Monday, March 28, 2005
Adventures In Hypocrisy
While on vacation in the land of Schiavo, I often had occassion to ponder recent events that have taken place in the Southeastern-most state of our union. While it's hard to avoid the debate over Terri, we must not forget the 2000 and 2004 elections, the hurricanes, My Pet Goat, and a multitude of other events that have continued to garner our attention. But one thing struck me as particularly odd as I lunched on a $6.00 hot dog in the Magic Kingdom last week. That one thing was the opposing viewpoints taken by the conservatives in Florida's two most popular custody cases of recent memory. One of those cases, of course, is the case of Terri Schiavo, while the other is that of Elian Gonzalez.
As you may recall, Elian Gonzalez was a young Cuban boy whose mother had died while trying to defect to the United States. Elian was taken in by some of his relatives only to have his father win a court battle allowing him to take Elian back home to Cuba. The conservative standpoint was that Elian should be allowed to stay here in the United States therefore arguing against parental rights. On the other hand, the conservative viewpoint in the Terri Schiavo case is that the Schindlers, Terri's parents, should have the authority to override the wishes of her husband thereby arguing for parental rights.
It appears as if the conservative party is more beholden to their evangelical base than they'd like to admit. Whichever way that evangelical wind blows, expect the party to be swaying. It's pathetic really, when a political party becomes controlled by a group of activists like this. They should be ashamed. I was told that they were the party of decisiveness and resoluteness. Apparently that's only if the evangelicals say it's okay. I wonder if their mommies still have to help them wipe their asses too?
As you may recall, Elian Gonzalez was a young Cuban boy whose mother had died while trying to defect to the United States. Elian was taken in by some of his relatives only to have his father win a court battle allowing him to take Elian back home to Cuba. The conservative standpoint was that Elian should be allowed to stay here in the United States therefore arguing against parental rights. On the other hand, the conservative viewpoint in the Terri Schiavo case is that the Schindlers, Terri's parents, should have the authority to override the wishes of her husband thereby arguing for parental rights.
It appears as if the conservative party is more beholden to their evangelical base than they'd like to admit. Whichever way that evangelical wind blows, expect the party to be swaying. It's pathetic really, when a political party becomes controlled by a group of activists like this. They should be ashamed. I was told that they were the party of decisiveness and resoluteness. Apparently that's only if the evangelicals say it's okay. I wonder if their mommies still have to help them wipe their asses too?
