No, they do not let him on the air waves. Yes, it is
just an op-ed piece on their Web site. But if Dick
Meyer still has a editorial director of the SeeBS News
web site next week, we might have a fighting chance of
saving the already dangerously compromised US
Constitution...Here it is. Take hope and solace in
this story...There is a lot of powerful news today:
for example, the brave protest of Australian Labor and
Green MPs who got in the _resident's face and on the
air waves (even here is Oceania). Their names are
going on the John O'Neil Wall of Heroes. AND Amy
Goodman's DemocracyNow! broadcast a wonderful and
brilliant talk Michael Moore gave last week in
SF...BUT this story (considering its source)is very,
very important. Yes, Meyer has written some
hard-hitting stuff before, but believe it or not the
headline of the story reads: Bush Brothers become Big
Brother...Remember, you are not alone...
"This has been terrifying week for people who are concerned about big government meddling in families’ most personal and painful decisions. I would say it’s been a terrible week for conservatives, but most of the people who call themselves conservatives are celebrating and crowing. I think they’re radicals. "
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/opinion/meyer/main579620.shtml
Bush Brothers Become Big Brother
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2003
The idea of legislatures, governors and presidents
dictating what families can do in these most private
situations is mind-boggling. It is as intrusive as
government can be.
(CBS) In his latest Against the Grain commentary,
CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer looks at government
interference in personal decisions.
This has been terrifying week for people who are
concerned about big government meddling in families’
most personal and painful decisions. I would say it’s
been a terrible week for conservatives, but most of
the people who call themselves conservatives are
celebrating and crowing. I think they’re radicals.
I’m referring, of course, to the unprecedented
intervention of Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida
legislature in the tragic case of Terri Schiavo, and
to the Senate vote, supported by President Bush,
banning a certain type of procedure to terminate
pregnancies in cases where the mother’s life or health
are at risk. The idea of legislatures, governors and
presidents dictating what families can do in these
most private situations is mind-boggling. It is as
intrusive as government can be. It is, in both cases,
almost certainly unconstitutional.
The courts have spoken at length and clearly on both
of these issues. The Senate, the Florida legislature
and the Bush brothers are doing end-runs to circumvent
the rulings.
In the case of Terri Schiavo, 19 judges in six
different courts have weighed the evidence and heard
the arguments. They have all found that Michael
Schiavo, Terri’s husband, has the legal authority to
discontinue the artificial feeding and hydration that
has kept his brain-damaged wife biologically alive for
13 years. No court has found that Terri Schiavo has
even the remotest chance of leaving her present, sad
condition. And the Supreme Court, in the 1990 decision
involving a Missouri woman named Nancy Cruzan,
affirmed the right and legality of terminating
artificial feeding and hydrating in these situations.
As for the Senate bill, the Supreme Court three years
ago overturned a very similar bill passed in Nebraska.
Legislatures in 31 states have passed similar bills
dealing with the controversial procedure and courts
have nixed most of them already. The bill will be in
court soon after the president signs it.
The political energy behind both of these government
interventions comes from the right-to-life movement. I
do not in any way dismiss or disrespect their views
and their devotion to protecting the sanctity of all
human life. Every family should be free to refuse the
termination of life support or artificial feeding if
that is their considered judgment. Every woman and
every couple should have the right to refuse a
late-term abortion procedure if they are in that
painful situation.
And every family should be free to decide otherwise,
unconstrained by a Big Brother government.
Opponents of late-term abortion and the “right to die”
do not have a state morality imposed on their most
personal choices. They may not care to live in a
society where such things are allowed, but nothing is
imposed on their lives. Our rights are about the
prohibition of government intrusion in the most
personal and valued parts of our lives.
What I cannot stomach is hearing the Brothers Bush,
who have presided over a sibling world-record number
of executions, talk about the sanctity of all human
life. The sanctity of the right-to-life interests in
the Republican Party -- maybe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dick Meyer, the Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, is
based in Washington. For many years, he was a
political and investigative producer for The CBS News
Evening News With Dan Rather.