The Miami Herald reports that last week agents of the Florida Department of Children and Families were enroute to Terri Schiavo’s bedside in the escort of agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a state agency analogous to the FBI. According to the Herald the entourage turned back when Pinellas Park officials made it known that the local police, backed by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputies would repel the invading state agencies. The shorthand of it is that the local cops threatened a shoot out, if it came to that, with state police. Like Judge Greer local officials there are strangely determined, and – to put it mildly – overly enthusiastic about making sure that Terri be killed.

This storm has been brewing since Chief Justice John Marshall’s 1803 constitutional power-grab in Marbury v. Madison. I say “power grab” because that case established what on its face appears to be a reasonable notion; that the Supreme Court has the power to declare the actions of another branch to be outside the boundaries of that branch's constitutional powers. The problem is that to have that power Justice Marshall had to himself leave his own constitutional corral. The Men in Black haven’t been back to the reservation since.

The Judicial branch has since taken it upon itself to evolve into a de facto dictatorship. In California the usurping of the legislative and executive branches and the direct actions of the people by popular and proper constitutional vote has become routine. In just recent history the Men in Black have: thrown out the state definition of “marriage”, written into law by both legislative action and via referendum. At the moment there is no law barring you from marrying your dog, a dozen other people or the tree in your yard. They have attempted to, and may still yet remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Likewise they declared that the collective will of the people to deny taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens be voided. Daily one may read of the latest outrage – a child molester freed, a killer sprung, a charge thrown out – at the hands of an activist judge here or there. No one offense by the courts however is enough to spark the coming constitutional revolution.

To be sure, sloppy attempts have been made to halt the stampede through the swinging barn door. President Andrew Jackson who, upon hearing that the John Marshall's Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation in a suit against oppressive Georgia State Law said, according to American mythology: “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” In fact he wrote: “the decision of the supreme court has fell still born, and they find that it cannot coerce George to yield to its mandate. ” [sic], but in any event he later defied the intent of the court and sent Federal troops in to evict the Cherokees from their land and set them off onto the Trail of Tears. For our purposes we shall ignore that whole Trail of Tears part, and the other point left out of that story in the history books – namely that gold had been discovered on Cherokee land. The thievery and genocide that Mr. Jackson thus contributed to may be the chief reason why it was 101 years before a president would try to reign in the courts again.

It was 1937 and FDR was next up in the batter’s box. Frustrated by an activist court striking down his activist agenda the popular president attempted to force a retirement age of 70 upon the court, while adding 6 additional justices. This would allow him to force from the bench his 75-year old nemesis Justice James McReynolds while packing the court with friendly appointees. The idea was made into minced meat in congress and abandoned.

Now Florida Governor Jeb Bush finds himself in the position occupied by both Jackson and Roosevelt. The difference is that this time the man has the moral ground upon which to stand. The dispute is not about stealing from indigenous peoples or packing courts. It is about the court claiming the right to order the killing of helpless innocents for the crime of being sick.

One of my KFBK callers put it brilliantly the other night. He said that “Just a few years ago Dr. Kevorkian had us debating the right to die. Now we find ourselves fighting for our right to live.” The courts have grown so bold as to now claim for themselves the position of sole arbitrator over the formerly inalienable, God-given right for each of us to live. Judge Greer has so far declared himself above and immune to the will of the people as expressed by the executive; and the powers of the legislative, and established federal powers by brushing aside a lawfully issued congressional subpoena.

Governor Bush needs to reassert the power of the exectutive and legislative branches, and of the people to whom our government is subservient. To do this he must sign a piece of paper effectively telling Judge Greer to “go to hell” and send in whatever force is necessary to brush aside the small town cops standing between Terri Schiavo and life. The precident is well established: Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne into Little Rock in 1957 to brush aside the Arkansas National Guard which was blocking 9 black students from school, and President Kennedy's Federalization of the Mississippi Guard at Oxford and their use against local and state authorities to reaffirm federal authority over state authority on behalf of James Meredith, for just two examples. Similar action on the part of a governor would differ only in scale but serve the same constitutional end...namely, taking an important step in placing the court back into its box.

Mr. Bush needs to fire the first figurative (God, let’s hope not actual) shot that will take this brewing constitutional cold war hot and end with the restoration of the balance of powers intended by the Founders. Mr. Bush has the moral ground, and the obligation to history. Does he have the courage to act, or is he destined to become an illustration for good men standing idle as evil triumphs is the question.

We will know the answer in perhaps hours.


Listen to 1530 AM KFBK weeknights from 7-10 PM for details on how you may join in me banging pots and pans for immigration reform in the very belly of the beast, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. this April 23-28!

Mark Williams is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, and Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. His work appears in this publication, on Fox News Channel and nightly on Sacramento’s 1530 AM KFBK radio. For more on Mark and his background visit his web site.