deanpence

The Terri Shiavo Debacle

You know I’m not one to jump out with an immediate opinion on much of anything, especially when making it very public here, but I could have when it comes to the Congressional meddling in the Terri Shiavo affair. I guess that sort of gives away my opinion, doesn’t it? Well, not exactly.

“Meddling” lets those in power off too easily. It dismisses Bush’s inane and hypocritical “err on the side of life” lies; Bill Frist’s outrageous claim that despite the fact that numerous doctors—even doctors appointed by the courts—have declared Ms. Shiavo as being in a persistent vegetative state, he thinks she’s not, and by implication, all those doctors are either lying or incompetent; and accusations by FOX news hosts that Michael Shiavo tried to murder his wife. It belittles the value of Terri Shiavo’s (and every individual’s) own dignity and independence from state coercion—even in deciding whether to be kept alive when all hope is lost—and the depth of the neoconservatives’ and fundamentalist Christians’ hatred for individual rights in the face of their own dogma. The law that Congress passed and that the president—for the first time ever—cut short his vacation to sign is a contemptible sham, a ruthless grab for power, a shameless bootlicking of the small minority of the United States who loves Jesus, hates brown people, and thinks the laws of God—not the laws of the Constitution, which were the first in the history of the world to give individuals a modicum of freedom—should rule over us without mercy.

Wake up and smell the Jesus-freaks.

I’m sick of it. I’m so sick of it, I’m going to start calling these people what they are: American Taliban. If you believe in Jesus; if you think free speech is fine and good as long as it doesn’t allow nipples on television or criticism of the president during wartime; if you think that America should run around “democratizing” nations that pose no threat to itself and cover up the evils of its allies; if you think state schools should teach religious creationism posing as science as a reasonable alternative to the scientific fact and theory of evolution; if you think the government, led by your God, should have the power to decide how and when you die; then you, yes you, fuckwad, are one of those to whom I refer as the American Taliban.

Wake up and smell the fascism.

Worse yet, if you’re an Objectivist and continue to defend the actions of Bush and the neocon cronies, if you still think they are more friends of individual liberty than John Kerry and his comparably benign welfare state, ironical fiscal restraint, and less knee-jerk foreign policy would have been, then I’ll give you two choices: You’re either incredibly stupid and thus ignorant of all the facts, or you’re a traitor to reason, an enemy of individual rights, in fact: evil. I’m tired of seeing Objectivists use the same tactics the GOP uses to beat and shame people into submission. Objectivism is about using reason to attempt to convince people of one’s position. Better yet, it’s about using one’s own mind, with reason as its tool, to judge reality—facts. No facts remain to excuse Bush and his ilk. They are enemies of truth, enemies of liberty, enemies of reason. With my mind I judge his friends to be either likewise or ignorant.

Wake up and smell the allies.

Now I’m no fan of John Kerry. I’m no fan of the other Democrats in Congress either; they seem to be cowering in terror at the GOP’s brilliant public relations campaign that is manifesting itself in a more fascist-looking agenda than we’ve seen since the McCarthy era. When is the time to stand up and be outraged? I think it’s long since passed, but if they’re biding their time, I hope it’s worth it.

And Objectivists, get over your fear of being associated with the Left. We’ve associated with the Right in the past, even when we adamantly disagreed with the majority of its platform. One could at least argue, once-upon-a-time, that the GOP was the major party most friendly to individual rights. I don’t see how you can argue it any more. Are you afraid of being associated with the welfare statists? Were you afraid of being associated with the Christian Right? No, because the GOP was more than that. Well, right now, the Democratic Party (and other Leftists and progressives) is more than universal healthcare too. They’re the only major party advocating freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to due process under the law, and other indispensible freedoms. You don’t have to start advocating the nationalization of the railroads to side with the Left in its opposition to religious fascism.

Wake up, America.

It’s past time. Fucking look. More than any other segment of American society, I’m tired of the apathetic majority—those who could afford to be apathetic when most threats to America were on the outside—and who still waste away, letting the Bush-whipped media spoonfeed them their opinions. Why aren’t you outraged yet? Are you still letting FOX News convince you that those who use the word “fascist” in association with Bush are loony conspiracy theorists? Are you still letting MSNBC tell you that the war is a rose garden? Did you forget the lies Bush has told? Aren’t you paying attention?

Wake the fuck up.