Friday, March 18, 2005
"...Our Pro-Life Base Will Be Pleased."
Those are words from a talking points memo issued by the Republican party to its members in the Senate about the Republican-made circus surrounding Terri Schiavo.
More words from that same talking points memo: "...this is a tough issue for Democrats."
All of the votes taken on the legislation I posted earlier have been voice votes. For those playing the home game, that means there's no record of how individual members voted.
One more point of Republican Hypocrisy, this one from folks in Florida, is that this case also presents States' Rights issues. As much as I dispise that facade, it's one Republicans say they believed in. They used to hide behind it to keep institutional racism legal.
If that doesn't prove the real intent of the Republicans, I don't know what else to present.
On another issue, we're told over and over again by the highly emotional and terribly uninformed people on the wrong side of this issue that Terri will be starved to death. This simply isn't so. True starvation would take upwards of a month. Removing Terri's feeding tube takes away a very carefully balanced formula, thereby throwing off her electrolytes. That will take a week or two and cause a sudden (and in her case, painless) heart attack.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have some experience in similar matters. I watched a stepmother lie needlessly preserved in a vegetative state ten years ago. I also know all too well about electrolyte imbalances. Each time I've been hospitalized for problems with my diabetes, it's a lack of electrolytes that nearly killed me. Starvation is another matter entirely.
Finally, I encourage everyone to watch how quickly this issue disappears from Republican radar screens. The Congress is set to adjourn for the next two weeks, and this is their way of taking advantage of the news cycle on their way out of town. We'll hear about this all weekend, then something else will come up next week (probably more Presidential snake oil shows on Social Security...but hopefully more ethics violations by Tom DeLay) and Terri's name will disappear from Republican Congressional lips.
-Melder
More words from that same talking points memo: "...this is a tough issue for Democrats."
All of the votes taken on the legislation I posted earlier have been voice votes. For those playing the home game, that means there's no record of how individual members voted.
One more point of Republican Hypocrisy, this one from folks in Florida, is that this case also presents States' Rights issues. As much as I dispise that facade, it's one Republicans say they believed in. They used to hide behind it to keep institutional racism legal.
If that doesn't prove the real intent of the Republicans, I don't know what else to present.
On another issue, we're told over and over again by the highly emotional and terribly uninformed people on the wrong side of this issue that Terri will be starved to death. This simply isn't so. True starvation would take upwards of a month. Removing Terri's feeding tube takes away a very carefully balanced formula, thereby throwing off her electrolytes. That will take a week or two and cause a sudden (and in her case, painless) heart attack.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have some experience in similar matters. I watched a stepmother lie needlessly preserved in a vegetative state ten years ago. I also know all too well about electrolyte imbalances. Each time I've been hospitalized for problems with my diabetes, it's a lack of electrolytes that nearly killed me. Starvation is another matter entirely.
Finally, I encourage everyone to watch how quickly this issue disappears from Republican radar screens. The Congress is set to adjourn for the next two weeks, and this is their way of taking advantage of the news cycle on their way out of town. We'll hear about this all weekend, then something else will come up next week (probably more Presidential snake oil shows on Social Security...but hopefully more ethics violations by Tom DeLay) and Terri's name will disappear from Republican Congressional lips.
-Melder
