Those of us who remember the Cold War should be able to easily see how the Neocons are pushing into the attitude of the old Soviet Union leadership, where a person was not an individual but a posession of The State. After courts agreed with the Paleonconservative belief that a person's life is their own, and their wishes must be honored, Jeb Bush insists that The State must 'protect' Schiavo from her own decisions as they would be fulfilled by her husband.
Those who bother to check into the history of the situation are aware that in the early days (fifteen years ago), husband Michael took Terri for various types of treatment which turned out to be ineffective. In fact, the parents only broke with the husband after he was awarded malpractice awards, and the parents insisted on a cut of the money. At that point, Michael was sued by the parents to be removed as guardian. A guardian was later assigned, and the first report that Terri was in a permanent vegetative state was on December 20, 1998.
Another irony is that while the Neocons are trying to 'save' a person whose higher functions are definitely gone, the same Congress that is cutting Medicaid, barring the Senate's revision to restore some of the cuts that were made. It is Medicaid that is paying for Terri's hospitalization.
Your Money or Your Life
In a flood of irony, one of the things that both Neocons and 'Republican Moderates'(Paleocons) push for, especially with the Social Security 'privatization' scheme, is to allow a person control of their own money. However, it appears Neocons do not consider that a person's LIFE is their own. Money? That you should control. Your Life? That is property of The State.
Snakeoil Congress
The members of Congress who voted to override the medical and legal opinions of the doctors and jurists who have made their statements in the Shiavo case are indeed making themselves eligible for arrest for Practicing Medicine Without A License. Although the Constitution[Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2] allows members to avoid indictment and arrest for some of their activities, there is a definite notation that they are NOT totally immune to arrest in case of Felonies. The exception would be Rep. Frist, an M.D., who should be sued for Malpractice (his 'examination' of Terry Schiavo consisted of viewing edited videotapes from the fifteen YEARS that she has been vegetative, no actual physical or other examination.. would you want to be diagnosed by a doctor over the phone?). This would also be consistent with the Neocon shift from evidence, experiment and verification, meaning that we would be subject to 'faith based medicine'. To expand, if a medical doctor determined that a certain treatment would be most effective for a patient, based on past research and knowledge, they could be overruled by,for instance, a minister who 'believed' that the treatment would not be effective, with no basis other than opinion.
Iraq - Arabic for Viet Nam
Besides the obvious parallels between the VN 'war' and Iraq (no immediate danger to the U.S., no declaration of war, opposition by the Public, etc.) another old bugaboo has returned. The DOMINO THEORY. Discredited after the fall of South Viet Nam, it has been dusted off and reversed to give G.W. Bush more 'ammunition' in the Neocon propaganda. With the elections having succeeded (in a manner of speaking) in Iraq, subsequent unrelated events have been pulled into a loose confederation of disinformation.
The death of Yassir Arafat is the reason why Israel and the Palestinians have begun to talk more openly, which would lead to the logical conclusion that the Neocons are subtly insinuation he was assassinated by the U.S., which would be the only way that they can take credit.
Lebanon's 'uprising' against Syria was triggered by the assassination of popular former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Again, the Neocons would have to be claiming responsibility for this to be related to the Iraq invasion.
