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"All roads lead to Karl." Ken Duberstein, GOP lobbyist, talking to The New York Times about Karl Rove, 3.28.05
WASHINGTON, D.C. It's beginning to dawn on gloating Democrats who hoped the GOP had gone too far in the Terri Schiavo case that the spectacle may turn out to be a plus, not a minus for conservatives in the larger ongoing values debate.
And in other areas, conservatives seem to be on a roll: While Dems may think they have stalled Bush's Social Security changes, the GOP now believes it has turned the corner in that debate and will win. In foreign policy, GOP backers rub their hands in glee at the very thought of the Rice-Hughes duo at State taking on Al Jazeera in an international spin war to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world.
Admittedly, Monday's Wall Street Journal savaging of Tom DeLay was a bit off-putting. The Journal said of the Christian right's point man on Schiavo: "He smells just like the Beltway itself," and warned he is betraying the "principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him out." Shit happens.
Did the GOP overreach in the Schiavo case? Just as soon as the Supreme Court denied Schiavo a hearing, the Republicans shifted to a new spin. "It was not a partisan issue. It was one of conscience," said Virginia Republican Eric Canter, the deputy chief whip in the House. "People will remember that the majority attempted to address a very difficult situation and did it with a real seriousness of purpose."
Schiavo has given conservative Republicans a way to raise other, wider issues: For example, what happens when the graying baby boomers hit 85? When these people get very ill, do they, as some have put it, "have a duty to die"? And, despite the advances in costly medical technology that extends longevity, will their duty to die become an even more harsh reality because Congress has refused to fix the Social Security and Medicare mess?
These end-of-life issues feed directly into the most heated partisan politics. Daniel Henninger wrote in Friday's Wall Street Journal: "Democrats and others have accused Republicans and President Bush of playing politics with the Schiavo case. Let's hope so. Unlike most, this is a necessary politics that ought to draw the whole country into the argument. . . . Republicans are said to have a pro-life litmus test for judicial nominations. Does this mean that President Hillary Clinton's litmus test would require her judicial nominees to be: pro-abortion, pro partial birth abortion, pro right-to-suicide, and pro pull the plug on medical cases deemed hopeless?"
Currently members of Congress in both houses and both parties are talking seriously of writing new laws on euthanasia issues. Florida Republican Dave Weldon's House bill would grant federal courts the right to examine cases in which a patient has left no written instructions, the family is feuding, and state courts have ordered a feeding tube removed. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat, said on ABC's Sunday show This Week With George Stephanopoulos: "I think Congress needs to do more. Because I've spoken with a lot of disability groups who are concerned that, even where a choice is made to terminate life, it might be coerced by circumstances."
In the Senate, Tom Harkin of Iowa, who voted for the Schiavo act, wants to sponsor a similar bill to the one in the House. The Senate Health Committee is scheduled to soon debate the Schiavo case and its implications.
more........
Bonnie said:Mondo Washington
A Plug for the GOP
In the long run, Schiavo case could get spun to Republicans' advantage
by James Ridgeway
March 29th, 2005
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0513,mondo1,62491,6.html
dilloduck said:You've sold me on this site---gonna start checking it out regularly
Bonnie said:Every once in a blue moon I'm happily surprised
dilloduck said:ahhhhhhhh the secret is your discerning eye and persistence !!
just accept the compliment dammit !Bonnie said:Interestingly if you look hard enough you can find those who dare speak what they deem truthful in spite of political correctness or even their jobs which may be the case here?? LOL Might want to frame this article as we may just see Mr Ridgeway wind up walking into that land of abyss others have been banished to.
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