Right now the most miserable job in the world belongs to federal U.S. District Judge James Whittemore who is deciding on whether to order a feeding tube put back into Terri Schiavo, who has become a symbol of an ethical dilemma for some and seemingly a political football for others.
What more can you say about a case where the Congress meets to pass a law to apply specifically to just one case, GOPers are reportedly being told what a great issue it is for their party, talking points have been distributed, the President flies back to Washington to sign the bill passed by Congress (one of the few times apparently that he has flown back from Texas due to a crisis in the nation’s capitol), and an initial poll shows most Americans don’t agree with the President or Congress.
No matter what Whittemore does, he and the judiciary are going to come under intense fire:
- If he refuses to order the feeding tube put back in, he will probably be accused of being an unfeeling or activist judgeand his decision will be appealed anyway.
- If he orders it back in he’ll will be accused by others of trampling states rights and injecting the federal judicary into a patients rights case largely propelled into national prominence by politicians responding to a clamor from conservatives and Christian Evanglicals.
- If he somehow comes up with something that isn’t a clearcut yes or no he’ll be accused of being a wimp and sidestepping the issue.
You can already see the pressures he is under — and he hasn’t even issued his ruling yet:
U.S. District Judge James Whittemore issued no decision yet after holding a two-hour hearing to consider a request from Terri Schiavo’s parents to reinstate tube feeding for their 41-year-old daughter that was halted three days ago.
He said at the end of the hearing he was going to consider the matter and did not indicate when he was likely to rule.
“I will not tell you where, how or when it will be,” he said.
David Gibbs, a lawyer for Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, urged the court to decide fast.
“If this court does not act quickly, the entire litigation will be mooted because Terri will die,” he said. “There is not much time.”
And, in yet ANOTHER late-breaking twist, the New York Times reports that there may be MORE changing of laws — this time in Florida:
In Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush said he was grateful to Congress for passing a law but said he still wanted the Florida Legislature to pass a measure tightening the requirements for guardianship. Mr. Schiavo lives with a girlfriend with whom he has had two children, and Mr. Bush said that presented a conflict of interest.
“I think our state ought to change our laws to say in those circumstances, that that guardian needs to be changed,” Mr. Bush said.
So we seem to be in a new era: if the law doesn’t let you do what you want, change it quickly on the state or federal level so the new law lets you do what you want in a given case (if you have the votes, use them).
The bottom line is that all of this boils down to the apparent emergence of yet another wedge issue in 21st Century America that will once again (sigh) set a group of “us-es” against a group of “thems,” with demonization adjectives hurled around on both sides. And those who don’t choose sides will be considered wusses or enemies.
The GOP faces several possibilities on this issue:
- It will prove to a critical part of its base that it is loyal to them and responsive to their desires.
- It will scare away some in the center…people who opted to vote Republican in the last election and 2000 because they felt the Democrats were too far to the left.
- It will consolidate and strengthen the party’s power by showing it is willing to take bold steps…or it’ll be seen as overreaching and backfire.
If this sounds like a wishy-washy analysis, it’s because there are all kinds of possibilities here. You can see strongly-felt reactions to this case on all sides…just by taking a quick tour of weblogs.
And we’ll help you out by offering you a cross section of OTHER VOICES on this issue here:
—Glenn Reynolds, aka InstaPundit:”VARIOUS PEOPLE seem to think I should have an opinion of the Terry Schiavo case. I’ve tried, but I really just don’t. I think I’ll let Randall Terry and James Wolcott fight this one out without me.”
—Andrew Sullivan:”So it is now the federal government’s role to micro-manage baseball and to prevent a single Florida woman who is trapped in a living hell from dying with dignity. We’re getting to the point when conservatism has become a political philosophy that believes that government – at the most distant level – has the right to intervene in almost anything to achieve the right solution. Today’s conservatism is becoming yesterday’s liberalism.”
—James Joyner has (as usual) a superb analysis which must be read in full. He rites:”One suspects no decision is forthcoming tonight, although that’s just a guess. Most reports do seem to indicate an uphill battle for the Schindlers.”
