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Terri Schiavo and the GOP
Mar. 23rd, 2005 01:00 pmWell, this is interesting. I’m not going to get into the actual moral dynamics of the case, because my opinions are already fairly well established. I believe in the right to die, moreso, I believe that the husband in this case has proven to the courts beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is acting on Terri’s wishes. Her parents have tried to prove all sorts of things, from profiteering to martial instability to invalidate his claims and have failed.
What is interesting is the absolute massacre this is leading to for the Republicans. The interference of Washington on this case is obvious political opportunism, and based on the polls, most of the US views it as that. Despite the shameful bipartisan element (and the Democrats need to give their collective heads a shake), DeLay and Frist from the beginning made sure to brand this as a Republican effort, and it is going to hurt them badly.
First of all, it is counter to public opinion, even amoung conservatives. Hell, even amoung the fundamental religious right, it’s only garnering a seven percent lead. On the country as a whole, the disapprove numbers range from eleven to as high as thirty percent in the split. Taking a stand against those numbers means that politically, you have to be able to cast that stand as the moral position with untouchable credentials against it. But, considering that the majority of the country views it as an act of political opportunism, it’s looking even more like it’s simply the GOP pandering to a narrow and extremist element of their base.
More interesting is the split inside the Republican party that is happening over the incident. States rights, traditionally a cornerstone of the Goldwater cast conservatives of the last forty years has been chucked over for political expedience.
"My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing," said Representative Christopher Shays (R-Conn) "This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy," Mr. Shays said. "There are going to be repercussions from this vote. There are a number of people who feel that the government is getting involved in their personal lives in a way that scares them."
Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, the sole Republican to oppose the Schiavo bill in a voice vote in the Senate, said: "This senator has learned from many years you've got to separate your own emotions from the duty to support the Constitution of this country. These are fundamental principles of federalism."
"It looks as if it's a wholly Republican exercise," Mr. Warner said, "but in the ranks of the Republican Party, there is not a unanimous view that Congress should be taking this step."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23repubs.html?ex=1269234000&en=b374f7629523357d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
Even worse for the Republican leaders that were falling all over themselves to override doctors and talk about how they could hear words from Schiavo, is that their efforts directly contradict a bill then Governor GW Bush signed into law in Texas during 1999.
Those most active in politicizing the case are Republicans who typically proclaim their devotion to reducing the interference of the federal government in people's lives. These include Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both potential candidates for a future Republican presidential nomination.
Frist, a heart surgeon and one of the few physicians in Congress, even presumed to offer his own optimistic diagnosis of Schiavo's prospects based on viewing a few clips from a family-provided videotape. That's a dubious method for practicing medicine. Medical specialists say the occasional eye movements and reflex actions that Schiavo's parents and their supporters see as encouraging are common signs of false hope.
For House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, whose professional expertise is in pest control, not terminal-care decisions, the issue is a convenient distraction from allegations about ties to unsavory lobbyists and a Texas fundraising scandal.
from USAToday
Section 166.046, Subsection (e):
If the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision required under Subsection (b) is provided to the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient …
http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=480
Plus, a rundown of the circulated speaking points on the campaign.
http://www.dcinsidescoop.blogspot.com/
All and all, it’s a giant clusterfuck for the Republicans, and will likely cause some serious damage on the floor and in the polls. If DeLay and folks follow trend, Shays and those who voted with him will be the focus of strenuous removal attempts, and at the very least, cut off from the party main. It also has shoved DeLay and Frist negatively into the spotlight. Both look like political vultures, trying to score poll points on the body of a brain damaged woman, and wiping themselves with states rights and small government ideals in the process. DeLay, who is facing severe charges of corruption (from being obviously as twisted as a fucking 20s steel union boss in his fundraising) looks like he’s seizing a cause to distract people, and Frist, who has his eyes on a Presidential run in 2008, looks like he’s pandering to the fringe theocracy for preliminary support.
Reid’s monumental stupidity in letting the Democrats get on board this trainwreck hasn’t seemed to have spilled over yet, but in 2006, smart Republicans will use it as another example of the Democratic love of increasingly government interference. As for the Republicans, it’s yet another staggering disaster in this utterly monstrous winter for them. If the voters and media actually started hammering on the usurious bankruptcy act or the crippling bastard of tort reform, some severe splits could fracture the GOP monolith into three or four factions, all vying for power.
