Hyerdahl wrote:

> Dustbin wrote:
>
>>Hyerdahl wrote:
>>
>>>In Texas, Critics Question Bush's 'Culture of Life'
>>>By Jeff Franks, Reuters
>>>
>>>HOUSTON (March 22) - President Bush's intervention for Terry
>
> Schiavo
>
>>>has opened old wounds in Texas, where death penalty opponents say
>
> his
>
>>>words of support for a "culture of life" ring hollow
after so many
>>>executions during his time as governor of the state.
>>>
>>>Bush said he stepped into the Schiavo case because the United
>
> States
>
>>>should have "a presumption in favor of life," but
there were 152
>>>executions in Texas during his administration, including some in
>
> which
>
>>>the convict's guilt was in doubt, critics said.
>>>
>>>"It's hypocrisy at a thousand levels," said
University of Houston
>
> law
>
>>>professor and death penalty defense attorney David Dow.
>>>
>>>"I saw many, many cases where there was substantial doubt about
>
> whether
>
>>>someone was guilty or whether the death penalty was the appropriate
>>>sentence, but he never said anything," said David Atwood, head of
>
> the
>
>>>Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "I really can't say he
>
> cares
>
>>>about life."
>>>
>>>"We all recognize there is a difference between an innocent person
>
> and
>
>>>someone who has committed a heinous crime, but to say one life is
>>>important and one isn't, that's politics," Atwood said.
>>>
>>>Bush has defended the high number of executions by saying he was
>>>confident everyone put to death in Texas was guilty because they
>
> had
>
>>>had a fair hearing in the courts he believed capital punishment was
>
> a
>
>>>deterrent to crime.
>>>
>>>He interrupted a Texas vacation and flew to Washington to sign an
>>>emergency law passed by Congress on Monday that forced a review of
>
> the
>
>>>Schiavo case in federal court.
>>>
>>>Schiavo, 41, has been in a vegetative state since a heart attack in
>>>1990. Last week, a Florida court, at her husband's request, ordered
>
> the
>
>>>removal of the feeding tube keeping her alive, but her parents
>
> argued
>
>>>it should stay in place.
>>>
>>>"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and
>>>substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should
>
> have a
>
>>>presumption in favor of life," said Bush, who has spoken often of
>>>creating a "culture of life" by limiting such things
as abortion
>
> and
>
>>>stem cell research.
>>>
>>>Death penalty opponents said Bush did not give the same presumption
>
> to
>
>>>death row inmates in Texas, where he used his power to grant an
>>>execution stay only once while governor from 1995 to 2000.
>>>
>>>In 2000, the state set a U.S. record with 40 executions, including
>
> that
>
>>>of Gary Graham, whose guilt was hotly contested and became an
>>>international controversy.
>>>
>>>"In the face of pretty substantial evidence that Gary Graham was
>
> not a
>
>>>murderer, George Bush didn't say anything about a 'culture of
>
> life,"'
>
>>>Dow said.
>>>
>>>Legal experts say Bush has not been totally consistent on the
>>>"right-to-die" issue because in 1999 he signed a
Texas law similar
>
> to
>
>>>the Florida law under which a judge ordered the removal of
>
> Schiavo's
>
>>>feeding tube.
>>>
>>>The Texas law allows for life support to be stopped under certain
>>>circumstances at the request of a family member or other
>
> appropriate
>
>>>surrogate.
>>>
>>>"If this case had been in Texas the same thing would have happened
>
> as
>
>>>happened in Florida," said John Robertson, professor at the
>
> University
>
>>>of Texas law school and author of a book on bioethics called "The
>>>Rights of the Critically Ill."
>>>
>>>But, he said, Bush's support of the emergency bill for Schiavo was
>
> not
>
>>>"a direct contradiction" of the Texas law.
>>>
>>>"He's saying he thought it was good enough from the state's
>
> perspective
>
>>>at the time, and now he's saying there may be cases that might need
>
> a
>
>>>second look," he said.
>>>
>>>Diane Clemens, head of the Houston-based Justice for All victims'
>>>rights group, said death penalty opponents were not making
>
> legitimate
>
>>>comparisons.
>>>
>>>"This woman is an innocent, brain-damaged individual who has harmed
>
> no
>
>>>one. Killers are convicted murderers who have harmed many people.
>
> They
>
>>>have had a fair process," she said.
>>>
>>>"They have had the very process these people would try and deny
>
> Schiavo
>
>>>-- and that is a request for life at the federal level, in the
>
> federal
>
>>>courts."
>>>
>>>On Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the
>
> president's
>
>>>decision was based on principle, not politics.
>>>
>>>"It (Schiavo case) is a complex case, where serious questions and
>>>significant doubts have been raised," he said. "And
the president
>
> is
>
>>>always going to stand on the side of defending life."
>>>
>>
>>Really! Read a few psychology books. You expect
>>this kind of crap from a fascist authoritarian
>>personality type.
>>
>>It is just typical of the kind of personality
>>strcture that *found itself* rather late after
>>some degree of failure. In bush's case repeated
>>failures in business leading to drunkeness etc.
>>
>>Like the reformed smoker who goes around tellimg
>>everyone else what a disgusting habit it is and
>>that they should stop; the reformed religious
>>zealot similarly goes around ramming thier new
>>found wisdom down everyone else's throat.
>>
>>Typically the authoritarian personality is
>>incapable of seeing other's point of view and
>>remains utterly convinced that his/her view of
>>life the universe and everything is
>>unquestionable. We see this in bush all the
>>time. Most typically it is exampled by his
>>mission to free & democratise the world when any
>>amerikan with their eyes open can see that the
>>US is neither democratic nor free.
>
>
> Well, as the saying goes:  "George Bush, fighting religious
> fundamentalism abroad, while embracing it at home".  :-)
>
Absolutely. Classic fascist autjoritarian
personality type. He doesn't see the illogic of it.

The authoritarian is convinced that his way is
right and the whole world would be at peace with
itself if only..... etc., etc.

D.
>
>>D.
>>
>>
>>
>>>03/22/05 18:32 ET
>>>
>>>Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication
>
> or
>
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>>>Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in
>>>content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active
>>>hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
>>>
>
>


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