Update [2005-3-25 17:34:38 by Armando]: From the diaries by Armando.
Today's Salt Lake Tribune has a scathing opinion piece today on the very transparent politicization of the Schiavo story by Tom DeLay.
Tom DeLay says he wants Terri Schiavo to live. And there is no reason to doubt that.
But it is clear that the House majority leader is not above using the suffering of a woman he has never met to promote his own, increasingly shaky, political career.
Strong language condeming the House Majority Leader. But it gets even better. Follow me on the flip.
The editorial board of the Tribune lays it all out for us.
The Texas Republican has gone so far as to suggest that Schiavo's situation is a gift from God that he can use to defend himself against charges brought by his political enemies--enemies whom he all but calls, in an echo of a defensive Hillary Clinton some years ago, a vast left-wing conspiracy. . . .
Despite the fact that he was able to steamroller through Congress a particularly ill-advised piece of legislation that subverted federalism, the separation of powers and the privacy of medical decision-making, in order to make political hay out of the Schiavo case, DeLay wants the world to see him, too, as a victim.
Until very recently, though, it would be hard to believably cast DeLay as anyone's victim. Not only is he the undisputed leader, fund-raiser and enforcer among House Republicans, he was able to get the chairman of the House Ethics Committee fired in retaliation for that panel admonishing DeLay for his strong-arm political tactics.
. . . .
DeLay, all the while, insists that he has done nothing wrong and that those who accuse him of ethical shortcomings are simply using personal attacks on him as a weapon to undermine the conservative causes he supports. . . . If conservative Republicans really want to talk about important issues, and not about Tom DeLay, they might start looking for a different leader.
A different leader, indeed. Kudos to the editorial board of the Salt Lake Tribune. But they're not alone among their fellow Western state scribes in seeing through the politics and roundly condemning the politicians. Here's a quick round-up of Red State opinions on the issue.
From the Idaho Statesman:
Process and precedent matter. This week, Congress and the White House decided to use their clout to try to keep an ill person alive. How would the activists who have adopted Schiavo's cause feel if, someday, some other Congress or White House sides with family members who want to see a loved one die in peace? This sets a disquieting precedent, in which right-to-life decisions are subject to political whim.
The Billings (MT) Gazette:
Congress and Bush have imposed themselves into this heartbreaking family division. The ill-advised Schiavo legislation tramples rights guaranteed to individual citizens and intrudes on the authority of state governments to handle family law matters. . . . Americans must stop politicians from playing politics with personal medical decisions.
The Capser (WY) Star Tribune:
The Terri Schiavo case is a heartbreaking situation, but it's none of Congress' business.
After intervening in this specific case, where will Congress draw the line? Will Congress and the president intervene each time family members disagree about a loved one's medical care? Who will tell them that Terri Schiavo mattered enough for congressional action, but their loved one doesn't?
. . .
It's hypocritical that so many in Congress would thrust themselves into such a politically charged issue at a time when Medicaid coverage--including the coverage that helps to pay for Schiavo's $5,000-a-month nursing care--is being cut. . . . The conduct of several members of Congress has been particularly questionable. Physicians, including Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., and Phil Gingrey, R-Georgia, should have known better than to interject their opinions on Schiavo's care based on hearsay and video footage taped four years ago. And House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's statement was downright repugnant when he called letting Schiavo die an "act of medical terrorism." That sort of hateful blather provides no solace to a family suffering through a difficult time.
So will the extremist Republicans in control in Washington heed the call from the hinterlands? When you're losing them in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, you've got to be a little concerned.