Okay, Me Too.

I must be the last person on the planet who has not yet posted a blog about Terri Schiavo. So, here it is.

First of all, my offering will not be an opinion about whether she should live or die. I know what my own limits are, and when I would rather not continue living. I think if the issue is considered from the perspective of what one would want for themselves, it is easier to reach a conclusion about what TS would want.

The main idea that I want to present is the one which applies most readily to the political aspect of this blog. That is, that President Bush is demonstrating, as usual, an apalling amount of hypocrisy in order to exploit a tragic situation for the political gain of himself and his associates. The reason I say this is because:

1. Bush campaigned on the strength of the notion that it is wrong for government, or courts, or the villified "trial lawyers" to get involved in medical decisions that should be left to doctors and patients. This was no small issue during the 2004 presidential campaign - everything that was considered in any way bad about healthcare in America was blamed on healthcare-related litigation.

2. As governor, he signed the Texas Futile Care Law which allows doctors to cease life-support even in the face of objections by the patient's family, and it has been utilized, too. Now, Bush flip-flops. Again.

The very idea that this president and so many of his neocon cohorts would go to such lengths to exploit this tragic, intimate, private matter, simply to gain what Bush so callously refers to as "political capitol", is sick.