Schiavo

I've tried not to obsess about the Terry Schiavo case down in Florida, because it's all so ridiculous. I mean, this lady could have a massive, miraculous, unprecedented recovery and she's still be so mentally disabled that she'd need constant supervision. In reality, she will never recover. She's not even "alive" in a meaningful sense - her frontal cortext no longer exists, having been replaced by spinal fluid. I don't remember who said it first, but saying that Ms. Schiavo could recover is tantamount to saying that an amputee's limb could grow back. That hasn't kept the US Congress from looking like a bunch of morons.

The legal precedent is worth noting. The US Congress has taken a case from the state level, declared all previous trials null and void, and put the case in the federal judicial system. This means the Supreme Court is likely to be called to rule on it now, after Rehnquist et al refused to hear the case last week. There's good reason to think that, no matter what happens, the Supreme Court will rule that the latest laws are unconstitutional and that her feeding tube should be removed.

That will probably give the right their win-win: Either they scream themsevles hoarse about judicial activism, or they get to imprison a lady's soul in a prison of meat for another decade. A good day's work.

Meanwhile, Canada remains the bastion of sanity:

"In Canada, the legal situation would, should be perfectly clear: He would be recognized at the legal decision-maker and his decision would have been upheld," Sumner said.