His Orval Faubus Moment....

I'm so glad it is march madness season. Otherwise, I'd be getting myself worked up over Jeb Bush's complete and utter lack of respect for, among other things, the sanctity of marriage and the federal Constitution. Jeb, like Orval Faubus, Bull Connor and George Wallace, tried to use state law enforcement to disobey the orders of the federal courts. His use of the Schiavo case for political grandstanding is sickening.

Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo wasn't to be removed from her hospice, a team of Florida law enforcement agents were en route to seize her and have her feeding tube reinserted - but they stopped short when local police told them they would enforce the judge's order, The Miami Herald has learned. Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding. For a brief period, local police, who have officers around the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called a showdown. In the end, the state agents and the Department of Children and Families backed down, apparently concerned about confronting local police outside the hospice.

What's worse, Jeb's irresponsible actions not only ignored the federal decisions in the case, but also the state courts' decisions with respect to the right of a husband to exercise authority over medical decisions for his wife. Luckily, cooler heads have prevailed and the Florida Stasi decided not to violate federal and state law to "seize" Ms. Schiavo. One issue that this incident raises is whether, in an extreme situation, W would order federal assets to enforce the orders of the federal courts. That the answer to this is not obviously yes is troubling to me.