The topic of Terri Schiavo came up (briefly) during one of yesterday's debates. Here's how the P-G
reported it:
In response to the first question from one of the KYW panelists, Mr. Santorum said he had no second thoughts about his decision to visit the family of Terri Schiavo, the late Florida woman whose feeding tube was disconnected after a legal battle in which Congress stepped in to give special jurisdiction to the federal courts in an issue that had been under a state review.
"I went there to pray with the family ... and I'm not ashamed of having done that," Mr. Santorum said, noting that Ms. Schiavo's parents were his Pennsylvania constituents.
And
John McIntire:
9:04 A.M. Tricky Ricky is still trying to justify exploiting the Terry Schiavo issue... and that is freaking hysterical. I think Rick will make the best darn lobbyist money can buy. He said she was in a "questionable vegetative state." Thank you Dr. Santorum.
But let's remember what we here at 2PJ wrote way
back when. Rick Santorum, while he did cancel one public event "out of respect" for the Schiavo family, made it to a fundraiser that netted him a cool quarter million dollars while he was down there. As Salon.com wrote
at the time:
Despite the fact that the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case didn't prove to be the political gold mine some members of the GOP thought it would be, Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is laughing all the way to the bank. After scoring some free publicity outside Schiavo's Pinellas Park, Fla., hospice last month, Santorum distanced himself from the issue, saying on March 31 that he didn't know "how anyone can believe that this is a political winner, if you look at any of the polls," and that he was actually in Florida for "other meetings."
It turns out that those "other meetings" were fundraising events for the senator's '06 reelection bid, hosted by such notables as Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and executives from Revlon and Outback Steakhouse. According to Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer, Santorum made the trip to Florida expressly for fundraising; his finance director Rob Bickhart said the trip netted the campaign about $250,000.
Schiavo's death did put a small dent in Santorum's schedule at the time -- the Inquirer noted that he was slated to speak at a town hall meeting in Tampa to promote President Bush's proposed Social Security plan, but that it was cancelled "out of respect" for Schiavo's family. But with the death watch in full swing, when it came to Santorum's raking in the campaign contributions, apparently it was business as usual.
Rick Santorum - Business as usual.
4 comments:
Can you tell me what the question was from the one KYW panelist which Santorum brought up Terry Schiavo? It might help to know what the question was. All it says is in the PG article you quoted is this:
"In response to the first question from one of the KYW panelists..."
What was the question?
I also find it funny that Casey says he's against gay marriage but he's also against a constitutional amendment banning it. Man, that sounds a heck of a lot like "talking out of both sides of one's mouth" doesn't it? What is his true stance? Why doesn't he want anyone to know, based on his double sided answers?
Furthermore, both candidates have not really discussed the REAL issues. Sounds more like both candidates were in a "mine is bigger than yours" shouting match than anything else.
Why doesn't someone ask them what their stance is on the real issues such as the war on terror, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, not to mention what ever happened to the Republicans in favor of the flat tax which would allow every hard working American the ability to keep all of his/her money in his/her paycheck?
Apparently the real issues to both candidates are those issues that they think the American people care about. It was almost like watching a Jerry Springer episode. What a shame.
I don't disagree with your point about debates focusing on "real issues," but if you would quote the whole sentence, I think you can figure out what the question was. The sentence read:
"In response to the first question from one of the KYW panelists, Mr. Santorum said he had no second thoughts about his decision to visit the family of Terri Schiavo, the late Florida woman ..."
I presume that means the question was: Do you regret or have you had second thoughts about going to Florida during the Terry Schiavo debacle?
As for real issues, gay marriage hardly qualifies. When there are no longer 47 million people without health insurance, thousands of soldiers dying in Iraq, personal debt skyrocketing, civil liberties being eviscerated, and about 50 other issues that affect U.S. citizens in far more concrete ways than whether two men or women want to legally exchange rings and smash cake in their faces, maybe it will qualify (although probably not).
You sort of sound like a troll to me.
One more thing for democrats-lie (which makes me realize how dumb my troll comment was - clearly you are one): the federal government intervening in family issues like they did in the Schiavo case is not only a "real" issue, it's a HUGE issue. Oh, that's right, Republicans only believe in small government and states' rights when it suits their political needs.
8:09 am - isn't that during work hours? Is CMU paying Braden to read internet blogs and spew his trolly wierdness just so everyone can have a good laugh?
I don't think CMU should be paying for this even though Brado is quite the giant loser to LOL at!!!
Can someone please monitor what this jerk is doing while he's on the clock?
Anon #2
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