Sunday, April 03, 2005
Terri Schiavo, Karol Wojtyla, RIP
Our long national nightmare is over, and the kids in the elementary school next to Terri Schiavo's hospice can go back to class now. It took about twelve years longer than it should, partly because her parents couldn't let go, and partially because they were hijacked by the national right-to-life movement and their associated political maggots from Tallahassee to Washington. The Florida Legislature passed a law they knew full well to be unconstitutional; they did it to appease Bible-thumpers who might have put them out of office otherwise. Republicans in Congress passed a similarly dubious law, to get federal judges involved. Ironic, isn't it, that the party which bemoans judicial activism did everything they could to find a judge that agreed with them? President Bush didn't budge off his ranch when a tsunami killed 175,000 people, but he dutifully trotted back to D.C. to sign this piece of legislative dog-squeeze. Don't even get me started on Tom DeLay. This sniveling little bastard had no trouble pulling the plug on his own father, but was willing to do anything to prolong the biological functions of a woman whose brain had long since turned to tapioca. Now, he wants to "investigate the judiciary," as if the Constitution granted him such sweeping powers.
No matter what side of the argument you find more compelling, ask yourself this: would you have ever heard of Terri Schiavo if her eyes weren't open? If the answer is negative, then you know what I know, which is that emotion has overwhelmed reason once again in our national discourse, which happens with depressing regularity. I don't pretend to know the truth of this woman's wishes, but I do know what she didn't want: to be shown on TV lolling about her bed, used as a tool by people who claim that every life is precious, but who aren't above shooting a doctor or bombing the occasional clinic.
A few days later, Pope John Paul II, who did more good in this world than Tom DeLay, Randall Terry, and the Bush family combined, was allowed to pass away with the quiet grace and dignity which characterized his life. Would that we had allowed Terri Schiavo that privilege.
No matter what side of the argument you find more compelling, ask yourself this: would you have ever heard of Terri Schiavo if her eyes weren't open? If the answer is negative, then you know what I know, which is that emotion has overwhelmed reason once again in our national discourse, which happens with depressing regularity. I don't pretend to know the truth of this woman's wishes, but I do know what she didn't want: to be shown on TV lolling about her bed, used as a tool by people who claim that every life is precious, but who aren't above shooting a doctor or bombing the occasional clinic.
A few days later, Pope John Paul II, who did more good in this world than Tom DeLay, Randall Terry, and the Bush family combined, was allowed to pass away with the quiet grace and dignity which characterized his life. Would that we had allowed Terri Schiavo that privilege.
