Late Sunday night President Bush signed a bill that would allow the case of Terry Schiavo to be heard in a Federal District Court in Florida. The president issued a statement that read in part: "Our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life." I, for one, am really tired of this "culture of life" propaganda that this administration keeps using to energize its religious base. So let's look at the president's "culture of life," not in terms of the propaganda-laced tirades that we hear spewed around every time there's political ground to be gained, but in terms of what is actually being done to preserve this "culture of life" at ground zero.Well, first there's Bush's stint as Governor of Texas where he de facto presided over the Texas criminal justice system, a.k.a. "The Rocket Docket to the Death Chamber." Not only did Texas executions alone outpace the rest of the country during that time period, Bush even went so far as to mock those being put to death (see Karla Faye Tucker). Then of course there's the ever-popular war in Iraq, where the "culture of life" is spread to many innocent Iraqis via cluster bombs of collateral damage. Of course, we are at least going to take great care to ensure that our own servicemen's lives are protected, right? Sorry. When it comes to budgetary concerns, this administration's "culture of life" values tax cuts for the rich over veterans' benefits. His "culture of life" unrelentingly seeks to protect unborn fetuses, but stops short of making sure all of them have proper medical care after they are born, again recommending large cuts in Medicaid to make up budget deficits run up on his watch. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.Personally I think that an emphasis on life is a good approach to the complex moral questions our society faces. Unfortunately, the political propaganda being regurgitated by this deceitful administration is a poor substitute for the duties and responsibilities a true culture of life would place on all of us.
Matthew Moberg off-campusgraduate studentMarch 21
