How Low Can They Go?

The only interesting thing about the recent Congressional debate about whether Terri Schiavo should have her feeding tube removed is that it proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that these conservative Republicans will do anything -- anything -- to gain political advantage.

The way we know this is that intervening (or maybe we should say interfering) in this case goes against everything that these people claim to believe in.

They claim to believe in the family -- and yet they are interfering with the family: that is, Terri Schiavo's husband (and if you don't think that her husband, and not her parents, qualifies as her family and the one who should be making any decisions about her medical treatment, try reading the Bible -- a book they claim to believe in).

They claim to believe in state's rights -- and yet they are trampling on the rights of the state of Florida to decide this case. Florida judges have decided this case over and over again -- but, as with the presidential race in 2000, when these people want something, the rule of law in a given state is treated like a used Kleenex.

To put it bluntly, Tom DeLay doesn't give a rat's ass whether Terri Schiavo lives or dies. He wants to exploit this human tragedy for political advantage. Period. He thinks that by turning this into a hot-button issue for conservative Republicans they will reap a political windfall in 2006, instead of losing Congressional seats the way the party in power usually does in an off-year election.

This is something that is intensely personal and private and should not be decided by a bunch of bloviating Congressmen trying to win votes in red states by exploiting human tragedy. Because anyone who would do that qualifies as the scum of the earth.

Lenin is reputed to have said that the French Revolution failed because its leaders were insufficiently ruthless. That's something that can't be said of Tom DeLay and his gang of Republican thugs. If they'll do this, they will do anything.

Tom Moran