It really sickens me that the GOP – especially Tom DeLay, who knows this is a good sideshow to divert attention from the investigations into his many ethical lapses – are thrusting themselves into the affairs of the Schiavo family. Frankly, this isn’t something that should be elevated (brought down to?) to the political realm: Tom DeLay has no say in whether Mrs. Schiavo lives or dies.
So it’s all the more disgusting to learn that the GOP really is just grandstanding to energize their base. These heartless people don’t care about Schiavo at all. Digby’s Blog runs down the fairly long list of ways in which the GOP and Bush have made it easier for someone on life support to be disconnected from it:
By now most people who read liberal blogs are aware that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that expressly gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient’s family’s wishes. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Under this law, a baby was removed from life support against his mother’s wishes in Texas just this week. A 68 year old man was given a temporary reprieve by the Texas courts just yesterday.
Those of us who read liberal blogs are also aware that Republicans have voted en masse to pull the plug (no pun intended) on medicaid funding that pays for the kind of care that someone like Terry Schiavo and many others who are not so severely brain damaged need all across this country.
Those of us who read liberal blogs also understand that that the tort reform that is being contemplated by the Republican congress would preclude malpractice claims like that which has paid for Terry Schiavo’s care thus far.
Those of us who read liberal blogs are aware that the bankruptcy bill will make it even more difficult for families who suffer a catastrophic illness like Terry Schiavo’s because they will not be able to declare chapter 7 bankruptcy and get a fresh start when the gargantuan medical bills become overwhelming.
And those of us who read liberal blogs also know that this grandstanding by the congress is a purely political move designed to appease the religious right and that the legal maneuverings being employed would be anathema to any true small government conservative.
Those who don’t read liberal blogs, on the other hand, are seeing a spectacle on television in which the news anchors repeatedly say that the congress is “stepping in to save Terry Schiavo” mimicking the unctuous words of Tom Delay as they grovel and leer at the family and nod sympathetically at the sanctimonious phonies who are using this issue for their political gain.
I was also under the general impression that the GOP favored getting the federal government out of people’s lives, and letting the states and courts handle specific cases like this. I guess that only applies when they decide it does.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 