Maureen Dowd needs a Valium...

Her Op-Ed this a.m. opens with the sentence "My God, we really are a theocracy." Ms. Dowd then continues to cynically rant at the recent act of Congress designed to give Terri Schiavo's family one more chance to keep their daughter from starving to death. She seizes upon a quote from one of the five GOP Congressmen who voted against it, Christopher Shays (a local guy for me): "This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy. There are going to be repercussions from this vote."

A party of theocracy? Okay, why is it then when the government steps in to try and save the life of an innocent disabled woman, we're a theocracy but when extraordinary measures are pursued (often to the last minute) to prevent the execution of a serial killer this is considered an act of mercy by the more compassionate members of our society?

Dowd and her alliance of death advocates can't understand that the level of support Terri is receiving in this country is driven by compassion, not an agenda pushed by religious groups. Are there Conservative and religious groups supporting the current efforts of the Congress? Of course. Why? Because the issue goes to the very core of their belief in the value of and respect for life. But that's not the point.

I myself am not an especially religious person. The fact that I believe what Michael Schiavo and the State of Florida is doing to her is wrong has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with what my gut tells me as a human being.

And I personally find this passage offensive:

The scene on Capitol Hill this past week has been almost as absurdly macabre as the movie "Weekend at Bernie's," with Tom DeLay and Bill Frist propping up between them this poor woman in a vegetative state to indulge their own political agendas.

Apparently Ms. Dowd (the nation's oldest snarky school girl) sees so little gravity in this situation that she can make such a patently tasteless remark. I guess to her it is impossible to view these events in any way other than through the prism of politics.

She doesn't get it. And her panties are all in a twist because she thinks that if - by some miracle - Terri Schiavo survives this latest round that it somehow makes this country a worse and scarier place for her to live. As far as I'm concerned, Dowd's inability to reign in her irrational horror over genuine compassion is much scarier. Referring to recent comments by Rep. Tom Delay, she says:

"So it's not about her crisis at all. It's about his crisis."

Um, whose having a crisis here? Get this woman a tranquilizer.

UPDATE: 12:04pm
Site Meter is reporting I just got a hit from the domain NYTimes.com as the result of a Technorati search. Is that you Maureen?

Posted by: Gary at 10:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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