Ok, I was wrong. My open letter to my congressional representative, Congressman Tierney:

I am writing to you to express EXTREME opposition to any attempt by the federal government to inject themselves into what is fundamentally a state and personal issue.

Specifically:

* No credible doctor suggests that Mrs. Schiavo can interact. Her motor functions are involuntary. She no longer has a cerebral cortex, it's filled with spinal fluid. This is not in doubt.

* An ad litem was appointed by the courts on behalf of Terri Schiavo. That person's sole interest is Terri Schiavo's, not the husband, not the family, not the legislature. The ad litem has found that Mr. Schiavo spent four years providing exceptional care for Mrs. Schiavo and only after the situation became hopeless did he request that Terri's wishes be honored.

* That same report described Mr. Schiavo as a "nursing home nightmare" due to his insistence on exceptional care for his wife. It notes that in fourteen years, thanks to her husband's dilligence, Mrs. Schiavo has never so much as had a bed sore.

* That same report notes that the use of the money awareded to Mr. Schiavo for the care of his wife was both meticulously documented and not even in his control. There is no doubt that she has been given exceptional medical care.

The bottom line here is Terri's wishes.

If her wishes are to stay alive, then I suggest that we do so as long as it is reasonable to do so or indefinitely if her providers can afford it. If her wish is to die, then that is her business. No Democrat or Republican has any business whatsoever injecting themselves to further their own ends.

Frankly, Tom DeLay's attempt to find something, ANYTHING to associate himself with other than ethics lapses is beyond what even I thought politicians were capable of. And this is the party of less intrusive government?

I will not only not support any candidate that supports this measure, I will withhold my support for any candidate that does not open their mouth to fight it. I know how to mobilize opposition and I will not hesitate to do so.

Sincerely,
Jason A. Desjardins

I'm really fucking pissed off. They don't want to legalize marijuana, ok. Maybe there are some sincere doubts mixed with all the political wrangling. Someone wants to overhaul Social Security and there are differences of opinion on how to go about doing it; expected. But this is about one thing and one thing only and that's Terri's wishes.

Every time that I think the Republicans have reached a new low, they prove me wrong. And half the country supports him.

I used to say I love the country but hate the leaders. I'm beginning to hate the country, too.

"Congress's overreaching flies in the face of our entire system of checks and balances, trashes the partial sovereignty of the states, and flouts the protections our laws afford state adjudication from drive-by attacks by those disaffected with the results," says Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University law professor.