But, Fund notes, many of the same liberals don't believe the federal government should interfere in Terri's case. They now say state judge George Greer's decision in this case should stand - he has ruled Terri Schiavo's feeding tube should stay removed, effectively sentencing her to death - though a state judge in Elian's case had ruled the boy should remain with his relatives in Miami.

"In both cases, those who were unhappy with the courts' decisions strained to assert the federal government's power to produce a different outcome," Fund writes. "The difference is, in Mrs. Schiavo's case, Congress backed off after passing a bill that merely asked a federal court to hear the case from scratch," something that the judge who got the case, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore, "declined to do."

"By contrast," Fund continued, "those who wanted the federal government to intervene in Elian Gonzalez's case went all the way, supporting a predawn armed federal raid on the morning before Easter to seize the [boy] despite a federal appeals court's refusal to order his surrender."

Elian was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard on Thanksgiving Day 1999, off the coast of Florida. His mother had died trying to bring him to the United States but somehow he survived.

Fund says before his case gained international attention, and before Cuban leader Fidel Castro "demanded his return," the boy was granted "parole" by the INS, which allowed him to stay in the country for a year "until his status was determined."

Fund notes that, on Dec. 1, 1999, "the INS issued a statement saying, 'Although the INS has no role in the family custody decision process, we have discussed the case with the State of Florida officials who have confirmed that the issue of legal custody must be decided by its state court."

Later, however, after getting pressure from Castro, the Clinton administration's INS reversed its decision, saying it was mistaken and that state courts could not decide Elian's fate.

In the end, the INS raided the family's home, snatched the boy at gunpoint, and shipped him back to Cuba before he could attend an asylum hearing. This came after Judge Rosa Rodriguez of Florida Family Court ruled in January 2000 "that her court had jurisdiction over [Elian] and gave [his] great uncle legal authority to represent him," Fund wrote. "Her order contravened an INS ruling that only Elian's father could speak for the boy and that he should be immediately returned to Cuba."

Attorney General Janet Reno immediately said Rodriguez's ruling had "no force or effect," even while telling reporters the government would never take Elian by force of arms.

Shortly before the raid, on April 20, 2000, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta – the very same court that has repeatedly rejected arguments by Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to allow their daughter to be fed while she underwent further examinations and tests – ruled against the Justice Department's demand "to order Elian removed from the home of his Miami relatives," said Fund.

The court's rulings – indeed, the rule of law – didn't much matter to the Clinton regime, however. It ordered INS agents to take Elian anyway, the state judge's order be darned.

Regarding Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's refusal to heed urgent requests that he take similar action, he has vowed not to do so. "I've consistently said that I can't go beyond what my powers are, and I'm not going to do it," he said, even though he sympathizes with the Schindlers and wants to save Terri.

"Janet Reno and the Clinton administration showed no such restraint when it came to Elian Gonzalez," Fund notes.

Editor's note: