The Measure of a Man (Part II)

It looks like two male bloggers I admire don't get it.   They're being dispassionate about Terri Shiavo.  They're trying to reason this drama.  Uh, no.

Deacon at Powerline says he has "followed the  case, of course, but no more closely than I expect our readers have."  And then he goes on to say,

I strongly disagree with the decision to remove the tubes that were keeping Terri Schiavo alive, based on the potentially self-serving testimony of a husband with serious conflicts of interest. However, I don't believe it was proper for Congress to pass an ex post facto law to render ineffective the outcome of state court proceedings.

Argh!!!!!  Yes, of course it's a terrible thing, but....

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit agrees with Bill Hobbs who makes two big mistakes.  First, he gives Michael Shiavo the benefit of the doubt in a most dispassionate way, and then calls Congress' actions unconstitutional and tisks tisks this kind of dangerous legal precedent.

Some men just don't get it.  This isn't a policy issue, fellas.  This isn't a social issue.  This isn't an opportunity to pose and analyze.  There is a woman dying, what would you do to save her?  Being dispassionate and giving her husband the benefit of the doubt isn't an option.  You have to make a clear, moral decision that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with law.  This is the life of an innocent woman, about to be ended by her husband and a mob of sneering elites.  It's the difference between injustice [the "unconstitutional" argument of Bill Hobbs] and Injustice [the murder of an innocent].  Moral ambiguity does not exist in this case, and to try to impose it is to look like a coward. 

And in my heart of hearts I know neither of you are.  So, take the leap.

Who cares whether what the Congress did was "unconstitutional?"  The Supreme Court has been setting dangerous precedents since the 1970s.  Nowadays there isn't a law from Belgium, Canada or Togo they aren't willing to use to invent another right for some Aggrieved.   Congress regulates practically every aspect of our lives, from the contents of toothpaste to the quality of our water.  You're going to tell me this is unprecedented?  Spare me.  The world will turn round-and-round whether this law was written or not.

We're in Holy Week.  On Friday we commemorate the greatest Injustice ever committed.  It should bring cause to pause and consider the differences between injustice and Injustice.  And when, just when, would either of you act in the face of Injustice.  Or would you, like Pontius Pilate, pose with a sophistic analysis of the situation [What is Truth?] and then wash your hands of the whole thing [calling it "unconstitutional"]?

Sad, that murder of an innocent woman, but, it was unconstitutional to do anything about it.  Would you like some more Chardonnay, dear?

Never fear, gentlemen, you don't get a pass for this cowardice.  While we're on a Dante theme this week, I'd like to remind you that there's a place in Hell for the dispassionate, too.

'Master, for me their meaning is hard.'

And he, as one who understood:
'Here you must banish all distrust,

here must all cowardice be slain.
'We have come to where I said
you would see the miserable sinners

who have lost the good of the intellect.'
And after he had put his hand on mine
with a reassuring look that gave me comfort,

he led me toward things unknown to man.
Now sighs, loud wailing, lamentation
resounded through the starless air,

so that I too began to weep.
Unfamiliar tongues, horrendous accents,
words of suffering, cries of rage, voices

loud and faint, the sound of slapping hands—
all these made a tumult, always whirling
in that black and timeless air,

as sand is swirled in a whirlwind.
And I, my head encircled by error, said:
'Master, what is this I hear, and what people

are these so overcome by pain?'
And he to me: 'This miserable state is borne
by the wretched souls of those who lived

without disgrace yet without praise.
'They intermingle with that wicked band
of angels, not rebellious and not faithful

to God, who held themselves apart.
'Loath to impair its beauty, Heaven casts them out,
and depth of Hell does not receive them

lest on their account the evil angels gloat.'
And I: 'Master, what is so grievous to them,
that they lament so bitterly?'

He replied: 'I can tell you in few words.
'They have no hope of death,
and their blind life is so abject

that they are envious of every other lot.
'The world does not permit report of them.
Mercy and justice hold them in contempt.

Let us not speak of them—look and pass by.'
And I, all eyes, made out a whirling banner
that ran so fast it seemed as though

it never could find rest.
Behind it came so long a file of people
that I could not believe

death had undone so many.
After I recognized a few of these,
I saw and knew the shade of him

who, through cowardice, made the great refusal.
At once with certainty I understood
this was that worthless crew

hateful alike to God and to His foes.
These wretches, who never were alive,
were naked and beset

by stinging flies and wasps
that made their faces stream with blood,
which, mingled with their tears,

was gathered at their feet by loathsome worms.