusal to surrender legal jurisdiction of his wife to her parents. Some have speculated that he is engaged in a principled defense of what he considers Terri's wish to not live under such circumstances, shared only between the two of them, without documentation. Perhaps, but I think a preponderance of hard evidence points in another direction. I suspect that Michael Schiavo's greatest fear in life is the possibility that Terri might not only continue to live, but that she might also recover sufficiently to tell her side of the story. I think those who wonder at his refusal to entertain huge bribes for his release of Terri are naive in their understanding of this whole case. The court battle continues in Terri Schiavo's battle for life. We watch intently to see if there is a judge in Florida willing to order her murder. I also think there may be constitutional grounds for Jeb Bush, as Governor, to step in and physically remove Terri from the jurisdiction of the court if, at the end, that is the only option left. That gets into another matter discussed elsewhere on this website, and perhaps weighs on Jeb's fitness for higher office. You see, the Mountain Observer does not accept the proposition that any Court necessarily has the final say. It goes back to 1803. Stay tuned. www.terrisfight.org www.LifeNews.com JES

03/17/05 I really like Antonin Scalia's distinction between Constitutional "orginialism" vs. Constitutional "strict construction"; both important and intelligent. JES

03/22/05 The Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta is now complicit in the Court ordered murder of Terri Schiavo. I do not expect the Supreme Court to touch it . Years of accumulated due process problems appear to be concluding with a defeat for American jurisprudence. However, in the Catholic understanding of these matters, Terri still wins, and her "husband", marital vows long since broken, will need to someday report in to Higher Authority. Meanwhile, the US Congress has lots of work to do. Stay tuned. www.terrisfight.org www.LifeNews.com

03/24/05 So it has come to pass that on this date the US Courts have thrown down the gauntlet with respect to their relationship with the Congress and the President, and incidentally ordering the death of Terri Schiavo in the process. The recent Schiavo legislation, passed by Congress and signed by the President, did not require or demand a specific result in the Schiavo case, but rather directed a review of matters of due process, with good cause, and incidentally implied the need to stabilize Schiavo's medical condition until such time as a proper review had been completed. There were, and are, compelling reasons for such a review, no doubt to be conducted now by private sector investigators.

There is not a general awareness yet of the historical significance of what is going on here. There are those who have thought my rhetoric in the Mission Statement for this website was a "bit over the top". Go read it again. The Mountain Observer has been right on target for years. I care not a wit about congratulations; I care about thoughtful Americans starting to get really thoughtful. I would suggest to you that this country is hurtling headlong toward a major rendezvous with destiny. The ghosts of 1803, and the Federal income tax, are hurtling straight at you. JES

03/27/05 Notice that in the matter of Terri Schiavo, most Democrats, prominently including Hillary Rodham, have run for the tall grass, neither to be seen or heard from. Situational ethics and moral relativism on display in full flower. You see, leadership and political opportunism don't mix. It is Easter, perhaps not without coincidence. The Pope is demonstrating dignity with his situation, as did the Lord, a lesson to which we should pay attention. We beg the Lord His mercy, and forgiveness, for Terri, the Pope, and for ourselves, as our Government casually murders an innocent and defenseless citizen. JES

03/29/05 In the Judeo-Christian understanding of truth, adultery is a serious offence, and with reason. With no evidence that Terri Schindler (Schiavo) was ever unfaithful to her "husband", and with her passing, her obligations discharged, sensibility suggests that henceforth we will know her as Terri Schindler. I would suggest that an understanding of what has happened here is not possible without a recognition of the fact that Michael Schiavo had an affair going on alongside the headlined events, including children out of wedlock (little bastards). My point is not salacious, but rather has to do with motives, and an understanding of the timeline of events, including the possibility of physical spousal abuse.

