As I awoke this

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As I awoke this Palm Sunday, I somehow hoped I had dreamed the whole Schiavo case (sorta the same dashed hope I had each morning for about a month after election day). No such luck.

After House Democrats objected to a maneuver to whip though Schiavo legislation on a voice vote with only a few Members present, it’s now clear Congress is coming back in the middle of its Easter Recess to conduct an emergency session–usually the sort of thing reserved for the outbreak of war–aimed at intervening in this family and medical decision and overriding Florida law.

And why? Well, here’s the explanation Republican Senators were given, in the form of a (hate to profane the term) talking points memo that the Washington Post got hold of:

“This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue,” said the memo, which was reported by ABC News and later given to The Washington Post. “This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.”

Since my angry post on this travesty last night, I’ve gotten a lot of very interesting emails, including one from a deeply religious, deeply family-oriented man who had to make the same decision as Michael Schiavo twice within a short period of time, for each of his parents. The idea that Tom DeLay, the Human Ethics Charge Magnet, is morally superior to this man, or in a better position to decide such matters, is too offensive for words. Yet words like “murder, “barbarism,” and “medical terrorism” continue to spew from DeLay’s mouth.

The one email that most gave me pause was from a woman who described herself as a “full-fledged, card-carrying Democrats,” and then said this: “I may be a scientist, but that doesn’t trump the fact I’m also a mother and when I read the about this case, my mother instincts dominate.”

Once again, my stubborn refusal to watch television may be impairing my political judgment. I get the feeling that the image of Terri Schiavo’s mother, Mary Schindler, begging George W. Bush to “save my little girl” may be more powerful than the facts.

But the people exploiting this saga have other fish to fry. One of the protesters outside the Pinellas Park hospice where Schiavo lingers on, the Rev. William Witt from Ohio, said this to the Post:
“There’s a cultural war going on.”

So maybe Congress is coming back into emergency session to deal with the outbreak of war after all.

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