This entry is about the Schiavo story and politics. Those who read my earlier post about Schiavo know that I am inclined to support efforts to prevent her from being starved to death.

When I read the below-excerpted DailyKOS diary, I was kinda shocked to say the least, that the mainstream meadia would NOT have covered the apparent hypocrisy of the Republicans and George W. Bush in particular.

That's why I am a bit skeptical that the diary is accurately reporting things. So I await further info and withhold the harshest judgment till later.

ISSUE: Did George W. Bush sign a Texas Law that permits hospital to pull the plug Against the Wishes of the Family when a patient is brain dead and cannot pay for care?

If Bush did such a thing, I would be surprised. If he did such a thing, then he HAD to have the support of the very conservative Texas Republican Party.

IF (a BIG if) Bush and the Republicans SUPPORTED such a position, I would expect the media to be ALL OVER HIM about the Schiavo Bill, where Congress wants to intrude into Florida's state rights.

I would expect the left-wing spinwits to blow the Texas law out of proportion in order to embarass Bush and the Republicans.

I would expect the right-wing spinwits to underplay (or even ignore) the Texas law rather than discuss its real terms and impact, to protect Bush and the Republicans from embarassment.

I would SO much rather read blogs, for and against, and decide for myself, rather than listen to the spinwits from either side.

There is even more: Apparently Randall Terry, the anti-abortion crusader and founder of Operation Rescue, has linked up with the parents of Schiavo to lobby for the involvement of other powerful people (press release). This reminds me of when Al Sharpton comes to town whenever there is a racial issue. The Republican political thinkers apparently see the Schiavo situation as a public relations goldmine to keep its base energized. People like Randall Terry might NOT be thinking of the good politics and instead are only following their gut. But the Power Brokers are ALWAYS thinking of the politics. BTW: Click here for Randall Terry's flyer talking about Schiavo's mental and physical state. I don't know if he is accurate or not, but it's interesting to read.

One more thing: The Schiavo bill signed by George Bush last night is anti-conservative in that the bill expands the role of the Federal Government by creating a new way in which the Feds can interefere with a State's resolution of an issue. In addition, the Federal Government has taken a giant step into our personal lives (where the State has historically been the most active player when compared to the Feds).


[UPDATE]
1) Bush DID sign such a law - Life support may be cut off based on pay and prognosis

2) Bush's law DID result in a baby being killed against the wishes of the parents

WOW!

This can't be true --- I MUST be misinterpreting. Would someone please set me straight on this (but courteously please!).

Daily Kos :: Does the Media Know that Bush's Texas Law Is Allowing Deaths?: "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."

[snip]

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.

- END OF POST -

Posted by Tim @ 3/21/2005 06:26:00 AM
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