Thanks Wojtek for discussing this so sanely. I couldn't agree more that we need to fight the fascism that is establishing itself too deeply in this country. But I don't see that the Bushes and Congress were the main ones promoting fascism. The label of fascist belongs to Judge Greer, Felos, Dr. Crandon, and Michael Schiavo. Maybe the Bushes and Congress were honestly trying to do the right thing, but I find it hard to believe and am more inclined to think they were trying to score political points with the Christian right and the disability rights people on the left. I fault them for making an intolerable situation of state control even worse by trying to get federal control in on the act. Neither state nor fed should have been involved.
This issue about Schiavo and the rights of disabled people does not track nicely down the left / right political alignments. I'm seeing the split occur on both right and left biased lists, where a brand new fence has been created. I'm also seeing this issue break ranks in personal discussions. For the first time in decades, my parents and I, who are on opposite sides politically, agree with each other on an issue. This "coming together" is very encouraging to see and I'm seeing it increase over time as people consider the situation more deeply.
I believe it would be a serious case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater if we were to support a fascist attitude towards disabled people just to oppose the Christian right. And while I see some similarities to the abortion issue, I think it may be a mistake to try to connect the two. The only underlying commonality to both issues that I can see is that private choice of the family who would care for that life is tantamount and is not something the state has any right to determine for us with its laws or its justice system.
--tully