Monday, March 21, 2005

Terri Schiavo again: GOP "talking points"

DC's Inside Scoop has the infamous GOP "talking points," presumed to have come from Rick Santorum's office. Here are the key "points:"

"* This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue.

* This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida - has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats."

The fact is that whatever happens in the Florida court, whatever Judge Wittemore does, no matter how important it is to the lives of the Schiavo family and Terri, I don't believe that this is what this is about for the Right-wing Congress and the White House.
Whatever happens, they have already won. By virtue (perhaps a wrong word) of their votes and the showboat Presidential flight, they have already established their anti-choice creds. In fact, I believe that they would prefer that the judge rule not to reinsert the feeding tubes. That will reinforce the anxiety and paranoia of the faithful. It's not about god, religion or spirituality. It's about political power.
If the judge rules against their wishes, the Rove-De Lay cabal can say: "See that's why we need Congress to approve Bush's judicial nominees. We can't trust these Liberal judges to act in our interests."
This despite the fact that, as Dave Weigel and "Talk Left" point out, Judge Wittemore's "decisions do not show political partisanship, or even liberal tendencies. Truth has never been at the heart of the right-wing strategy.

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