(no subject)

[geekchick]

Bush Signs Approved Schiavo Measure
[...]
Voting 203 to 58 at 12:42 a.m., the House joined the Senate in approving the measure and rushing it to Bush. He signed the bill into law at 1:11 a.m., saying, "I will continue to stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans, including those with disabilities.

All Americans? Like Sun Hudson? Mr. Bush did, after all, sign into law a provision authorizing unilateral withdrawal of treatment by the hospital over the objections of the patient's surrogate. To be fair (although that's not really the word I want here), it seems that the extension of this provision to include withdrawal of treatment from minors over parental objection was passed in 2003.

Or Oliver Cruz, a prisoner with an IQ of 63 who was executed in 2000? Bush was too busy campaigning to grant a reprieve; that left the decision in the hands of Lt. Governor Rick Perry, who later went on as governor to veto a bill banning the execution of mentally retarded criminals. Of course, given his track record he was unlikely to grant a reprieve, and relying on memos from Alberto "Torture 'em, kill 'em all and let (our) God sort them out" Gonzales to make a decision couldn't have helped much.

And how about the 29 juveniles on death row in Texas as of Jan. 1, 2005?

So when you say "all Americans", what you really mean is "all Americans whose cases are clearly likely to win us points with the pro-life base", like Terri Schiavo or "the unborn", and none of those messy, problematic types.

(As an aside, if you haven't seen them yet, go read Rivka's posts at Respectful of Otters for her take on the medical and ethical issues. )

I am utterly disgusted by the GOP turning what should be a private family matter into a tool to curry political favor. I'm not even going to start in yet on the legal and political ramifications of this entire clusterf**k transferring jurisdiction away from the state courts and into federal court because my head will explode, and that's bad for productivity at work.

[Edit: The same Washington Post story linked above point out that "[t]he Senate, operating under unanimous-consent rules, passed the legislation yesterday afternoon with no debate and with only three members present." ]

Comments

[tommx.livejournal.com]

i doubt they really are all that bothered by the ethical considerations of this because the only people suffering are terri's husband and her family. admittedly, they are suffering for entirely different reasons. her husband is trying to do (what i consider to be) the right thing. the family will never be over their suffering because they refuse to accep that their daughter is dead. congress knows that their real base (the ones who voted for bush because of his morals and his religion) will probably side with the family because they don't understand the reality of the situation, and probably think that terri is actually aware and fighting for her life. (which is, of course, a pipe dream)

if the measure gets shot down by the supreme court, then the president can just say that it's because we have too many "activist judges" in this country and if it doesn't, then the republicans have bolstored their "moral" stance with middle america as well as their ability to force the government to do whatever suits their political agenda.

the really poingnant thing here is that the woman in the center of all of this literally has no mind left in any real sense. letting her die isn't even a mercy killing at this point because she is incapable of feeling pain.

more examples of the political hubris of the republican party.

[zuggy9.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that I feel better about the world... when I don't watch the news and hear what the GOP and heir dictator are up to.

Disgustipating.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

The GOP would rather people weren't paying attention to the news right now, I guess, or if they do, that they were hearing about this case in Florida. It's the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and there have been protests against the occupation (http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/145578/index.php) across the world, but the US media has been more occupied with the Schiavo case.

[zuggy9.livejournal.com]

I completely agree.

[geekchick]

i doubt they really are all that bothered by the ethical considerations of this because the only people suffering are terri's husband and her family.

I've long since stopped being surprised by blatant hypocrisy from politicians of any party.

congress knows that their real base (the ones who voted for bush because of his morals and his religion) will probably side with the family because they don't understand the reality of the situation, and probably think that terri is actually aware and fighting for her life.

Which I suspect comes in no small part from the cherry-picked videotape being made much of that supposedly "proves" that she's responsive.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I can't believe they think people don't notice the blazing hypocrisy.

I'm drawing up a will and living will this year so this will never be me and my family.