I'm not sure if Florida is a full-fledged banana republic yet, but Mark Silva at the Orlando Sentinel is certainly dishing out the flattery as if Jeb Bush is wearing epaulets:

TALLAHASSEE -- Personal conviction rather than political gain is the driving force behind Gov. Jeb Bush's rapid intervention in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed.

The Republican governor, a convert to Catholicism, arrived in Tallahassee with deeply held "core values" about the sanctity of life in cases such as these. Bush has never shied from trying to mold public policy based on his personal convictions.

But the conservative governor has been strait-jacketed by state Supreme Court rulings limiting his ability to act on the right-to-life issues that fire up the Republican Party's most active base.

The court has ruled repeatedly that the state Constitution specifically protects the privacy rights of all Floridians. That has meant abortion rights for women and the right to die for terminally ill patients.

So the governor must wait until opportunities present themselves. When they do, he pounces, making clear his conservative credentials in the process....

Sorry -- my gag reflex prevents me from quoting the rest. This isn't journalism -- it's the first fundraising mailer for the President Jeb in '08 Committee.