—Democracy Guy:”You can just see good ole W. sauntering out into the hallway in his PJs, completely unconscious, mumbling something about the sanctity of life, while some aide guides his hand to the signature line. What a way to govern a country.”
–Republican blogger John Cole has a lot to say:
He is not going to rule in favor of the Schindler’s and their Holy Warrior allies in Congress, and you watch- all hell is going to break loose. Despite the fact that there is simply no way this legislation could be validated, poor Judge Whittemore is going to destroyed in the next few days.
When waging jihad, you can’t worry about a little collateral damage, and that is what Whittemore will become, as will anyone else who dare stand in the way of the fight for the ‘culture of life.’ Why, he is a Clinton appointee! An Activist Judge! Out of control judiciary!
Terri Schiavo’s desires and the desires of her husband don’t matter. The Constitution be damned. Separation of powers be buggered. Federalism-Schmederalism.
—Americablog:”You know, there seems to be a feeding frenzy mindset on the Hill. The GOP is in power, absolute power they seem to feel. And that means they can and will do whatever they want. But, they are increasingly out of touch with the real world. And, even the public knows that this is pure politics.”
—Dean Esmay:”The answer to me seems apparent: there are people ready, willing, and able to take care of this woman, and medical experts who, while they may be talking long shots, would like to attempt therapies that might help. That being the case, I cannot personally fathom refusing even to allow the attempt, and instead removing food and water in order to “let nature take its course.””
—INDC JOURNAL, which was at the forefront of exposing the Rathergate memos as fakes:”Right, wrong or somewhere in between, the federal government’s recent actions regarding the life of one woman …constitute an attempt at extraordinary “judicial activism.” By conservatives.”
–Talking Points Memo’s Ed Kilgore:”One thing is for sure: this case will boost the execution of Living Wills into the stratosphere. After this weekend, each of us must decide if we want to control what happens to us if we wind up like Terri Schiavo. Otherwise, Tom DeLay will decide it for us.”
—James Wolcott:
So dynamic, so forceful, of Bush to interrupt his weekend off to sign this phony bill the Congress rammed through. On Sept 11, he didn’t pry himself from his schoolroom chair as thousands died in the WTC because he didn’t want to perturb the kiddies, but for this he bolts into action with lightning hooves. I realize it’s unpatriotic, perhaps even unmasculine, to concern oneself with what the rest of the world thinks (since we won WWII and all), but just imagine how hilarious Europe, Russia, Asia, the Mideast, and the penguins find this latest American spaz-out, and how horrified they must be at how the beacon of freedom and democracy has become a lashing loony bin. As China quietly outmaneuvers us everywhere.
–Another upset Republican, Richard Bennett:”This law proves that it’s dangerous to allow any one political party to take control of too much of the government. For the sake of the country, the Democrats need to organize and take back the House of Representatives in 2006, and I’m going to do what I can to make that happen, beginning with the removal of my Bush/Cheney 2004 bumper sticker.”
—In The Bullpen:”We, as a nation, owe it to Terri to at least afford her the right to corrective therapy so that she may voice her own opinion loud and clear. As Americans, we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All three of these basic concepts have been denied to Terri Schiavo time and time again. Allow specialists to teach her to speak again and then we will know what her wishes are. It’s that simple.”
—Michele Catalano has a great series of links and adds:”I’d say this issue is somewhat polarizing, even amongst people who have historically been on the same side of things, politically.”
–Read and RE-READ Donald Sensing: he is a thoughtful conservative blogger who is a former military man and today is a clergyman. Read his WHOLE long post, but especially this section:
Yet the Republicans’ actions in pushing through federal relief for Terri’s parents makes me as uneasy as the Democrats’ obvious hypocrisy about the federalist issues the legislation raises.
No one can wish Terri dead. And God knows none of us wish ourselves ever to be in the position of either her husband or her parents. But there is no perfect justice to be had in this world, and tragically this fact sometimes means death comes sooner rather than later. A smell of political opportunism pervades the Republicans’ actions here. But as I wrote more than a year ago, the Republican party, like the Democrats, are big-government activists who have (like the Democrats) adopted a foundational philosophy that America is a problem to be fixed, and Americans are a people to be managed. While I see the medical, moral and theological issues involved in Terri’s case, I fail to see the federal issue that warrants Congressional action.
