Will the Terry Schiavo case be a blessing in disguise?

I don't want to politicize the Terry Schiavo case. It's an awful, sad case. But hell, the GOP has injected partisan rhetoric into it, so allow me to get slightly partisan for a moment.

I'm wondering if the Terry Schiavo case wil be a blessing in disguise. According to polls I've seen, the majority of Americans DO NOT think Congress should inject themselves into this matter.

So maybe now, the American people will really see the GOP-controlled Congress for what they are: right-wing zealots who do not have the interest of the American people at heart....they only have their self-interest in mind, and increasing their hold on power.

Hopefully the people who voted against their own interests in November will finally have that moment of clarity those of us on the left have been praying for!

of great opportunities for Democrats here.

And again, I don't want to inject partisanship here. Because partisanship has no place in this matter, as far as I'm concerned.

But it just occurred to me that maybe there will be this great awakening among people who have been supporting this extremist right-wing agenda in the Congress.

And if that's the case..then the American people as a whole will benefit. I'm not concerned with Democrats benefitting here. My concern is with the average American, and this oppressive dictatorship we are being forced to live under.

will see the hypocrisy of the right on this issue.

on this one, especially in the Senate. The time for taking the moral and legal high ground has passed, at least among the disgustingly spinless wimps the party has been offering us as candidates for the higher offices.

It's hard to take the high road when your party's leaders have taken the low road of political expediency. An abstention would have been much preferable to a vote either way. An abstention would have been recognition that Congress has no place in a judicial matter.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149433,00.html

Social Security non plan could show the real face of this administration and congress. But the Dems have to step up here and play it. It could be a gift but they have to open it.

I think that this situation is a volatle one - I mean, no one wants to see any harm done to another human being (and one could argue that the Democrats are acting more like traditional conservatives then the Republicans by respecting "states rights") but, on the other hand, this, coupled with the "nuclear option" bruhaha and the social security "reform" could end up backfiring on the Democrats because the public may end up seeing them as "obstructionists" (as much as I hate to use that word).

The way that the polls are turning, I think it has more of a chance to backfire on the Republicans but it should be worth pointing out anyways. I think this is why the Democrats are kind of standing back on this issue.

I dunno though, I think this whole business with Terry Schiavo is so sad that it's just turned in to a partesan battle of politics (but, hey, with Washington everything is, at least partly, politics).

To be honest, I don't really know too much about the case (nor do I want to because I feel that I should respect the families privacy - I just want the government out of the issue, period) so I can't really comment on the actual case itself, this is just how I feel about the whole series of events.

Don't let any of the politicians fool you though; as much as they all try to put a nice spin on this and say they are doing it for the family, deep down a part of them knows that this will help them in the next election - it's just the way politics works. I think I heard on Meet the Press today (I think) that there was a memo going around by the GOP stating that they should get on this case because it could possibly help them in '06 with the religious conservatives. The quote may be taken verbatim, but I think that was the jist of it.

Blah, it's late - hopefully this made sense! :)

That, my friend, is the last thing the repukes want or need.

People thinking.

directly to the fundies ideals. I think it mostly depends on how many people have been exposed to a situation like this one in thier own lives. Any who have will detest them for what they're doing, but any who haven't simply won't understand.

But here are some of the hidden "blessings" I see:

* People are talking about their personal wishes, with spouses, family, and friends.

* People are realizing their need for an advanced directive, or living will. They also are realizing they need a will itself.

* This case is getting people agitated enough to want to be involved. I'll take involvement over passivity any day.

* This case is exposing the real rhetoric behind the Republican agenda. Hopefully, we will see a backlash in future elections.

* It's getting people talking about the great Taboo: Death. Death is the inevitable fate that awaits all of us. But in our society, we are terrified of it, avoid it, prolong it, and try to run from it. A healthy culture knows how to embrace death as well as life.

I post in a bi-partisan forum that includes some conservative zealots. Well, actually, all the conservatives in that forum border on being zealots, and in actuality, most of them are white collar, somewhat prosperous people.

It is my belief from the tenor of their posts, and actual things they've posted, that they are complete sheeples when it comes to anything the Republicans want to do. I've never seen anything like it in my life. They are unwilling to accept even the possibility that Bush has made any mistakes, that the Republicans are wrong about anything in any way. It is power runamuck, and it is rampant throughout the entire party, as far as I can tell. They worship Bush, Rove, Frisk, Rumsfeld....you name it, as long as it's conservative.

There have been several times when I thought that "this" or "that" issue would be IT, the one that wakes the other half of America up. But nothing changed. No one awoke. If anything, the sheeples and their leaders got more brazen and got bigger plans. (I think behind the scenes some moderate and Libertarian Republicans, the thinking people and not the sheeples, are shocked by what's going on, but are at a loss to stop it. And then there's the Democratic leaders, if you want to call them leaders at this point.)