Sunday, bloody sunday

In some contortionist political posturing, the GOP has stuck its collective nose where it clearly doesn't belong. In an act of tyrannical zeal, the Congress has taken on what the Supreme Court already has said is a local issue.

Today's NYTimes has this:

Congressional leaders reached a compromise Saturday on legislation to force the case of Terri Schiavo into federal court, an extraordinary intervention intended to prolong the life of the brain-damaged woman whose condition has reignited a painful national debate over when medical treatment should be withdrawn.

Gop lawmakers in both the House and the Senate said they hoped to pass the compromise bill as early as Sunday. They said it would allow Ms. Schiavo's parents to ask a federal judge to restore her feeding tube on the ground that their daughter's constitutional rights were being violated by the withholding of nutrition needed to keep her alive.

and this:

Conservative lawmakers scrambled to find a way to override a Florida judge's order Friday to remove Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has maintained for years that his wife would not want to be kept alive in her current state by artificial means.

Ms. Schiavo suffered extensive brain damage when her heart stopped briefly 15 years ago due to a potassium deficiency; she remains in what doctors have testified is a "persistent vegetative state."

and this:

Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas and the House majority leader, who is at the center of the Congressional intervention, said on Saturday: "We should investigate every avenue before we take the life of a living human being. That is the very least we can do." In Crawford, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said: "Everyone recognizes that time is important here. This is about defending life."

There's that "Compassionate Conservatism" we used to hear about. Warm and fuzzy. But wait, there's more:

Republican senators had been provided with talking points about how to respond to requests about the Schiavo case, which was described by party aides as a "great political issue" that resonates with Christian conservatives.

Here's why it's all a lie:

STATE'S RIGHTS

We do foresee a larger role for state and local governments in controlling the federally assisted housing that has been so poorly managed from Washington.

We therefore support the right of states to enact Right-To-Work laws.

Our Party reaffirms the traditional primacy of states over water allocation.

The federal government gave states the flexibility to manage the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program...

So the GOP believes in State's Rights? But then again, no.

In some states, activist judges are redefining the institution of marriage.

...and we believe that neither federal nor state judges nor bureaucrats should force states to recognize other living arrangements...

And we applaud President Bush for allowing states to extend health care coverage to unborn children.

LIMITED GOVERNMENT

...we believe that the federal government should be limited and restricted to the functions mandated by the United States Constitution.

We must maintain our commitment to free and fair trade, lower taxes, limited regulation, and a limited, efficient government...

The President's management agenda is an effective for making sure government is active but limited, focusing on results and obtaining them efficiently.

...the role of the federal government must be limited as we return control to parents, teachers, and local school boards.

SMALL SPENDING

To this end, the President and Congress have massively increased spending for our nation's first responders.

Defense spending has only been higher twice since World War II

We believe that good government is based on a system of limited taxes and spending.

All discretionary spending must be kept in check...

I could go on, but this list of hypocrisy and contradiction tells a tale. And in case anyone thinks I just made this stuff up, I didn't. It's all from the 2004 Republican Party Platform.

My ppoint is that if the Party truly believed in small government, state's rights, individual freedom and responsibility, etc. then DeLay et al would sadly applaud this "drave personal decision" and walk away.

But no. Tyranny and hypocrisy have no limits when flowing from the mind of the GOP.

Be warned and beware.