Friends of the Reaper

The Terry Schiavo case seems to be pretty high in the national news right now. Some say that is because "Congress is involved", but it seems to me that the media spent less time in the discussion of Tort Reform than this, and Congress was involved in that as well.

Personally, my concerns with Terry are small. It is unfortunate to see a husband and parents fighting over what is left of a person due to tragic circumstance. As a Christian, there is a sense that there is"benefit" to the people charged with the care of a life even at a minimal level of existance under the same principle as "it is better to give than to recieive". The willingness to "be of service" is a core Christian value, and situations like the Schiavo case provide people the chance to be "in the service of life" even though the "rewards" of that service in this world are very likely to be zero.

On the other side of the ledger, my sense is that this is certainly a political loser for the Republican party. The set of people most likely to support them in their efforts to save this womans life aren't likely to vote democrat anytime soon, and it is the wrong time to "energize the base" (little long until Nov '06). So, it is a political net loser for Republicans, but then maybe in the big picture there are more Americans that feel as I do that it is actually very refreshing to see a set of folks go out and do something stupid politically just because they believe it is the right thing.

I'd personally probably not interfere. The relationship of a husband to a wife would trump the parents interests in this case, and even though he may be far from a perfect husband, the incidence of those is rather low.

I do get a kick out of the liberals extreme desire to let a husband effectively put his wife to death for "not meeting requirements" (all be it, in a big way), and apparently get a few funds in the process. It isn't hard to understand the parents motives, why the husband can't just walk away and let her have whatever vanishingly small chance she has is hard to understand.

Liberals are remarkably consistent on being "pro-death" ... if you are very young, very old, infirm, or just depressed and on the path to doing yourself in, they are resolute in their pro-death position. For a set of people for which consistency is usally not a consideration, it is admirable to see them consistently give the Grim Reaper the thumbs up as "their kind of guy".