More on Schiavo

The News Hounds blog [slogan: We watch FOX so you don't have to] has a very interesting report today, "Bush Hypocrisy on Terri Schiavo Ignored by FOX".

Here's an excerpt:

While FOX News reporters fall over each other trying to prove their concern for the life of Terri Schiavo, nobody is reporting about the cases in Texas where life support is being removed by hospitals over the objection of family members. The law allowing that to happen was signed in 1999 by then-governor George W. Bush.

Lest anyone thinks this is a case of Bush "evolving" in his opinions, just five days ago a Texas hospital removed life support from a baby over the objections of his mother. Yet Bush never made a peep. Neither did FOX News.

Other bloggers and commentators have pointed out that it seems strange that the Bush Administration and GOP leadership is making so much out of this one case, yet little concern is given to the millions of people suffering in this country and around the world. If they can show this much compassion for one brain-dead woman, why can't they show even a scintilla of concern for American children dying from poverty and inadequate health care or the thousands maimed and killed in Iraq?

My blogging compatriot Brian Hines, author of Church of the Churchless, writes in "Religious Zealots Run Amok in Terri Schiavo Case":

My wife and I can’t understand why those who claim to believe in Christian everlasting life are so afraid of letting death happen naturally. Methinks their lack of faith betrays itself in their reluctance to let Terri pass to the other side, where Michael, her legal guardian, is convinced she wants to be.

I agree with Brian's assessment and even think it can be taken further. The woman's parents contend that there is still hope that a cure for her condition is possible. Well gee, if their faith in the Christian God is so strong, why are they worried about the feeding tube anyway? God don't need no silly feeding tube! If he can part the Red Sea or raise a dead person to heaven, this should be a piece of cake.

Finally, a link provided by Brian, Majikthise, tries to set the record straight by debunking a lot of the misinformation swirling around this case.

The Schiavo case presents no intricate medical, ethical, or legal dilemmas. Abstract Appeal's comprehensive legal chronology shows just how straightforward this case should have been. Michael Schiavo is Terri's legal guardian, the courts have determined that Terri wouldn't want a feeding tube, and Michael asked the doctors to take the tube out. That's really all there is to it.