Shiavo & GOP Politics

I've sort of tried to avoid this whole Terri Shiavo thing, especially since I had some disagreement over it with someone whose ideas I greatly respect. Suffice to say whenever I asked anyone 'What if that has you and not Terri?' The answer was always 'I wouldn't want to be kept alive like that.' But if you also then ask would you like to be staved to death in that case, you get nowhere near a universal answer. However just to make it clear, No I don't want to live that way; Yes go ahead and stop feeding me; No, I have no idea if I could make that decision about someone else, particularly a family member. I never pretended to know what her family should have done, but now that part is over. A real tragedy all around.

Being the political creature I tend to be, the really disgusting part about the whole damn affair was as usual the politicians and the news media. The congressional Republicans (the party of which I'm part, but often embarrassed by these days) completely abandoned all principles of the GOP to prove they are now just the lapdogs of the religious right. No regard of the federal constitution, the rights of the states or the separation of powers. Bravo for the federal judiciary for backing the state of Florida courts who had reviewed this case up one side and down the other. Most shameful of all is the way the Bushes and the republican leaders backed away as soon as they realized just how unpopular their buttinsky stand was.

I really long for a GOP that would learned to be it's old self. The old fiscal conservative with a social MYOB. Learn to Butt Out! It's hard to get moderates to act up like the extremes of political parties, just by definition. I really think the religious faction is driving us to become the libertarians we act like. We either need to do that or to make it clear to the GOP leaders that we don't want them humping the leg of some preacher. You don't speak for most of us when you do that.