Terri Schiavo, "Conservatives," and the Media

The final weeks of Terri Schiavo's life and legal proceedings have captured the attention of the nation. This life and death struggle (literally) has not only seen over a decade of litigation, but it has also witnessed a historic Congressional intervention, droves of protestors, and for ever moment there has been a TV camera to capture the event.

This is becoming absurd.

On Tuesday night Fox News stationed a live TV crew at the Supreme Court so they could bring their viewers a live picture of the building as the Court received the Schiavo documents. Upon the Supreme Courts decision not to get involved in the case, Gov. Jeb Bush sought to gain legal custody of Schiavo. When that attempt failed protest leaders called on Gov. Bush to seize Terri Schiavo with the same force that was used to take Elian Gonzalez away from his family in the US. Showing a remarkable grasp of his job and duty, Gov. Bush stated he would not violate the court's order, according to a CBS News report. How sick is our democracy when conservatives take their victory in the 2004 election to mean they can have their elected officials violate court orders they disagree with?

But that is not only example of Republicans milking this event for every PR penny it is worth. Republicans in Congress quickly passed legislation kicking the Schiavo case into the 11th Circuit Court. Before, during, and after the legislation passed, Congressional Republicans were spending as much time with the media as possible. President Bush, in a move that was sure to win him brownie points with his loyal base, cut his vacation short to rush back to Washington and sign the legislation into law. When a tsunami hit countries in the Indian ocean causing billions of dollars in damage and thousands upon thousands of casualties US government reacted to the crisis with the speed of a snail, but one family's crisis in Florida is enough to get the government to respond with the speed of Superman on steroids, amazing.

This vast amount of media attention is fueling a worth while national debate. What is unfortunate, is this seems to be the only debate that is going on in the public eye. Where is the media attention for the Social Security conversation we need to be having as a nation? Where is the media attention for the men and women of our armed forces serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas around the world? Why are our leaders focusing on this issue when we have a growing national debt and a failing Medicare and Medicaid system? The world rushed aid (and news crews) to the disaster stricken areas affected by the tsunami, but the media attention was short lived. To date, billions of dollars are needed to rebuild lives, villages, countries that were destroyed in that horrific natural disaster.

We need to refocus on what is really important and our elected leaders need to confront the pressing issues facing our nation and the world. Terri Schiavo's fate will impact the lives of those around her. The fate of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and our decisions on domestic and international policies will have an affect on a much larger group of people for a much greater amount of time. The majority of Americans voted for a Republican leadership, I think it is high time the Republicans start providing some meaningful leadership on issues that matter.