I wonder why we have a judicial branch of government anymore? Congress has essentially said that if they do not like the ruling of a particular court, they will enact legislation to move jurisdiction to another court. Federalism is dead.
Does anyone older than I ever remember Congress calling a special session to vote on legislation affecting one citizen?
Lest anyone be under any misconception; this is about abortion.
I'm watching the CNN coverage. They are making no mention of the Repulican talking points memo describing this situation as a "great political issue". They make no mention of all the other Republican party legislation designed to hurt people in need.
As Digby says:
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 Schivos 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.
This is why we cannot trust the mainstream media. Most people get their news from television. And television is presenting this issue as a round the clock one dimensional soap opera pitting the "family", the congress and the church against this woman's husband and the judicial system that upheld Terry Schiavo's right and explicit request that she be allowed to die if extraordinary means were required to keep her alive. The ghoulish infotainment industry is making a killing by acceding once again to trumped up right wing sensationalism.
This issue gets to the essence of the culture war. Shall the state be allowed to interfere in the most delicate, complicated personal matters of life, death and health because a particular religious constituency holds that their belief system should override each individual's right to make these personal decisions for him or herself. And it isn't the allegedly statist/communist/socialist left that is agitating for the government to tell Americans how they must live and how they must die.
One of the things that we need to help America understand is that there is a big difference between the way the two parties perceive the role of government in its citizens personal lives. Democrats want the government to collect money from all its citizens in order to deliver services to the people. The Republicans want the government to collect money from working people in order to dictate individual citizen's personal decisions. You tell me which is the bigger intrusion into the average American's liberty?
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What I can't seem to come to grips with is the fact that no single Democrat member of Congress has demanded that the Republican members who support this intrusion justify one simple contradiction: How can you justify the ban on gay marriage by touting the "sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman" and then completely discount that union when the issue at hand defies your religious belief (which also depends on whether the person in question is a good person or a bad person, has money or is flat broke)?
In most wedding ceremonies there is a point where the person presiding over the ceremony asks "who gives this woman away?" It is at that point that the parents relinquish their responsibility for their child. It is a symbol that the married couple has become their own family, responsible for and accountable to only each other. I wonder how much responsibility the parents of Ms. Shiavo would take for their daughter if the issue at hand were not such a heart wrenching tragedy. For instance, what if it was determined that Ms. Shiavo owed the IRS a serious amount of money. I am sure that at that point her parents would be happy to acknowledge her husband's unequivocal right to assume full responsibility for the woman with whom he chose to start his family. Not to mention that Congress would laugh at any suggestion that they get involved. I know that the comparison between death and debt is grotesque but it does show that you cannot pick and chose where to apply the law. The court has sided with this man 20 times now.
I feel that this issue has only come to this point for one reason: The Governor of Florida is the President's brother. Do you think that if this were happening in Arizona that it would have gotten this far? Doubtful since Arizona has a Democrat for a Governor and I don't think she has the access to the President that Jeb has.
It is sickening that such discussion has to take place about an issue that is so personal and tragic. This is not much different from what we went through with our sister. Although her husband consulted with our parents, ultimately it was his decision. Our parents and everyone in our family respected that decision because we knew how much he loved her. And that she was never going to recover.
kats
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