As Elisa Cramer writes in the
Palm Beach Post,
"Fifteen years after brain damage put Terri Schiavo in a persistent vegetative state, the Florida Department of Children and Families went to excruciating lengths to block the removal of a feeding tube that was sustaining her. Fifteen days after a toddler was beaten nearly to death despite DCF cataloging numerous alarming signs of abuse, the agency began seeking a Do-Not-Resuscitate order for her."
This girl, who has been renamed Marissa Amora by her new foster mother (from Moesha Sylencieux), was beaten and abused, either by her mother or her mother's boyfriend. She was observed to have an unexplained broken collarbone when she wnet into the hospital for removal of a spinal growth as a 2-year-old. Her mother spanked her and verbally abused her while visiting the hospital! The state's DCF ignored the pleas of doctors and nurses at the hospital to intervene. They placed her back in the home, where she was then beaten nearly to death, so that she was crippled and has to be fed through a stomach tube, and Governor Bush's people immediately began trying to save the state the expense of caring for her by obtaining a "Do not Resuscitate" order on her.
That was four years ago. Now she is *far* more responsive than Terri Schiavo ever was. But she is poor and black. She says her name is "Mo-mo." She is six, and she attends a school for speacial-needs kids. Jeb Bush and the DCF have been in court this week to try to keep from having to pay for her continued care, after the DCF's inaction caused her to need that care in the first place. Isn't that compassionate. What a culture of life! For these people life only appears to have value if the life is prenatal or well-publicized. Let's not even get into the racist aspects of this case. It's estimated that her care will take between $8 and $25 million over her lifetime.
Here's more from the Palm Beach Post article: "Like the toddler that doctors predict she mentally always will be, Mo-Mo cries "Bird!" when one flies by, shrugs when she says "all gone" and raises her arms high and round when "out comes the sun and dries up all the rain" for the Itsy-Bitsy Spider. She likes to scribble on paper and see an animated character jump when she presses buttons on a hand-held electronic game.
At 56 pounds, she wears a diaper, she cannot walk, and her brain does not tell her to swallow foods. So, she can handle Froot Loops, M&Ms and other melt-in-your-mouth treats but not meals."
The incredible hypocrisy of Jeb Bush's DCF is made clear in the following:
"When the agency sought to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case, a DCF spokeswoman told one newspaper: "We have a duty to protect the vulnerable and investigate allegations of abuse." President Bush urged "all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others." In January, Gov. Bush vowed his all to help keep Terri Schiavo breathing: "I will do whatever I can do within the powers that have been granted to me by law and by statute. I'll do whatever I can."
Why don't they care as much for Marissa?"
Good question. Very good question. Campaigning (already, although he himself did not say so, allowing Saxby Chambliss to suggest it instead) in Georgia at the Republican Convention on Saturday, May 7th (AP story), Jeb told a screaming, stamping, chanting crowd: "There is such a thing as right and wrong. Republicans cannot continue to win unless we talk with compassion and passion about absolute truth."
Yes, there it is, *talk* about *absolute truth* rather than take compassionate actions -- and although he seems willing to pay lip service to it for political purposes, Mr. Bush seems to be unwilling to incorporate *actual* compassion or to allow *actual* truth into his actual dealings as governor. So, what kind of President would Jeb Bush make? Boggles the imagination. Not a candidate that anyone other than a millionaire ought to be considering.
