Pull the Plug on Frist and DeLay

Bill Frist certainly is the poster boy for the current Republican cadre. He is arrogant, venal, manipulative and, ultimately, a self-serving SOB. Poking his nose into the Terri Shiavo case is truly one of the most disgusting bits of political gamesmenship I've ever witnessed. If you ever asked the rhetorical question, "How low can these guys go?" you now have your answer. Frist offered his "learned" opinion on the case after watching an edited videotape of the woman. Put aside the fact that he's a cardiologist, not a neurologist, for a moment, and focus on the fact that an elected member of our government is giving medical opinions long-distance by watching a video. Holy hell, don't let Fox find out, or there'll be a new reality show on the air in two weeks using the same format. "Long Distance Docs," will, I'm sure, knock 'em dead.

But anyone with a functioning brain (sorry if that sounds cruel, but it is applicable) would know that the decision that Ms. Shiavo's husband and doctors should have been able to make has no place whatsoever in the courts. Every day, around the US and the world, loving spouses and intelligent, moral doctors, let people die. It is not done easily or quickly or without the deepest of soul-searching by those making the decisions, but it is, in most cases, the most humane, loving thing that anyone can ever do.

Some years ago a wonderful friend of mine, a man with a great zest for life and a warm, loving personality, was dying from liver cancer. His life could have been prolonged with still more drugs and more assists from the many "miracle" treatments which are available, but both he and his wife decided against that. He died peacefully with his family at his side. You think that was easy? Indeed, it was the exact opposite. In the Shiavo case, the parent's are the one's without courage, clinging to a hopeless hope, unwilling to let their daughter die that same peaceful way. In today's parlance this has become "about them," not about the woman.

There is much more I could say about this, but the bottom line is this; when it is time to go, it is time to go. We know it when we have a geriatric cat who has lived a long, happy life but is now arthritic and in pain...and we know it when it concerns our husband or wife as well. The moral principal is the same. The answer, though painful, is all too often, painfully clear.

Finally, let's just mention Tom DeLay, the Senate's most morally corrupt politician, who decided that he needed to accuse Ms. Shiavo's husband of being a "terrorist" of sorts. What sort of man says that? Is that what the Evangelical Christian community realy believes? Is this moralizing thug really one of their heroes?

I am not personally a believer in heaven or hell, but when Frist and DeLay go on these politically motivated crusades, you just might be able to convince me to believe in the latter...because it seems a real sin it they are allowed to get away with this.