disappointedThat doesn't mean that I always agree with it. One bit of political chicanery that was perpetrated this past weekend is a case in point: the Congressional meddling in the Terri Schiavo case.
At least a dozen times, based on expert medical testimony, courts in Florida have ruled that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state. That means she has no cognitive abilities - in short, she's incapable of rational thought - and is not going to get any better. At least a dozen times, courts have ruled that Terri would not have wanted to be kept alive in this manner. Her parents are in intense denial of these facts, and insist that she is getting better. They've tried for seven years to take over her care so they can keep her in this state indefinitely.
Terri's feeding tube - which is all that's keeping her alive - has been removed three times now. Twice before, her parents have succeeded in having it reinserted. It looked like the third time, Terri would be allowed to die in peace. Alas, not so: Republican leadership has rammed through a bill to transfer the case to the federal courts, where, presumably, an order will be issued to reinsert the tube yet again while yet another examination of the facts will take place. All this time, Terri will be kept alive - if you can call that alive - against her wishes.
foolscap001 points to a blog entry claiming that Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband and legal guardian, is a dirty rotten no-goodnik who wants her to die. That may be the case. That doesn't matter, in the final analysis. What matters is that Congress has stuck its nose in where it doesn't belong, just to score political points, and is prolonging the suffering of an innocent woman who's been kept alive artificially with no hope of recovery, in spite of her wishes. That's cruelty, pure and simple. My party should do much better than that. 