musings on schiavo

my most recent post was a recollection of a far more polished piece that disappeared into cyberspace. my limited knowledge of modern technology precludes me from understanding what occured so that i can prevent an idea being lost but i suspect i had personally had nothing to do with it directly and besides "what is - is"

the seedlings of thoughts found in the irony of the schiavo story:

irony, perceptions, pausing to digress here and there while reaching for awareness only to ask more questions...............

in the middle of the night the president who has taken more vacation time than any other president in history suddenly interrupts his easter vacation to fly back to 1600 pennsylvania ave to sign congressional legislation authorizing the federal courts to intercede on behalf of the federal government to challange the decision of a state court in order to "err on the side of life".

over three years earlier the jaws of life couldn't pry the same president from his vacation after being informed that terrorists planned to launch an attack against the continental united states. he didn't err on the side of life then - there was nothing to be gained politically by leaving the ranch in august of 2001 and guaranteed a future for an ideology that governs through fear while staying on vacation. how many lives didn't get the benefit of the doubt from 9/11 to now - at home and abroad as a result of those failures of intelligence.

but one shouldn't be surprised by this moral man who claims to "err on the side of life" because president bush is only following the same the pattern created by governor bush who executed 152 people of whom at least one was innocent. this same man of self-proclaimed compassion smirks without shame when mocking the existence of the born again karla fay tucker before condeming her to death.

the right defends this outrageous hypocrisy by going on the attack against the judiciary and in the process subtly advocates the overthrow of the constitution which the judiciary took an oath to uphold. indeed a strong case can be made for treason by trying to overthrow the system of checks and balances. but we can't even get enough representatives of the people to impeach this criminal. the country is in a state of denial - charges of treason can not be claimed in this free and open society without negative consequences in direct proportion to the threat that this illegitimate government will be exposed for neo-fascism.

the judge who made the most instrumental decision in this case was a christian conservative republican - perhaps the epitomy of a christian conservative republican - however he wasn't republican enough, nor conservative enough, not even christian enough to participate in the overthrow of our government by permitting this government to control from cradle to grave.

others are pointing out that even criminals get food and water based reflecting a preconceived bias that there is a big difference between a terri schiavo and an inmate on death row. perhaps a case can be made for drawing paralells between the vegetative states in different prisons but that would be beyond the capacity of the right - they only want to claim the name "compassion" much like claiming to believe in the christ child by repeating his words but failing to follow his example. do you really think that our domestic and foreign policy is based on "love thy neighbor"?

a week later neither the president nor his congressional supporters mention the schiavo case. the polls show an overwhelming majority of citizens believe the government was being too intrusive of individual freedom. and the ruling party that mocked the other party for ruling based on the results of opinion polls now respond in silence based on the results of those same opinion polls. the more things change, the more they stay the same.

if we are so intent on spreading liberty and democracy abroad shouldn't we experience it here at home first? without imposing moral judgements on others - can anyone agree that he or she should not have the right to die with dignity and in the process permit government to intrude on another privacy - bad enough most of us can't live with dignity as evidenced by our cruel existence based on the oppression of others in which most of us are oppressed to one degree or another. we aren't spreading liberty we are exporting oppression.

and democracy? well there is florida in 2000 and at least ohio and florida in 2004. the majority of people that voted in this country can't really be that ignorant - can they? to reelect a man who was never elected. to elect a man with a track record of abject failure from texas to 1600 pennsylvania ave. from failed oil speculation in which he profited but most others lost. to getting a budget surplus and create a trillion dollar deficit - he won't pay. we will. and so will our children but not his. no we aren't spreading what we don't have abroad we are in fact exporting the prviliged plutocracy we have at home. the perpetuation of economic, social, and political injustice. a guaranteed conflict of interests where might makes right and the few profit at the expense of the many when people compete rather than cooperatve.

yesterday terri schiavo died. tomorrow the pope will die. and in reality a numberless number among the 6 billion people that inhabit this planet will have died.

isn't it time to conclude that we will all experience death? isn't it time to try to build a world in which each of us can die with dignity - free of government intrusion? and isn't it time to live this moment in dignity - free of government oppression? isn't it time to admit we live a life that requires a new way of living?

are we really free? free enough to distinguish between rhetoric and reality? free enough to entertain the thought that it is time to overthrow the existing form of government by keeping the present shell of checks and balances but this time base the new social contract on jefferson's declaration of independence? free enough to experience liberty and democracy and the right to live and die with dignity?

tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.