But, like it or not, the Florida legislature?s action is far closer to democracy than any judge?s decision is. If the people of Florida disagree with their legislature or their governor over this case, they can boot those officials in the next election.
Let?s see if they do.
Krugman wraps up with the real point of his piece. ?America isn?t yet a place where liberal politicians, and even conservatives who aren?t sufficiently hard-line, fear assassination. But unless moderates take a stand against the growing power of domestic extremists, it can happen here.?
What flawless logic. If we hadn?t starved a particular woman in Florida to death, every liberal politician could have been at risk of being murdered. Krugman is engaged in a clever attempt to deflect attention away from the death of one particular woman by bringing up the frightening specter of the future deaths of unnamed prominent people.
Speaking of death, let?s play a thought experiment. What if, instead of pulling Terri Schiavo?s feeding tube, Judge George Greer or her husband Michael had walked into her hospice room on March 18 and injected her with a lethal dose of morphine.
For Terri, the outcome would be the same, although she certainly would have been spared needless suffering. However, for the injector, the outcome would be much different. He?d probably be in jail today, charged with murder.
To review: A woman?s only source of food and water was shut off until she died. And, because a judge ordered it, it?s all nice and legal.
Everyone is against killing, even -- and in this case, especially -- the people Krugman calls ?extremists.? They were the ones who wanted to keep feeding Terri. It?s the person he considers a non-extremist -- Judge Greer -- who directly caused Terri Schiavo?s death.
Liberal politicians need not fear for their lives. Unless, that is, they get sick and require a feeding tube. In that case, it?ll be conservative ?extremists,? not the Paul Krugman?s of the world, who are most likely to fight to keep them alive. How ironic.