Petard, Hoisted on One€™s Own
Although there are more important matters going on, the Terri Schiavo case continues to fascinate because it€™s so endlessly multifaceted. You can look at it as a moral issue, a legal issue, a political issue, or a human interest issue. And all these issues bleed together into something like media road kill. Yeah, it€™s gross, but you want to look at it anyway.
And remarkably, the issue may be ripening in ways the GOP didn€™t anticipate.
Left Blogosphere consensus says last weekend€™s Big Top show–wherein the Congressional Clowns entered the center ring with their €œlet€™s save Terri Schiavo€ act, culminating with the Big Clown himself flying up from Crawford for the finale–was all about rallying the GOP€™s Jesus base. And from this perspective it must€™ve looked like a sure-fire way to reassert the GOP€™s claim to be the Party of God–especially if Terri dies. The Fetus People will be given a martyr, and the Dems plus €œjudicial tyranny€ can take the rap. And if, against all odds, the feeding tube is reinserted, the GOP can take credit for it. Win/win!
Although a lot of us were irritated with the Dems for not resisting the GOP€™s tampering with separation of powers, Steve Gilliard makes a persuasive case that congressional Dems avoided walking into a trap. DeLay, Frist, et al. expected the Dems to object, thereby accepting the role as villain in the morality play. And the Dems didn€™t take the bait. Harry Reid says, you guys want to do this? Fine, go ahead. It€™s your funeral.
One of these days the Republicans are going to be kicking themselves for going all out to defeat Tom Daschle. If they aren€™t kicking themselves already.
VRWC mouthpieces like Rush Limbaugh have been dutifully whipping the Fetus People into a mouth-foaming frenzy over the €œtorture€ of Terri Schiavo. But some parts of the mob may be getting out of the VRWC€™s control. World o€™ Crap reports that some of the Fetus People are turning their wrath on Jeb Bush.
Florida Fetus People want Governor Bush to use his police powers to rescue Terri. If she dies, they say, it will be on Jeb Bush€™s head for not acting. Where are those jack-booted thugs when you need them? And if the Schindlers strike out in federal courts, why wouldn€™t President Bush just issue an executive order to have the feeding tube reinserted? Why hasn€™t he done that already? Why didn€™t Congress just pass a special law ordering the feeding tube to be reinserted, instead of passing the hot potato to federal court in the name of fighting judicial tyranny?
Eventually, even the Fetus People may smell a rat. Terri Schiavo€™s death would be another Waco to them, and if the Bushies aren€™t careful, they€™ll be cast in the role of Janet Reno.
And other parts of the GOP are getting mighty pissed off. See Joe in D.C. at AMERICAblog for details of GOP infighting. Plus, CNN notwithstanding, the overwhelming majority of Americans think the government should butt out.
(Bush may have been able to sell America on the Iraq War, because the overwhelming majority of Americans have never met a Muslim. But, by gawd, they do know about in-laws.)
If George Bush finds himself having to choose between placating the Fetus People (and reinserting the tube) or respecting the rest of the GOP and public opinion, I suspect he will choose the Fetus People. Whatever happens, by next year most of the country will have moved on to other issues. But if the passions of the Fetus People are not appeased, soon, their demands are going to become more extreme, and caving in to them may be politically costly.
(But € what€™s this? According to WaPo, Bush is warning Dems they€™d better not oppose his Social Security privatization scheme, or they€™ll have to pay political consequences. Is he nuts? Dan Froomkin says, could be. Jacob Weisberg says, maybe, or maybe not. The point is that the Head Clown may have no clue what’s really going on.)
Having struck out twice in federal courts, Terri Schiavo€™s parents are taking their case to the Supreme Court, one more time. Various legal experts say there€™s little chance the SCOTUS will order the feeding tube reinserted. They may not even take the case.
There€™s a fascinating article in today€™s Chicago Tribune that calls the Schiavo affair by its correct name €“ family feud. According to reporter Patrick Kampert, Michael Schiavo and his in-laws got along just fine until Michael got a $1 million settlement in 1992. Of this settlement, $700,000 was for Terri€™s care and $300,000 was for Michael Schiavo€™s personal compensation.
Michael Schiavo claims Bob Schindler became indignant when he wouldn’t share the settlement with him. The Schindlers say their son-in-law’s personality changed and that he stopped all rehabilitation efforts after he got the money.
I still hear claims that Michael Schiavo just wants to keep the money. But if Terri€™s care costs $80,000 a year, as I€™ve read in several news reports, the $700,000 ran out a few years ago. And by now the $300,000 is probably in the pockets of lawyers.
Like I said, Americans may not know much about Muslims, but they do know in-laws.
(Cross-posted at The Mahablog)
March 23rd, 2005 at 8:50 am
$80,000 a year for a room and bed in a hospital, nurses and doctors, drugs, tests, etc. etc.? $80,000 a month is more like it, and even that seems low. One wonders how many people have suffered or died because the medical resources being taken up by this circus weren’t available to them.
Note, too, that that $1 million dollar settlement was from one of those frivolous lawsuits that the GOP wants to prevent.
March 23rd, 2005 at 8:53 am
The last research I’d done on this indicated Michael had $50K, but that was some time ago. I doubt that money was ever the issue with him.
As for the persistently vegetative man from Crawford, he’s had Big Oil’s tube reinserted too many times.
March 23rd, 2005 at 9:09 am
One hopes the citizens of Penistan and the citizens of Vaginistan can put aside their differences as to who has a bigger blog roll and what it all means. Yes, the Penis People and the Estrogenated Elite must join forces to fight the dark forces allied with the Fetus Peeps. After that we can all watch this really, really scary movie. Or not.
Nice job, Queen B O’B!
March 23rd, 2005 at 9:13 am
From my neck of the Bible belt the” let’s save Terri Schiavo” act isn’t playing to well. The theory is that to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord. The politicians are only a hindrance to Terri receiving her reward of being with Jesus. To the hard core believer death is the prize, providing of course, that you’ve entered your name in the Lamb’s book of life by accepting Jesus.
March 23rd, 2005 at 9:32 am
Of course one of the Bushes could issue an order to re-insert the feeding tube, but who would they order to do it? It is surgery, and doctors, not to mention their insurance companies, get real touchy about being ordered to perform surgery.
The most conservative of Christians don’t like doctors and feel that the procedures being pushed are against the will of G-d.
Mr. Schiavo used the settlement to go back to school and become a nurse and respiratory therapist to take care of his wife. It was his medical training that convinced him that there was no point in sustaining her life artificially.
Her “loving” family tried to take care of Mrs. Schiavo for three weeks in 1990 and gave up because of the amount of care she needed.
March 23rd, 2005 at 9:52 am
How come no one asks DeLay how many people will have their tubes and plugs pulled because of the $15 billion cut in Medicaid pushed by DeLay last week?? Was the Palm Sunday bill an act of contrition?
Although I think it’s sad and hope Terri well, it would be poetic justice to have her Medicaid funding run out before the case is settled. We need an Easter Miracle, Whip!