Since 9/11, the Republicans have become quite fond of calling anyone who doesn’t drink their particular brand of Kool-Aid some form of terrorist or another. The most recent example is Tom DeLay, referring to the fact that Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was being removed:
“Mrs. Schiavo’s life is not slipping away - it is being violently wrenched from her body in an act of medical terrorism,”
A number of thoughts went through my head when I first heard this. “How dare he desecrate the graves of those who died on 9/11 by equating the complex moral decision faced by Michael Schiavo with the butchery of the 9/11 hijackers?” “How disrespectful of the troops that his administration has sent into harm’s way as a part of the optional Iraq war who because of that ridiculous decision are now fighting actual terrorists.” And finally, “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
The Republicans have long since lost their sense of decency. And the political hay they are making out of the tragedy which has afflicted this family is nothing short of shameful.
I can only hope that they reap what they sow at the ballot box, although after the last election, I’m none too optimistic about that.
