Damn them

That's what I keep saying, out loud and to myself, over and over as I read about Congressional intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.

Damn them to hell.

What gives any politician the right to intervene in this case? How can they make one family's excrutiating ordeal into a political football?

And the latest atrocity?

Washington lawmakers continued the struggle this morning to prevent doctors in Florida from removing a feeding tube this afternoon from a severely brain-damaged woman.

Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee and the Senate majority leader, issued a statement saying that the woman, Terry Schiavo, and her husband, Michael, were being invited to testify in a Congressional inquiry into the matter later this month.


The statement pointed out that Federal law protects witnesses called before Congress "from anyone who may obstruct or impede a witness's attendance or testimony."

The maneuver is the latest step by lawmakers determined to keep Ms. Schiavo alive to prevent her feeding tube from being disconnected, scheduled for 1 p.m. today.

"The Senate and House remain dedicated to saving Terry Schiavo's life," Mr. Frist said in the statement. He said they were requesting the Schiavos' presence at a hearing on March 28. "The purpose of the hearing is to review health care policies and practices relevant to the care of nonambulatory persons such as Mrs. Schiavo."

Michael Schiavo is Terry's guardian. Her parents ceased to be responsible for her the day she got married. I am willing to bet that most people have told their partners/spouses/lovers more than they have ever told their own parents about the most intimate and important details of their lives. I will bet good money Michael Schiavo knew Terry better than her parents did.

The fact that there are now Congressional committees involved in this, along with the courts and state legislatures, is an abomination. For all the Republicans bitching about trial lawyers and activist judges, they sure salivate like Pavlov's dogs when they can use either to make a political point.

Damn them to hell.