What ever happened to "death with dignity?"
I love Nietzsche: "Morality is the best of all devices for leading mankind by the nose."
Today the Supreme Court voted NOT to hear yet another appeal of Terri Schiavo's right to die - I'm sure she thought that if it happened, it would be done with dignity. But the Republicans (nah, that's not true. Five house GOP'ers objected)sensing another opportunity to demonize anyone who doesn't think like them, leaped on poor Ms. Schiavo like a pack of ravenous dogs that they are.
As Herr Karl Rove would say: keep the message simple. And so it was: we will do whatever we have to do to preserve this woman's life. Life, hardly.
But, oops, something ran afoul in their attempt to claim the high moral ground. A CBS News poll yesterday found that 82 percent of the public was opposed to Congress and the president intervening in this case. And get this: 74 percent thought it was all about politics.
The president, who couldn't be dragged outdoors to talk about the more than a hundred thousand people who died in the horrific tsunami, was willing to be dragged out of bed to sign a bill about one woman his base had fixated on. As George, who never ordered an execution that he didn't like, said, "we err on the side of life." But with the new polls, the White House seemed to shrink back a bit. May they erred.
If you are looking for someone to really blame, start with Tom DeLay. Bill Frist is a close second. Mr. DeLay, the poster child for ethical abuse, wanted to show that he is still a favorite of conservatives. Dr. Frist rediagnosed Ms. Schiavo's condition by video. Now that is a doctor I would select if I had a small problem. He could even give you a diagnosis out on the golf course or at home with plasma screen.
Bottomline, Republicans easily abandoned their cherished principles of individual privacy and states' rights when their personal ambitions came into play. You almost always can predict that they will do so. But what saddens me is the incredible numbers of Democrats who slunk away and did nothing in this whole sorry matter. With the Constitution being thrown around like some discared kleenex, Hillary was missing in action, as were most other Democrats.
Today the Supreme Court voted NOT to hear yet another appeal of Terri Schiavo's right to die - I'm sure she thought that if it happened, it would be done with dignity. But the Republicans (nah, that's not true. Five house GOP'ers objected)sensing another opportunity to demonize anyone who doesn't think like them, leaped on poor Ms. Schiavo like a pack of ravenous dogs that they are.
As Herr Karl Rove would say: keep the message simple. And so it was: we will do whatever we have to do to preserve this woman's life. Life, hardly.
But, oops, something ran afoul in their attempt to claim the high moral ground. A CBS News poll yesterday found that 82 percent of the public was opposed to Congress and the president intervening in this case. And get this: 74 percent thought it was all about politics.
The president, who couldn't be dragged outdoors to talk about the more than a hundred thousand people who died in the horrific tsunami, was willing to be dragged out of bed to sign a bill about one woman his base had fixated on. As George, who never ordered an execution that he didn't like, said, "we err on the side of life." But with the new polls, the White House seemed to shrink back a bit. May they erred.
If you are looking for someone to really blame, start with Tom DeLay. Bill Frist is a close second. Mr. DeLay, the poster child for ethical abuse, wanted to show that he is still a favorite of conservatives. Dr. Frist rediagnosed Ms. Schiavo's condition by video. Now that is a doctor I would select if I had a small problem. He could even give you a diagnosis out on the golf course or at home with plasma screen.
Bottomline, Republicans easily abandoned their cherished principles of individual privacy and states' rights when their personal ambitions came into play. You almost always can predict that they will do so. But what saddens me is the incredible numbers of Democrats who slunk away and did nothing in this whole sorry matter. With the Constitution being thrown around like some discared kleenex, Hillary was missing in action, as were most other Democrats.
posted by Robert | 1:39 PM
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