The Kingdom of Florida

This morning, my friend Tom sent me a link to an article on the Terri Schiavo forced feeding case in Florida.

Long after this obscene piece of legislation is nullified, long after Terri Schiavo is left to die in peace, Bush and the others who staged this cruel charade will be touting their righteous stand to fundamentalist supporters.

Meanwhile, all of us who have watched loved ones fade away and struggled with life-and-death decisions can only shudder at the prospect of surrendering such heavy responsibility to a total stranger.

Not a doctor, not a judge, not a clergyman -- but a vote-grubbing politician.

...The law is historic for its reach, its transparency and its lack of legal scholarship. Never have Florida's executive and legislative branches so openly conspired to subvert the judiciary.

Several moderate Republicans were disturbed not only by the precedent, but by appearing to take political advantage of such a painful dilemma as the Schiavo case.

Senate President Jim King, one of the earliest supporters of right-to-die legislation, said, "I keep thinking, 'What if Terri didn't want this to be done at all?' May God have mercy on all of us."

Well, God's mercy is highly questionable these days.

But, to the point, Senator King: You have no way of knowing what Terri wanted. What you need to decide is whether this latest bit of political immorality is acceptable to the people of the State of Florida.

Speaking of kings, my friend Tom, commenting on the authority that the Bush family presumes and grabs, noted that the Kennedy family was always talked about as "royalty" (although they seemed to be infinitely more concerned about the welfare of their subjects than the Bush monarchs) and wondered whether there were other families in America's history who assumed the same stance. He mentioned the Adamses.

Recently, I've been reading a bit about the San Francisco graft trials in the early 1900s, which prominently includes the Claus (sugar king) Spreckels family. I've had the belief for a long time that, coming from the British tradition of a monarchy, America has never really let go of the idea. It seems that George Washington was actually offered the title of King after the revolution and turned it down. (Some say the populace demanded, not offered, the position.) I imagine that, historically, American people were more inclined to treat certain wealthy and powerful figures with more deference than the same types get today. But we're never very far away from the question. Purportedly, the Bush family is related to England's royalty. Maybe it's in their blood. Maybe it's in their heads - that they should have the right to rule.

Maybe it's simply human nature. Somebody always wants to be king. And, interestingly, a large number of people actually seem to want a king (or a god, for what is a king but a god's earthly rep?). To appeal to, I suppose. To worship. To revile. To avoid having to take personal responsibility for one's own life and condition perhaps.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.