What is interesting is the absolute massacre this is leading to for the Republicans. The interference of Washington on this case is obvious political opportunism, and based on the polls, most of the US views it as that. Despite the shameful bipartisan element (and the Democrats need to give their collective heads a shake), DeLay and Frist from the beginning made sure to brand this as a Republican effort, and it is going to hurt them badly.
First of all, it is counter to public opinion, even amoung conservatives. Hell, even amoung the fundamental religious right, it’s only garnering a seven percent lead. On the country as a whole, the disapprove numbers range from eleven to as high as thirty percent in the split. Taking a stand against those numbers means that politically, you have to be able to cast that stand as the moral position with untouchable credentials against it. But, considering that the majority of the country views it as an act of political opportunism, it’s looking even more like it’s simply the GOP pandering to a narrow and extremist element of their base.
More interesting is the split inside the Republican party that is happening over the incident. States rights, traditionally a cornerstone of the Goldwater cast conservatives of the last forty years has been chucked over for political expedience.
"My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing," said Representative Christopher Shays (R-Conn) "This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy," Mr. Shays said. "There are going to be repercussions from this vote. There are a number of people who feel that the government is getting involved in their personal lives in a way that scares them."
Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, the sole Republican to oppose the Schiavo bill in a voice vote in the Senate, said: "This senator has learned from many years you've got to separate your own emotions from the duty to support the Constitution of this country. These are fundamental principles of federalism."
"It looks as if it's a wholly Republican exercise," Mr. Warner said, "but in the ranks of the Republican Party, there is not a unanimous view that Congress should be taking this step."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23repubs.html?ex=1269234000&en=b374f7629523357d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
Even worse for the Republican leaders that were falling all over themselves to override doctors and talk about how they could hear words from Schiavo, is that their efforts directly contradict a bill then Governor GW Bush signed into law in Texas during 1999.
Those most active in politicizing the case are Republicans who typically proclaim their devotion to reducing the interference of the federal government in people's lives. These include Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both potential candidates for a future Republican presidential nomination.
Frist, a heart surgeon and one of the few physicians in Congress, even presumed to offer his own optimistic diagnosis of Schiavo's prospects based on viewing a few clips from a family-provided videotape. That's a dubious method for practicing medicine. Medical specialists say the occasional eye movements and reflex actions that Schiavo's parents and their supporters see as encouraging are common signs of false hope.
For House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, whose professional expertise is in pest control, not terminal-care decisions, the issue is a convenient distraction from allegations about ties to unsavory lobbyists and a Texas fundraising scandal.
from USAToday
Section 166.046, Subsection (e):
If the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision required under Subsection (b) is provided to the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient …
http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=480
Plus, a rundown of the circulated speaking points on the campaign.
http://www.dcinsidescoop.blogspot.com/
All and all, it’s a giant clusterfuck for the Republicans, and will likely cause some serious damage on the floor and in the polls. If DeLay and folks follow trend, Shays and those who voted with him will be the focus of strenuous removal attempts, and at the very least, cut off from the party main. It also has shoved DeLay and Frist negatively into the spotlight. Both look like political vultures, trying to score poll points on the body of a brain damaged woman, and wiping themselves with states rights and small government ideals in the process. DeLay, who is facing severe charges of corruption (from being obviously as twisted as a fucking 20s steel union boss in his fundraising) looks like he’s seizing a cause to distract people, and Frist, who has his eyes on a Presidential run in 2008, looks like he’s pandering to the fringe theocracy for preliminary support.
Reid’s monumental stupidity in letting the Democrats get on board this trainwreck hasn’t seemed to have spilled over yet, but in 2006, smart Republicans will use it as another example of the Democratic love of increasingly government interference. As for the Republicans, it’s yet another staggering disaster in this utterly monstrous winter for them. If the voters and media actually started hammering on the usurious bankruptcy act or the crippling bastard of tort reform, some severe splits could fracture the GOP monolith into three or four factions, all vying for power.
