'Pro-Death Politics' by William Greider

[checks-n-balances]

Pro-Death Politics
by William Greider

I was astounded to read an E.J. Dionne column in the Washington Post about a baby boy in Texas who was denied life support by hospital officials over the objections of his mother--astounded because this act of euthanasia was authorized by a state law passed by then-Governor George W. Bush. Or should we call it "murder," as some Republicans fervently insist in the death of Terri Schiavo? I wanted to know more Bush's role, but the Post never returned to the matter. I wanted to know more about the circumstances surrounding the death of Representative Tom DeLay's injured father (the doctors pulled the plug on him with the family's consent).

I also want to know who makes these godlike choices for the Hospital Corporation of America, the 191-hospital chain built by Senator-Doctor Bill Frist's family. Does HCA follow the end-of-life logic suggested by Bush's law, or do the hospitals subscribe to Pope John Paul II's dictum that providing food and water to sustain brain-dead mortals is "morally obligatory"?

(snip)

Most people would not regard ecology as a life-or-death issue, but some conservative Christians are beginning to espouse that moral position. The relentless march of industrial despoliation--destroying ecosystems and thousands of species--is the ultimate offense against life since all life forms, including humans, are sustained by nature. Scientists have described these times as an epoch of massive extinction attributable to human activity. Can a moral people do this? Would church leaders explain the mass destruction of God's creatures as Providence, part of God's plan? Pro-lifers are, meanwhile, trying to stamp out contraception and stem-cell research.

Here is what I believe: The country has just witnessed an interlude of religious hysteria, encouraged and exploited by political quackery. The political cynicism of Republicans shocked the nation. But even more alarming is the enthusiasm of self-described "pro-life" forces for using the power of the state to impose their obtuse moral distinctions on the rest of us...

More at
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050418&s=greider

National affairs correspondent William Greider has been a political journalist for more than thirty-five years. A former Rolling Stone and Washington Post editor, he is the author of the national bestseller One World, Ready or Not.

© 2005 The Nation

[hippiepunk]

1. Repugs dont care about life

their pandering makes me :puke:

[housewolf]

2. religious hysteria - political quackery

I love this line:
"The country has just witnessed an interlude of religious hysteria, encouraged and exploited by political quackery."

The only point I would take issue with is that it's an "interlude" of religious hysteria - it seems more like an era than an interlude. I don't see it going away anytime too soon.

[struggle4progress]

3. kick