The President and Congress, both houses, the House and the Senate, are powerless because they choose not to stand for what they claim to believe in, just as the Governor is powerless. The legal system holds all the power because the other two branches have ceded the power to them. The blind judge says black is white, the other two branches say, so be it.
The Supreme Court is always right. Oh, for sure. Ask perhaps Dred Scott or the numerous separate but equal cases.
We have a perfectly readable, understandable, Constitution. Now we need to appoint judges who can read and understand. We need an executive and legislative branch who can read and understand. We need a nation, determined to be "One Nation, Under God, with liberty and justice for all" A nation dedicated to LIFE, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
What we don't need is a system that somehow finds a complete rejection of the recognition of God in the phrase, "Congress shall make no laws regarding the establishment of religion," yet cannot find a right to be armed in the phrase, "the Right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." We do not need a nation that finds a right of a school to send a minor child for an abortion and hides the event from the parent, yet has zero tolerance for drugs, such as an asprin, or weapons, such as a nail file.
We need to get BACK to BASIC.
amen
Yes indeed. It's seems to me this tragedy can be summed up in one word. Strip away all the surrogacy arguments, the medical opinions on mental state and the lack of written wishes and it comes down to DEFAULT. What is our society's default position when there are no prior clearly indicated decisions. There are only two positions from which to choose. Life or Death.
With Life there are a number of different outcomes that could occur. Improvement and continued life. No improvement and continued life. Deteriorating condition to a natural death.
With Death there are no alternative outcomes.
It would be my inclination that if someone, (especially a family member), provides continued food and water, then the default position ought to be to allow Life, rather than force Death.
That being said, with the air of uncertainty as to Mrs. Schiavo's wishes and the mitigating concerns regarding Mr. Schiavo's motivations I would hope this wouldn't even be a hard decision.