THE WAIT CONTINUES...

Last evening Bob and Mary Schindler, the parents of Terri Schiavo, got a hearing before Federal District Judge James D. Whittemore. The hearing lasted almost four hours, unusually long, and we're still waiting for a decision.

Judge Whittemore had to remind attorneys to avoid the emotional aspects of the case and stick to legal arguments. The St. Petersburg Times reports:

When (Schindler's attorney David) Gibbs began to describe the actions of Michael Schiavo as "murder," Whittemore angrily cut him off.

"That's the emotional aspect of this case," the judge said, "and the rhetoric that does not influence this court. We have to follow the rule of law and that's what will be applied."

The judge told those in the courtroom that he would remain in the courthouse "...for as long as necessary.", that he would not leave before writing an order.

Reporters and attorneys were herded from the downtown Tampa courthouse after security officials became concerned about a backpack left near the building. The bomb squad eventually blew it up.

People such as Alan Keyes and Patrick Buchanan who had been hoping Jeb! to pull a George Wallace/Ross Barnett act of defial and call out the FDLE will likely be disappointed. Talking to reporters Thursday, the governor said:

"(My powers) are not as expansive as people would want them to be," Bush said Thursday. "I've consistently said that I can't go beyond what my powers are, and I'm not going to do it."

Jeb! is not stupid. He may have a lack of good judgement much of the time, but he knows that such a move to openly defy a court order would mean his likely impeachment, and the end of his political career.

My guess is that attorneys for the Schindlers probably have a number of motions on hand that, in an act of desperation, they can file with the court once the previous one had been denied. It's like throwing something at the wall, hoping that someway, somehow, something will stick.

The time to end this has come...