—Stirling Newberry:”What they spent the month of March 2005 on, the first months of a new term and a new congress – was grandstanding of the sort that would make Jerry Springer blush: C-Span did everything but run a graphic that said “Cheating husband’s who want to kill their brain dead spouses.”
—Bogus Gold:”Forced euthanization is immoral. It’s not only not merciful, it’s a cultural poison. People who advocate the killing of non-consenting innocent people ought to be societal pariahs, because they cause damage far beyond those they directly kill. They cause people to look at some of my own family members as something less than fully human, and that crosses a line for me that I will. Not. Budge.”
—A Train Wreck In Maxwell:”I thought the 9-11 hype was bad, but that was almost 3,000 people killed, not just one TERRI SCHIAVO saturating the airwaves of America…Hell, I’d rather listen to Ron Reagan(jr) talk about dogs he has known. Lets hope they figgure out something in the TERRI SCHIAVO case, so that TERRI SCHIAVO can have her name used by people who have TERRI SCHIAVOs best intrests at heart- instead of using it for free publicity.”
—Secure Liberty:”This is really rather remarkable. I listened to Terri’s husband this morning on the news and he’s right that the federal government really has no business being involved in this matter. I fear that this sets a very bad precedent for federal involvement in specific family matters. It’s not often that I agree with Barney Frank, but I do in this case.”
—News Dissector:”We are all still marveling at how and why the federal government has sprung so quickly into action to seek to save the life of Terry Schiavo, and the reputation of Tom Delay. Of course its politricks at its boldest and most opportunistic, aided and abetted by an online echo chamber that you have to check it out to see how a coordinated grass roots campaign is launched like a prarie fire..”
—Scott Sheilds:”The fact of the matter is that this is a bad situation being made far worse by the political games being played by some people in Washington who think they can score points with the electorate. It would help if the media was thoughtfully reporting on the reality of the situation, rather than swallowing whole a bizarre, one-sided agenda and regurgitating it as ‘news’. Unfortunately, that seems to be too much to ask at the moment.”
—Young Pundit:”What is Terry Schiavo guilty of? Being crippled and alive. No one knows whether she wishes to live or not in this state. She is awake and smiles to her family whenever they visit her. She utters single or two word sentences. She is not a complete vegetable. So, what do many libs want to do? Grasping to a lifestyle of death, they use the sorry excuse that Congress should not meddle in judicial activities in order to satisfy their own sick bloodlust. As if the stench from the benches haven’t imposed legislation from their side.”
—The Talking Dog:
My hope is that this case sheds some sanity on a critical issue: we are being extraordinarily nonchalant with human life here. Yes, Ms. Schiavo’s condition (not quite comatose, but not quite conscious either) is unpleasant to look at for many. But, strangely, the despised Republicans are trying, at least, to do the right thing here (albeit in a dangerous and crazy way that we will doubtless all regret, and they will as well; think “special pleaders” of all kinds). The right to abortion never meant that if the emergent fetus were alive and viable, it had to be killed. Is that what liberals are fighting for? Is this the sole remaining reason for the continued existence of the Democratic Party (given that after the ANWR vote it’s certainly not the environment and after the bankruptcy bill it’s certaintly not the interests of working and desperate people)?
My guess is that the Schiavo circus will drag on awhile, before the United States Supreme Court decides that it was improper for Congress to have interjected itself in an already decided state court matter (as the Florida Supreme Court did with a similar state law). And then, the plug will be pulled then, and with vigils everywhere, Ms. Schiavo will expire.
—The MUSC Tiger:”Meanwhile, most people are sick of judge’s acting like they are Congress again and again. And why is it that when the issue is ending life (disabled or unborn) Democrats are suddenly huge backers of limited government? It would be nice if they applied that same reasoning to more benign issues, like say tax cuts, but the big nasty powers of government only seem to bother them when the issue is upholding the sanctity of life. I wonder why that is? (Well, I really don’t; I know why… but ending with a question is such an effective rhetorical maneuver).”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.