SCHIAVO CIRCUS UPDATE….You remember Terri Schiavo, don’t you? Florida woman, persistent vegetative state, feeding tubes, endless political outrage from Republicans, etc. etc. Well, apparently memories are short in Washington:
A week after the battle over Terri Schiavo’s life ended in her death, the Republican push in Congress to legislate on end-of-life issues appears to have stalled….
[On Wednesday] Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate health and education committee, found himself behind a near-empty dais with little to offer in the way of legislation.
….In the House, there has been even less movement. At the height of Washington’s involvement in the case, the House Committee on Government Reform issued subpoenas to compel Schiavo and her husband, Michael, to appear. But the panel postponed its hearing, perhaps indefinitely.
Yep, it was a matter of deep and abiding principle, all right. Until those polls came out.
As a further piece of irony, it turns out that pretty much the only followup on the Schiavo case is coming from….Democrats. Bill Nelson and Hillary Rodham Clinton are both working to get support for a bill that makes it easier for older Americans to sign living wills. Apparently Nelson has been pushing this for over a year but hasn’t been able to get anyone in the Republican leadership interested in it. Ain’t politics grand?
