Paul Wilczynski's Observations

Damage to the founders' careful plan for American democracy

An editorial in the New York Times (free registration required), A Blow to the Rule of Law, sums up the opposition to what's happening in the Terri Schiavo case quite well.

If you are in a "persistent vegetative state" and there is a dispute about whether to keep you alive, your case will probably go no further than state court - unless you are Terri Schiavo. President Bush signed legislation yesterday giving Ms. Schiavo's parents a personal right to sue in federal court. The new law tramples on the principle that this is "a nation of laws, not of men," and it guts the power of the states. When the commotion over this one tragic woman is over, Congress and the president will have done real damage to the founders' careful plan for American democracy.

Another Times editorial, Congress's Midnight Frenzy, continues.

The sight of Congress and President Bush intruding into the sufferings of the Schiavo family was appalling. Washington had years to properly consider the agonizing dilemmas that cases like this one raise for uncounted, less publicized American families. But the Republican leadership did nothing until the issue ripened to a maximum moment for simplistic political exploitation.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 10:24 AM