Perhaps I have missed something, or somehow have it wrong, but to quote myself from 03/13/05, "------ I suspect that Michael Schiavo's greatest fear in life is the possibility that Terri might not only continue to live, but that she might also recover sufficiently to tell her side of the story. I think those who wonder at his refusal to entertain huge bribes for his release of Terri are naive in their understanding of this whole case."---- . www.terrisfight.org www.LifeNews.com

This is not a case that is about to go away; there is the matter of government response, and responsibility. To further quote myself from 03/13/05, "-------I also think there may be constitutional grounds for Jeb Bush, as Governor, to step in and physically remove Terri from the jurisdiction of the court if, at the end, that is the only option left. That gets into another matter discussed elsewhere on this website, and perhaps weighs on Jeb's fitness for higher office. You see, the Mountain Observer does not accept the proposition that any Court necessarily has the final say. It goes back to 1803. Stay tuned. "----------.

So many issues have been opened for discussion, with implications relevant to the future of the country. So it is that I am opening a new web page to deal with the entire matter. JES

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03/30/05 MATERIAL THAT FOLLOWS FROM THIS POINT ON IS EXCLUSIVE TO THIS WEBPAGE (READ FROM TOP DOWN)

03/30/05 Breaking News. The Federal Circuit Court in Atlanta as an 11 member panel has reversed itself and agreed to review the Terri Schindler case as originally intended by the recently enacted federal legislation. The processing of an appeal to re-insert the feeding tube is on hyper-priority. JES

03/30/05 By RON WORD Mar 30, 4:11 PM (ET)
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - With time running out for Terri Schiavo, a federal appeals court Wednesday rejected her parents' latest attempt to get the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reconnected.

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to consider an emergency bid by Bob and Mary Schindler for a new hearing in their case, raising a flicker of hope for the parents after a series of setbacks in the case. But the court rejected the bid 15 hours later - the fourth time since last week the court ruled against the Schindlers.

"Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper," wrote Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., who was appointed by former President Bush. "While the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty."

Birch went on to scold President Bush and Congress for their attempts to intervene in the judicial process, by saying: "In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgment that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people - our Constitution."

So there you have it folks, 1803, fully matured, thrown right into your face. The Courts rule. This, my fellow Americans, is a Constitutional crisis, and each of us will have to determine on which side of the fence that we sit. May Terri's soul rest in peace, and God be merciful. JES

03/31/05 For those of you who may not be up to speed on the discussion, let me explain it this way. On the one hand, we have advocates of "strict construction" of the Constitution (Conservatives) or "orginialism" as Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia would more properly have it; on the other hand we have those who are advocates of a "living constitution", which is to say moldable by the Court according to the perceived needs of the moment and finding cover in the precedent of the most recent ruling by whatever Court ruled the same way (Liberal). So it is that Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr. of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals can state with a straight face that his Court's rulings in the Schindler/Schiavo case are "constitutional".

It is the contention of those who advocate "orginialist" interpretation, which includes the context of the times at the time of adoption, that the only Constitutional way to change the document in any way is through the amendment process described therein. Slavery did not end legally with the words of the Gettysburg Address, but rather with the adoption of the 13th Amendment. The three branches of government are co-equal, including responsibility for Constitutional fidelity. It is the responsibility of Congress to pass laws, as Constitutionally prescribed in the "orginialist" sense, and it is the responsibility of the Courts, as chartered by the Constitution, in the "orginialist" sense, and as chartered by Congress, in the "orginialist" sense, to rule on legal issues, in the "orginialist" sense, and not to make law from the bench. It was the 1803 ruling in Marbury vs. Madison, coupled with the failure of Congress at the time to take immediate corrective action, that has led over the years to the gradual unraveling of American law, and the Republic. (For more comments on this matter go to the Mountain Observer Mission Statement).

To settle in to the idea of a "living (rubber) constitution" is a set up for legal subversion of the Constitution itself from within, which, I submit, is exactly the intention of those so inclined. By substituting a high jacked authority to make law from the bench one can dispense with the need for the other two branches of government, except as convenient political cover for what is really going on. So Congress, and various Administrations, by abdicating their own Constitutional responsibilities in the equation to the Court, have, over a long period of time, allowed American jurisprudence to become politicized by abdicating power to the Courts that does not exist. What is unique about the current situation with the Schindler/Schiavo case is that the matter has fully matured before the cameras on a very personal issue to which most "ordinary" Americans can relate, and in an age when Old Media can no longer control the story. Yet to be overcome are the toxic effects of 30 years of academic subversion of education in the age of Secularist ascendancy, but there is evidence that the day's of Left Wing monopoly in this area may be in trouble. More later. JES

