« Political Religion and Doomsday | Main | WordPress Controversy » To Hell in a HandbasketI had a series of emails today the subject of which was "Terri Schiavo is finally dead." Tonight I saw an unbelievably tasteless web site on the subject, which I won't credit with a link. I was feeling cranky about this stuff, but I realize that Terri Schiavo is no longer a real person. She's a political weapon, and having been deployed in service of politicians (with no real principle involved, other than ink), she's invited dismissal by cynics who deplore the ongoing political circus. There's a lot of bad actors in this - coopting Terri Schiavo's life for political purpses is depraved; dismissing her life as a reaction is just as depraved. The whole day's been depressing enough, and the Pope's near the end, as well. I can only imagine what his death will bring to the surface. Forgive the cranky mood, but I think we're all in a dangerously bad place right now. jon posted this at 10:12 PM |
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Comments
As George Orwell once remarked, sometimes the first duty of any intelligent man is to restate the obvious. You are correct to point out that her "right to life", or "right to relief" was never the real issue.
This "national debate"(1) was one of the most frightening things I've seen in a while. It really brought home to me how easily the powerful can use the media as a distraction; not to mention, all of the free air time that the press gave to republicans for de-facto campaign ads targeting their slightly weakening support amongst evangelicals. Anyone who thinks that the Republcians raised a clamor because the situation seemed "wrong in their hearts" is a fool indeed.
The republcians solidifed their base, successfully took the media spot light off of them, and once again took the intelligent national dialogue down a notch.
If you ask me, that sounds a victory. You have good reason to be cranky, Jon.
Notes:
1."national debate" is a term that I borrowed from television. Basically, all it means is that news channels are obsessing on an issue.
The "debate" is usually between partisan quacks who work for institutions such as heritage, or centers for american progress. The debate is only "national" in the sense that a nation of TV watchers listen to these quacks as they eat cheetos.
Posted by: Nick Lewis | April 1, 2005 6:10 PM