Real Kato Blog: Terri Schiavo 11th Hour

As I noted in a comment to an earlier article, the appeals process has just about been exhausted for the parents of Terri Schiavo.

First, I want to point out a great piece over on Reason and Radical about this whole mess. And Jenn has a great quote about this, one that made me laugh: "I just read that the Pope is getting involved! That's exactly what this case needs, more Pope!" At first I thought she said "poop", but it's still funny the way it is.

So anyway, it may all be over soon. It's only taken fifteen years, but Terri Schiavo might finally be able to rest in peace. And then I can finally stop writing about this, and get back to talking about urinals and such.

District Court Judge James Whittemore ruled against re-insertion of the feeding tube.
A 3-judge panel from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the Schindlers' appeal, 2-1.
The full 12-judge court declined to hear the case.
An attempted revival of a modified "Terri's Law" was defeated in the Florida Senate, 21-18.
The Bush administration and the U.S. Congress appear to be unwilling to intervene further.

There is still some maneuvering going on. Governor Jeb Bush is now trying to get custody of Terri Schiavo, authorizing the Department of Children and Families to remove Terri from the hospice... perhaps even by force. I guess Jeb hasn't gotten tired of trying to be King. Oh, and of course, there's an appeal pending with the U.S. Supreme Court, but it seems unlikely that will succeed.

There's a very vocal group of protesters trying to "save" Terri. Unfortunately, most of these protesters either completely misunderstand the law that applies here, or they believe that the law should just be thrown out. And certainly, just about everyone is ignorant about the history and the facts of this case; all they know is what they've seen in brief video clips on the evening news. This includes most of the U.S. Congress. Please, folks, do a little research.

Let me frame what the protesters seem to be asking for:

that the State be given the authority to override your spouse when it comes to matters of life and death;
that we allow the executive branch (governors, presidents) the authority to override the courts;
that we allow a particular set of religious beliefs to override written law.

Anyone up for burning the Constitution, too? I guess these protesters would have been just fine being ruled by King George or Napoleon or the Taliban. Are we so quick to forget the lessons of history? When we founded this country, we said: "No more kings". Don't people remember why we said that? Aren't people just a little bit afraid of how Jeb is misinterpreting the law and trying to impose his will over the judicial system? What's next? Is he going to send in troops? You know, I think that Jeb should be impeached for attempting to circumvent the law and violate the Florida Constitution. Hey Julie, maybe you can start something.

I am heartened by one thing: a level-headed Republican colleague at work was also dismayed at the amount of meddling that was being attempted by the government here. Here's a news flash, Jeb, in case you had aspirations about running for President: a sizable majority of the country disagrees with what you're doing, and we see through your political posturing. So give it a rest, okay?

Here's another odd thing: Terri Schiavo has somehow been elevated to a Christ-like figure. I wonder, in two thousand years, if there'll be a whole religion based on her. Will bulimia be a sacrament?

Permalink 1 Comment

Posted by Ken in: commentary, politics

Comments

Comment #1 from Jenn (Guest)
2005 Mar 24 - 1:16 am : #

More poop! Ha!

Every night before I go to sleep, I beg to the universe, please, no more Bush family members as the leader of anything. No more presidents, no more governors...not even as a manager of 7-11. Blah.

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