Going gently into that 15 minutes of light?
It's nice to see that Florida governor Jeb Bush is such a strong supporter of adoption. In this case, however, the fetus in line at the abortion clinic is a grown woman whose life was technically over 15 years ago. In his rush to save the "life" of Terri Schiavo, Bush hired a doctor to speed read the case for less than an hour and report that Schiavo could very well be the modern day equivalent of Rip Van Winkle. Bush is now trying to gain legal custody Schiavo for the state of Florida, a state that can't even get an election done without controversy.
What is essentially a "he said, they said" argument between Schiavo's husband and her parents, has devolved into a morass of court decisions and legislative activity and protests from "supporters" who have erected her supine body as the golden calf of the pro-life movement, expecting her to magically recover, Lazarus-like, in order to rat out a supposedly sleazy husband.
Congress, of course was more than willing to get involved in this fiasco, it is chest-puffing season after all. Fresh from the afterglow of grilling Major League Baseball players and executives about the use of steroids in the sport, Congress voted to allow the Schiavo case to be heard in Federal Court. Now Congressional legislators can say they did some important work and the President, who flew in to Washington to sign the bill, can notch another defense for "culture of life" which mysteriously includes a loving embrace of capital punishment. If a woman who has been in a vegetative state can magically recover, why couldn't a murderer find remorse after years in prison?
As a result of Congressional intervention, retired baseball slugger Mark McGwire walked away with a more tarnished reputation and Terri Schiavo is still without her feeding tube. Questions abound in both cases. After all, no one is yet absolutely positive that Mark McGwire used steroids. All we know is that he gave evasive testimony and the Magic 8-Ball that I consult with regularly replied that "Signs Point to Yes" when asked about McGwire and steroid usage. In today's media feeding frenzy that means he is guilty as charged.
As for Terri Schiavo, would she be pleased to wake up and see herself splattered all over t-shirts, key rings, bumper stickers, news media and blogs all in the name of protecting her dignity? How about the manipulative tactic of sending a ten-year-old boy to bring her water? That hardly seems like compassion.
Now that the Supreme Court has refused to hear a final appeal, it's time to let go and gracefully give Schiavo back her fifteen minutes of fame. If it bothers you so much, take up some other worthy cause in her memory, like protecting the lives of those subjected to ethnic cleansing campaigns in Darfur or some other remote place where a feeding tube for someone whose time is past due is not as much of an issue as is survival. |
What is essentially a "he said, they said" argument between Schiavo's husband and her parents, has devolved into a morass of court decisions and legislative activity and protests from "supporters" who have erected her supine body as the golden calf of the pro-life movement, expecting her to magically recover, Lazarus-like, in order to rat out a supposedly sleazy husband.
Congress, of course was more than willing to get involved in this fiasco, it is chest-puffing season after all. Fresh from the afterglow of grilling Major League Baseball players and executives about the use of steroids in the sport, Congress voted to allow the Schiavo case to be heard in Federal Court. Now Congressional legislators can say they did some important work and the President, who flew in to Washington to sign the bill, can notch another defense for "culture of life" which mysteriously includes a loving embrace of capital punishment. If a woman who has been in a vegetative state can magically recover, why couldn't a murderer find remorse after years in prison?
As a result of Congressional intervention, retired baseball slugger Mark McGwire walked away with a more tarnished reputation and Terri Schiavo is still without her feeding tube. Questions abound in both cases. After all, no one is yet absolutely positive that Mark McGwire used steroids. All we know is that he gave evasive testimony and the Magic 8-Ball that I consult with regularly replied that "Signs Point to Yes" when asked about McGwire and steroid usage. In today's media feeding frenzy that means he is guilty as charged.
As for Terri Schiavo, would she be pleased to wake up and see herself splattered all over t-shirts, key rings, bumper stickers, news media and blogs all in the name of protecting her dignity? How about the manipulative tactic of sending a ten-year-old boy to bring her water? That hardly seems like compassion.
Now that the Supreme Court has refused to hear a final appeal, it's time to let go and gracefully give Schiavo back her fifteen minutes of fame. If it bothers you so much, take up some other worthy cause in her memory, like protecting the lives of those subjected to ethnic cleansing campaigns in Darfur or some other remote place where a feeding tube for someone whose time is past due is not as much of an issue as is survival. |
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