Saturday, March 26, 2005
Schiavo
I’ve been loathe to discuss the Schiavo case online. The reason being, it is a wildly controversial situation that even libertarians can’t agree on. The old man posted on it and him and Kirk did a couple of rounds in the comments. I will start with an assertation.
I think this woman will die this weekend and, if and when she does, I will no longer trust our government. I’ve spent a long time trying to reconcile myself to the 2 party system and the balance of power between 3 branches, but obviously it is not working. I’ve always prided myself on not being an anti-government wacko, but I don’t think I can really get comfortable again in view of this.
First off, I believe both parties are acting in good faith (That being the parents who are pro-tube, as Mickey puts, and the husband who is anti-tube.) I think all parties are acting in accordance with their beliefs. I have no argument with them. It’s the government that has finally set me off.
As anybody who has paid attention knows, this has snaked it’s way through the Florida legal system for 7 years or so. Due to the federal intervention, it has been introduced to federal courts, all of which decline to hear it. The crux of this is the original judge’s "finding of facts". Greer (the original judge) went with the husband all the way. That may have been right or wrong, I don’t know. Appellate Courts are basically only allowed to review anything past the facts.
When Congress intervened, they intended a De Novo review by a federal court. From my understanding, this granted the courts some leeway in their adherence to the "fact finding" crap; i.e. they wouldn’t necessarily be reviewing procedural issues from the lower courts, but actually building the decision from the ground up.
As we all know, that is not what happened. Every Appellate Court has rejected the case with less than cursory review of the lower court’s findings. It’s Friday night as I write this and I don’t think a court is going to convene tomorrow just to sink their hook into shit like this.
In any case, I think the judiciary is completely out of control. I think the Congress and the President acted in violation of the Constitution. I think it’s wrong to kill people.
So while sympathizing with the libertarian faction that feels the Feebies inserted themselves wrongly (and even worse, couldn’t be effective at that) or the "right to die or kill" people, I haven’t really found a comfortable place to hang my hat with this one.
I’ll tell you this: If the government can decide what kind of speds live or die, they really don’t give a shit about the rest of your rights.
And now that I’ve seen them torture somebody to death, I will never trust any of them again.
I think this woman will die this weekend and, if and when she does, I will no longer trust our government. I’ve spent a long time trying to reconcile myself to the 2 party system and the balance of power between 3 branches, but obviously it is not working. I’ve always prided myself on not being an anti-government wacko, but I don’t think I can really get comfortable again in view of this.
First off, I believe both parties are acting in good faith (That being the parents who are pro-tube, as Mickey puts, and the husband who is anti-tube.) I think all parties are acting in accordance with their beliefs. I have no argument with them. It’s the government that has finally set me off.
As anybody who has paid attention knows, this has snaked it’s way through the Florida legal system for 7 years or so. Due to the federal intervention, it has been introduced to federal courts, all of which decline to hear it. The crux of this is the original judge’s "finding of facts". Greer (the original judge) went with the husband all the way. That may have been right or wrong, I don’t know. Appellate Courts are basically only allowed to review anything past the facts.
When Congress intervened, they intended a De Novo review by a federal court. From my understanding, this granted the courts some leeway in their adherence to the "fact finding" crap; i.e. they wouldn’t necessarily be reviewing procedural issues from the lower courts, but actually building the decision from the ground up.
As we all know, that is not what happened. Every Appellate Court has rejected the case with less than cursory review of the lower court’s findings. It’s Friday night as I write this and I don’t think a court is going to convene tomorrow just to sink their hook into shit like this.
In any case, I think the judiciary is completely out of control. I think the Congress and the President acted in violation of the Constitution. I think it’s wrong to kill people.
So while sympathizing with the libertarian faction that feels the Feebies inserted themselves wrongly (and even worse, couldn’t be effective at that) or the "right to die or kill" people, I haven’t really found a comfortable place to hang my hat with this one.
I’ll tell you this: If the government can decide what kind of speds live or die, they really don’t give a shit about the rest of your rights.
And now that I’ve seen them torture somebody to death, I will never trust any of them again.
