Conservatives, Bush and Terri Schiavo

[Cobbtown]

Hello all.

I have been in search of a "real conservative" board. Hopefully this is it.

I am extremely troubled by the current moves in the Terri Schiavo affair. While I am deeply troubled that liberals seem to relish the decision to let her starve, I am almost as deeply troubled by so-called conservative moves to restrict it.

This is certainly not a case in which the federal government, the Congress, President or the federal courts, to get involved. This decision should be left to the family and the State in which they reside. This is how the Constitution was written to restrict intrusive federal intervention in State and private affairs. I regret Florida's decision, but think that the remedy sought by many "conservatives" would present a far greater danger to our individual liberties and the already diminished sovereignty of our State governments.

What do you think?

Join me at cobbtown.com

Jim

[GregoryA]

This is not an easy one for many conservatives to sort out. However if you believe in less government intervention in the lives of individuals then I think it can be made a clearer issue.

I have gone back and forth on this issue several times. I do not believe I have to go over the issues I have wrestled with because by now we are more than well aquainted with the arguements on both sides.

Finally I brought it down to my own life and how I would want it dealt with in my own life.

I do not want the government to me or my wife what to do if we should ever find ourselves in these horrible cirrcumstances. I want my wife to handle the situation if I were in Terri's state and I know my wife would want me to handle the situation if she were in her condition. The government has no bussiness in matters such as these. I would carry out my wife's wishes and she would carry out mine.

President Bush, Govenor Bush, the legislators and judges need to back off.

[TNRighty]

I think the moral of this story is to prepare yourself and your spouse if something like this were to ever happen to either one of you.

On a local radio show here in Chattanooga, a lawyer said that a living will won't necessarily cover all the bases because there are so many circumstances you just can't plan for...are you on a feeding tube or a respirator, is rehabilitation possible, are you brain dead or not brain dead, how long will your condition last, etc., etc., etc.

His advice is not to try to plan for every single circumstance because that's nearly impossible. He said that you should simply designate a decision-maker, a person whom you trust to make the decision as to whether or not your life should continue should you become incapacitated in one form or another. Sounded like good advice to me.

As for the Schiavo matter, I really don't know what side I fall on other than to say I don't think this is something that should involve government or the courts.

I do find it odd however that in America you can starve a dying woman to death, yet you'll get thrown in jail for starving a dying dog. Maybe that's not exactly relevant in this case, but it is something to consider.

Anyways, I think both sides of the isle are politicizing the matter. I think Republicans are wrongly trying to turn it into a pro-life battle, but don't think for one minute that Democrats are honestly upset about it. For them its not about the principle of the issue, only whether or not it presents an opportunity to bash Bush. If Republicans hadn't gotten involved in this, Democrats wouldn't have the chance to publicly bash them for it. Democrats have points to score here also. As usual, they're reacting to action taken by Republicans and are opposing it. Nothing new there.

Republicans put the ball in play here, and the Democrats are more than happy to kick it around a little bit. Its politics as usual. It just makes me sad to see an innocent life be exploited as an ideology battle between Reps and Dems. Terri Schiavo is a political pawn. She will die, and they'll resume bickering over social security.

[LucusHam]

TNRighty said:

I think the moral of this story is to prepare yourself and your spouse if something like this were to ever happen to either one of you.

I totally agree with you on that. In terms of the conservative party though, I think the Majority Whip has provided some solid leadership in these hard times.