Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Where Do I Pick Up My Death-Soldier Uniform?

GOP memo says issue offers political rewards
The one-page memo, distributed to Republican senators by party leaders, called the debate over Schiavo legislation "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base, or core, supporters. The memo singled out Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who is up for re-election next year.

"This is an important moral issue, and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue," said the memo, reported by ABC News and later given to The Washington Post. "This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a co-sponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats."

What, you mean that emergency Federal "law" to take over jurisdiction over Terri Schiavo may have been motivated by politics more than concern for her life? Boy, I never would have guessed...

David Limbaugh really ought to be more careful before saying things like "Could it be that something besides Terri's wishes motivates many of the death-soldiers, such as an allegiance to the culture of death, or some abject, inhumane resentment that we spend so much money keeping severely disabled people alive?" Especially when it makes it so easy for people to point out that in (among other places) Texas, hospitals can unilaterally refuse to continue futile treatment even against the family's wishes, under a law "partially written by pro-life organizations and signed into law by Governor George W. Bush."

Actually, that whole David Limbaugh piece is pretty sleazy, if you ask me. He keeps talking about "If, in fact, Terri Schiavo wants to live", and "If Terri truly wants to live", and "consider that this woman truly wants to live", and "may truly want to live", and "won't even momentarily consider that Terri wants to live".

Momentarily consider? As noted at this legal info page, "Terri's situation has arguably received more judicial attention, more medical attention, more executive attention, and more "due process," than any other guardianship case in history." What's going on is the result of decisions by a trial court, the 2nd District Court of Appeals, the Florida Supreme Court, another different trial court, the 2nd District again, the Florida Supreme Court again, and on, and on, and on: On that info page's timeline, I count 34 published court decisions, legislative actions, and orders pertaining to the case. Every single time a court has been asked to make the decision, they have decided that Terri doesn't want to live. So all that "if Terri truly wants to live" rhetoric is just so much irrelevant crap. She doesn't, and no amount of repeating it will make it so.

No comments: