By Sean Kosofsky
{ITAL The Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 provides that: "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed."
Definition of Bill of Attainder: A legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.}
I am not alone in saying the whole unfortunate three-ring circus of the Terry Schiavo story was probably one of the most absurd and embarrassing episodes in the reality show: "American Insanity."
How can a small group of policy makers in our nation's capital be so misguided, so out of touch with Americans and still get so much crazy legislation passed?
Hypocrisy. Say one thing and do another. These same hypocrites swarmed around the body of Terry Schiavo as if she were the lost Arc, the Shroud of Turin or some other sacred key to the gates of heaven. It was truly pathetic and terrifying to witness the right wing crusade to save her life, if you can call her condition "living."
These hypocrites trying to "save" the life of Schiavo also support the death penalty. Some launched death threats against unsupportive judges. Hypocrites working to eliminate health insurance for working Americans, want Schiavo on life support forever, regardless of the cost. Hypocrites who want the government out of our private lives called a special meeting of Congress to force a tube down a poor woman's throat. This should have been left alone as one of the most basic of private family medical decisions.
This comes dangerously close to violating the Constitutional ban on bills of attainder. Forcing her doctor to re-insert her feeding tube is crossing the line in my mind. Passing legislation designed around one person is BAD public policy. This has happened in the case of sex offender registries (Megan Kanka), bans on physician-assisted suicide (Jack Kevorkian) and others.
The Schiavo case is actually a much larger and more sophisticated attack on the judiciary. The right wing used Schiavo to run around the country slandering every judge and court that did not agree with them as morally bankrupt and calling them "activists." This assault began after Roe v Wade protected a woman's right to an abortion thirty years ago, but exploded into a rabid anti-judge campaign beginning with Lawrence v Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court case striking down every sodomy law in America. Lawrence handed the gay community the best language yet to win the rest of our equality.
The courts have always been ahead of the curve on civil rights. We understand most of our civil rights today by way of court decisions and legal interpretations of laws that have been passed. The fundamentalists who control Congress and the White House will not be content until they have a monopoly on all three branches of government. The best way to win confirmation for right-wing judicial nominees is to convince the American people that the courts have run amok. With a steady stream of tabloid-style accusations about judges they hope to prepare the populace for decisions that will "save the soul of America."
The right-wing now talks about impeaching U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy simply because he is left-of-center. They recalled California Governor Gray Davis, so what will stop them this time? President Bush and others are threatening the "nuclear option" of eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate so they can pack the courts with as many demagogues as possible.
Shiavo was a tool and a red herring. She was a distraction, once again, from the real goals of the right wing. Extremists want to get their foot in the door of the Supreme Court and Schiavo is their shoehorn.
