In love with death

Peggy Noonan does her usual excellent job of narrating how many of us feel about a topic; this time it's the Terri Schiavo situation. Please read the whole thing. This excerpt goes to her central point:

I do not understand the emotionalism of the pull-the-tube people. What is driving their engagement? Is it because they are compassionate, and their hearts bleed at the thought that Mrs. Schiavo suffers? But throughout this case no one has testified that she is in persistent pain, as those with terminal cancer are.

If they care so much about her pain, why are they unconcerned at the suffering caused her by the denial of food and water? And why do those who argue for Mrs. Schiavo's death employ language and imagery that is so violent and aggressive? The chairman of the Democratic National Committee calls Republicans "brain dead." Michael Schiavo, the husband, calls House Majority Leader Tom DeLay "a slithering snake."

Everyone who has written in defense of Mrs. Schiavo's right to live has received e-mail blasts full of attacks that appear to have been dictated by the unstable and typed by the unhinged. On Democratic Underground they crowed about having "kicked the sh-- out of the fascists." On Tuesday James Carville's face was swept with a sneer so convulsive you could see his gums as he damned the Republicans trying to help Mrs. Schiavo. It would have seemed demonic if he weren't a buffoon.

Why are they so committed to this woman's death?

They seem to have fallen half in love with death.

What does Terri Schiavo's life symbolize to them? What does the idea that she might continue to live suggest to them?

Why does this prospect so unnerve them? Again, if you think Terri Schiavo is a precious human gift of God, your passion is explicable. The passion of the pull-the-tube people is not.

I do not understand their certainty. I don't "know" that any degree of progress or healing is possible for Terri Schiavo; I only hope they are. We can't know, but we can "err on the side of life." How do the pro-death forces "know" there is no possibility of progress, healing, miracles? They seem to think they know. They seem to love the phrases they bandy about: "vegetative state," "brain dead," "liquefied cortex."

Next stop: Kyrgyzstan

Courtesy of My Way News:

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) - Hundreds of opposition demonstrators stormed the presidential compound in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, seizing the seat of state power after clashing with riot police during a large rally.

Thick plumes of black smoke rose from the vicinity of the government headquarters hours after the takeover as many of the protesters milled about, and a fire truck arrived at the scene.

Imprisoned Kyrgyz opposition leader Felix Kulov was freed as protesters took control of key government facilities, the Interfax news agency reported, citing opposition sources.

Kulov, once a vice president under embattled President Askar Akayev, was imprisoned in 2000 on embezzlement charges that supporters said were politically motivated. His release could be a key element in unifying the Kyrgyz opposition, which until now has lacked a single clear leader.

The whereabouts of Akayev were not known. He had been scheduled to meet Thursday with an envoy from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, seeking to help mediate the crisis.

Deep trouble

Claudia Rosett, the Wall Street Journal's columnist extraordinaire, sums it up very nicely in her latest column. Read the whole thing, but here's her conclusion:

In presenting his grand soufflé of a reform plan, Mr. Annan promised to work hard. We now face months of leaks about the latest in Mr. Annan's personal telephone diplomacy, leading up to his reform jamboree this September in New York. While this goes on, it would be useful to keep in mind that the real push for a better world on Mr. Annan's watch has come not from the U.N. but from a Bush administration that Mr. Annan has done plenty to thwart and revile. Mr. Annan includes high-sounding words in his report about U.N. "support" for elections in Iraq. They ring hollow when you consider that had Mr. Annan and the U.N. prevailed instead of Mr. Bush, Iraqis would still be living under Saddam (and the U.N. would still be running the rotten Oil for Food program).

How to reform the U.N. is a big question, in need of real debate and workable proposals from some quarter. What we got from Mr. Annan as he presented this latest menu for U.N. improvement was his warning that no one should pick and choose among his proposals "a la carte." Great. If he really wants all or nothing, the next move is to toss this report, and start looking for a secretary-general who can get it right.

Quote for the day

I hate liberality - nine times out of ten it is cowardice, and the tenth time lack of principle.

   Henry Addington