I can't draw. But if I could, and if I were going to draw a cartoon
to summarize the Schiavo affair, it would be the all but lifeless body
of Terri Schiavo being picked to pieces by vultures named DeLay,
Hassert, Rove, Sensenbrenner, Frist et al.
Make no mistake, I'm not qualified to have an opinion on whether Terri
Schiavo should live or die. Neither, of course, is Congress, but
apparently this is neither a medical or moral issue, but a political
one. A "talking points memo" reportedly authored by Senator
weirdo-in-chief Rick Santorum gushes over the political opportunities
offered by Terri's withered existence. And so the vultures are
feeding.
The hypocrisy is running even deeper than usual. In fact, it's
practically a Hypocrisy Tsunami. What disgusts me so much about this
whole Schiavo circus isn't just that these creeps capitalize upon this
family's sad and difficult situation for personal gain -- that's what
politicians do -- but how these low life's talk about the sanctity of
life.
I've noticed something about the "pro life" issues advanced by these
neo-cons. They are always "pro-life" when it makes no difference and
where no commitment is required. It's all well and good to be against
abortion, but these people lose interest in "life" once the child is
born. If you are really pro life, then you should make a commitment
beyond just getting a child born. If these people really cared about
children or life, they would turn their legislative agenda toward
healthcare and education and things that really matter in the life of
young children. But they don't. They pass laws to reduce taxes for
the rich and large corporations, and they cut funding for health and
education programs for children. And then they have to the nerve to
hold a grandstanding midnight legislative session to save Terri
Schiavo's life.
Terri Schiavo, by the way, is a good example of the kind of harm that
can be caused by medical malpractice. Maybe, just maybe, if these
legislators were capable of putting a little commitment behind their
rhetoric, they would show their respect for Terri Schiavo and the
Terri Schiavo's of the future and abandon their efforts to deprive
victims of medical malpractice of just compensation for the harm that
is done to them.
As usual, George Bush not only leads the pack of anti life hypocrites,
but stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's common knowledge,
or at least should be comment knowledge, that Bush as Governor of
Texas signed a bill that permits hospitals to pull the plug in similar
situations when a patient can't pay the bill, And of course, we have
Bush, again as Governor of Texas, who presided over scores of
executions and never once granted clemency or a stay of execution. It
is Bush who proposed the budget reductions in education and health
care for children and the mentally ill. Finally, it is Bush the
warmonger who started an immoral and unnecessary war that has resulted
in the death of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens.
A small but annoying aspect of this whole charade has been lost in the
media frenzy. Bush managed to drag himself away from his Texas ranch
to get back to Washington to sign the Terri Schiavo bill at something
like one in the morning. Remember that this is the same George Bush
who usually goes to bed at 10pm no matter what is going on in the
world, and who in August, 2001, couldn't be bothered at the Texas
ranch to pay any attention to warnings that Osama Bin Laden was
planning a domestic terrorist attack. When it comes to being a real
president, Bush goes to bed early and hides out at his Crawford ranch,
but when it comes to political grandstanding, he's a real trooper.
Part Two