Robert Robb of the Arizona Republic discusses why Congressional involvement in the Schiavo matter and baseball's steroid problem is both troublesome and merely another crack in the wall of our liberties.
I think Congress should not be involved in the baseball situation at all, and that the Schiavo matter should never have come to this point. Here is part of Robb's take on the Schiavo matter, but you should read the whole thing (emphases added):
[S]ocial conservatives pushed so hard for Congress to act in this case and in this way[, which] is highly revealing in a couple of respects.
In the first place, it illustrates that social conservatives don't have the same sense of restraint about federal authority that has characterized traditional conservatism. Like liberals, social conservatives often judge political actions by their results, not their propriety. Terri Schiavo should live, therefore Congress should act.
Second, the alacrity with which Congress and President Bush acted - a special Sunday session of Congress, the president flying back from Crawford, Texas, and being awakened at 1 a.m. to sign the bill - indicates that, within the Republican Party, social conservatives are clearly in the ascendancy.
Republicans supported the special Schiavo legislation with nary a pause to consider whether their involvement was appropriate.
But by the light of day, the question lingers. The country is full of family tragedies, conflicts and difficult ethical decisions. Which of these private poignancies are Congress' business, and which are not?
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