Readers here are probably sick to death of our comments on the Schiavo affair, even though we’ve tried to keep those comments within the context of local media, political, and medical issues.
Still, it’s difficult to refrain from comment when the local newspaper treats the matter in that condescending, partisan, one-sided manner that so frequently drives us to distraction.
Take today’s conclusion by the editorial board about the legislation passed by Congress to give a federal court jurisdiction to hear the Schiavo case:
Such behavior, exhibited by people who once preached limited government and states’ rights to decide such matters of life and death, goes beyond mere hypocrisy. It is unprincipled and springs from a deep cynicism about politics and the exercise of power.
One may disagree with it, but there is a principled, conservative, and even compassionate case to be made for the federal action. We need not look further than the Declaration, which serves as an effective preamble to our Constitution (and before that, the Articles), for justification:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men….
Additionally, there’s my political blogging muse Orrin Judd, who asks (in response to Robert Scheer):
What remains of the Left if it objects to using government in defense of the defenseless?
For the Chronicle editorial board, of course, such protection of the truly innocent might include babies in the womb, and THAT hits a little close to home.
So, for the Chron idealists, it’s apparently best simply to attribute base, hypocritical motives to favorite bad guys.
And not just on the editorial pages. It’s as good an opportunity as any to smear favorite “bad guy” Tom DeLay with the same editorial brush, but on the news pages. And for that matter, why not run the results of some dubious polling on the issue, so long as it makes the “bad guys” look bad.
We’ve had an ongoing discussion of some of these issues in our forum, and while there has been disagreement, there has also been recognition that the issues are complex and respect of opinions honestly held. Wouldn’t it be nice if the city’s only newspaper could have such a tolerant view of diverse viewpoints, instead of simply demonizing those with whom it disagrees?
