Greetings. As if there was ever any doubt, Congress is giving us all a dramatic lesson in arrogance par excellence. Be injecting themselves into the tragedy of brain-dead Terri Schiavo, they have demonstrated that their political posturing knows no bounds.

While sympathy for Terri's parents and other blood relatives is appropriate, and though it is understandable that they don't wish to let her go -- particularly considering the tenets of their Roman Catholic beliefs -- their insistence that her mindless body be kept alive has become grotesque.

No dispensations are available for Congress, especially for the right-wing, "right to life"-pandering Senators and Representatives who are pushing through special legislation to try transfer the case to federal courts, after practically innumerable prior courts have ruled that the poor woman should be allowed to die.

We've come to expect such shameful shenanigans from many in the GOP. But in this case, most Democrats, shaking in their boots at the prospect of upsetting religious fanatics, have shown all the spine of jellyfishes when it comes to this egregious violation of personal and even states' rights.

And what of President Bush? He's ready to come flying back to Washington (at taxpayers' expense of course -- even though he could easily handle this without leaving his Crawford digs) to sign this abomination of intrusive legislation with public fanfare for the maximal political impact.

Of course, this isn't the last step. The new law itself may well be declared to be unconstitutional. Federal courts may find that the rulings of the state courts were completely appropriate, and that Terri should be allowed to die after all.

And then what will Congress and the President do? They've already shown that they care more about prolonging the life of one brain-dead body than the lives of our troops still being killed in Iraq. And is this the same President Bush who is pushing for reductions in Veteran health benefits, and the slashing of Medicaid? How many lives would those actions ultimately snuff out?

But there's actually a solution for Bush even if all the future court rulings regarding Terri go against the President and Congress. He can simply order that Terri be subjected to "rendition" and be spirited off to some country where her body can be force-fed forever, regardless of what U.S. courts have to say.

After all, it's the same technique he uses to arrange for torture that isn't legal in the U.S. -- and keeping Terri alive at this point is torture, to her dignity, to privacy, and to common decency.

--Lauren--