March 29, 2005
Ship Of Fools
One point that most media outlets have overlooked in their breathless coverage of the Schiavo case is this: when Bush was still governor of Texas, he signed into law a piece of legislation called the Futile Care Act. It allows hospitals to withdraw life support from patients who are deemed terminally ill and are unable to pay for continued treatment. Life support can be removed over the objections of family, as recently happened in the case of a six-month-old-boy whose life support was removed over the objections of his mother.
You know what, I'm tired. I'm tired of the hypocrisy of the religious conservatives who rail on about their commitment to a "culture of life", but then give a collective shrug when asked about the impending fiscal crises facing two programs that serve millions of people with significant disabilities, Medicare and Medicaid. I'm tired of the disability activists that proclaim their commitment to independent living and self-determination, but then don't hesitate to use words like "vulnerable" and "helpless" to describe their brethren when it suits their political agendas. I'm tired of the cable news networks and their shamelessly superficial coverage of the story and their obvious intellectual and journalistic laziness that prevents them from covering the story with any greater degree of thoughtfulness or depth.
Bread and circuses, baby. Or, to put a modern spin on it, Big Macs and Fox News.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at March 29, 2005 06:49 PM
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Comments
I agree with your point, but apparently the law Bush signed was actually an improvement on the law then it place, and was allegedly an example of the 'art of the possible'. Allegedly.
Posted by: Paul at March 29, 2005 07:52 PM