03/31/05 The Mountain Observer wants to recognize and thank the Rev. Jesse Jackson for stepping forward with his own show of support for Bob and Mary Schindler, whatever his motives. We must accept his initiative at face value, and of course, we find it interesting that to our knowledge, Jesse is the only prominent person on the Left who has stood up for what is right in this matter. JES

03/31/05 At 09:05 AM today Terri Schindler passed into the hands of the Lord, killed by the government, spearheaded by an arrogant Court system now with blood on their hands and the smell of fascism in the air. The implications of Roe vs. Wade move to a higher level. Who will be next? The Mountain Observer offers our most sincere regrets to Bob and Mary Schindler and their family. I believe, however, that this is not the end, but the beginning, of a journey by many to re-discover American purpose in the founding "orginialist" sense. That will be necessary if the Experiment is to survive. JES

04/15/05 Regarding an issue raised earlier (03/29/05) in this series of comments on the Terri Schindler case, we come back to the issue of Jeb Bush, and what he might have, or should done, in the face of the court decisions. To pursue the point to be made, it would be best to remove the personality of Governor Bush, and plug in generic state Governor ExecutiveTopGuy. In the predictable flood of analytical conservative commentary that will unfold on this matter, the Florida Court's many lapses in following Florida law, and lapses in due process, will rightfully be examined and dissected. Perhaps not so carefully examined will be the laws that empower Florida social services administration, and Governor ExecutiveTopGuy, who oversees these matters, as to constitutional authority and responsibility to intervene in certain situations exclusive of court decisions. What we have here is the legal trail of tears allowed to fester since 1803. (see 03/31/05 above, and go to Mountain Observer Mission Statement for more elaboration.) The hard unfortunate fact of the matter is that Governor ExecutiveTopGuy's real problem is politics, not in the pejorative sense, but in the very legitimate sense of the popular understanding of American government and its historical Constitutional basis by the public at large. The Mountain Observer would argue that Governor ExecutiveTopGuy would have been entirely within his proper authority to move in to rescue Terri. The public at large may or may not have endorsed such a challenge to the court's hi-jacked authority presumed to be final. So deeply embedded is this schism of understanding that, from a Conservative perspective, the Mountain Observer recognizes and respects the dilemma faced by Governor ExecutiveTopGuy, and a decision not to act. There are times when the damage caused by strict adherence to a correct moral principle can be counter-productive to the longer term repair of the fundamental legal, and political, problem lurking beneath the surface, a fact of life painful to Conservatives, and a reminder to Christians of the fact of inescapable worldly sinfulness; may God have mercy on us all. We all took Terri's life. In this World, it continues to be the responsibility of Conservatives to purse fundamental correction and repair of the American Constitutional condition back to the wisdom of it's Founding. JES

08/09/05 On 06/15/05 an autopsy report was released by Jon Thogmartin, medical examiner for Florida's District Six, which includes Pasco and Pinellas counties. It said two things of apparent significance: a). That Terri had suffered permanent brain damage, b). That there was no evidence of trauma on the occasion of the original injury.

The popular (secular) press went into immediate spin mode. The report's conclusion that Terri had suffered permanent brain damage was immediately translated into a conclusion that Terri was in a "permanent vegetative state", clinically, and legally, I believe, two entirely separate issues. But to even go this far is to concede the premise of the Examiner that the brain damage was permanent. Perhaps it was according to current scientific understanding, however our understanding is not always perfect. Miracles aside, the conclusion of "permanent brain damage" is not a diagnosis of death. Terri was alive, and responsive.

To conclude that there was no evidence of trauma on the occasion of the original injury means that she was not struck on the head with a hammer. It does not clear her "husband" of allegations of abuse, only that such allegations have no legally sustainable physical medical basis. It is not necessary here to itemize the issues against him in this regard, thoroughly developed elsewhere.

The United States Congress, the President, and all those who rose to the defense of Terri Schindler's properly presumed right to life are to be commended, and can continue knowing that a Higher Authority will sort it out. Meanwhile, we have the task before us of fixing a Court that will order the murder of an innocent citizen. JES

FMOWEB 140-006 TERRI SCHINDLER AND THE REPUBLIC