In the long run, Schiavo case could get spun to Republicans' advantage
by James Ridgeway, Village Voice
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…
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…
(This is always been a state issue. I think Congress should keep its meddling hands out of it altogether.)
