Terri Schiavo and Bush v. Gore

All the noise about federalism and the rule of law in connection with the struggle to save Terri Schiavo's life is a teeming school of red herrings.  Terri's case doesn't pit the federal government against Florida and Congress has posed no threat to the rule of law. 

On the contrary, Congress and President Bush are aligned with Florida's elected officials in an effort to discipline a state judiciary that has run completely out of control.  This is a familiar story.  It is the same story that so absorbed the nation as the year 2000 drew to a close.  The Florida courts are chronically incompetent and corrupt.  They cannot find facts and they cannot understand law. 

They made a pig's breakfast of a federal election by making up rules after the fact to suit their partisan convenience.  Now they want to starve an innocent woman to death without ever holding a meaningful hearing.  The judicial jackass who has been in charge of Terri's case up until now has adamantly refused to hold a proper hearing to determine either how she would have wanted to be treated in her current circumstances or what exactly those circumstances are.  It's enough to make one wonder who exactly is brain-damaged in this scenario. 

Because the Florida courts are so inept, everyone is opining about Terri's case in the absence of any reliable information.  There are important federal issues at stake here, just as there were in Bush v. Gore.  No sane person could deny that the feds have a role to play when a state court tries to subvert a presidential election.  Similarly, no sane person can deny that the feds need to get involved when a state starts trying to off people without any competent finding of a legal or factual basis for doing so.  If the guarantee of due process means anything, it means that what the Florida courts are trying to do is beyond the constitutional pale.  There is no reason that Congress shouldn't invite the federal courts to say so.

There is a little noted constitutional provision that should be noted in this context.   Article IV, section 4 provides that the "United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government. . . ."  The arrogant presumption of the Florida judiciary in Terri's case represents a serious threat to republican government.  The Florida courts badly need squelching and the federal government is the Constitution's designated squelcher

The rule of law is no more use to those who yearn for Terri Schiavo's death than is federalism.  Adhering to the rule of law does not mean accepting the finality of all judicial decisions no matter how idiotic they may be.  The Federal government acted to give Terri Schiavo a competent judicial hearing in place of the contemptible travesty of the Florida proceedings.  This act honors the rule of law.  The suggestion to the contrary is unadulterated nonsense. 

After they mutter vaguely about federalism and the rule of law, the proponents of Terri Schiavo's murder have very little to say for themselves.  They should be ashamed.  Decent people don't euthanize pets on such flimsy grounds. 

How did such a large slice of our chattering class so completely lose sight of the foundational moral principle that human life is precious? 

Comments

[nicholas martin]

I can only offer a theological explanation to the last question in Mr. Mulhern's article, again very well written, with just the right amount of anger.
It is difficult to explain why human life is precious outside of the framework of judeo-christian ethics. Absent the concept ot soul, it is not easy to argue the value of human life. One can make valiant efforts to try doing so, but somehow most attempts remain hollow.

It seems that those to whom Mr. Mulhern refers to as the chattering class seem to think that the greatest danger faced by mankind is Christianity and Christian morality, and any and all derivatives of it. Any law, custom or practice is undesirable to them in the measure in which it conforms with Christian morality and ethics.
The Terri Schiavo case is another aspect of what is commonly referred to nowadays as the culture of death. What is the "number" now ? 47 million abortions since Roe vs. Wade ? We do not even know whom we killed. What we do know however, is that there aren't enough young, working people to support the social security system. How do the liberals plan to keep social security, and hope to introduce socialized medicine with an aging population, because the young are aborted ? The 47 million by now would have produced some offspring too, by now. The average age of the nation would be considerably less than it is now.
Maybe the Terri Schiavo case is really independent of the abortion horror. But it does seem to confirm that today's degenerate "liberalism" does not value human life.

[Bob]

My comments on all this are a little more, coarse and sobering. I use the word sobering, to best describe the feeling I have about the issue with Terri Shiavo. For such a blatant unjustice to happen before our eyes, and we all sit here and complain ( including me ), and do nothing, is just horrific. I have a deep feeling of guilt, and sin that me as a human can sit here and allow this to happen.

I am not a judge or President, which makes the lack of moral fiber in either of them, frightening. Nobody in politics, wants to make waves, wants to ruffle feathers wants to make their friends mad at them. So whether they agree or disagree, we all sit here and watch Terri Schaivo, die, and do nothing.

This whole situation stinks from top to bottom, and I can only wonder how many other helpless, defenseless and vulnerable people, were done in by the animals around them. Just like the black sheep, in the herd all other sheep turn on them, unfortunatly this is the mindset that is allowing Terri to be treated in such a way, and allowing those that could help her, to just not take that step.

We are alone, and we are not moral or holy. We will all answer for our actions some day. Pray for Terri.

[AaronBurke]

Is this the same Peter Mulhern who taught law at NIU in the late 80s? If so, I am surprised he has such far right views.