The score, as of right now:

Convicted Wife Killers:
Scott Peterson

Free Wife Killers:
O.J. Simpson
Michael Schiavo

Looks like the bad guys are up by one.

It’s hard to be objective right now. I will try to be, though. At least to some degree. The purpose of this entry is not to rant and rave during the height of my anger over the murder of Terri Schiavo. The point... hopefully a point I will pursue with some objectivity, we’ll see... is to point out two articles about the Schiavo case that got my attention over the past couple of days.

David Brooks wrote about it with more objectivity and with better focus than I could ever hope to. He sums up the arguments on both sides of this case with what strikes me as objective accuracy. In fact, the article itself doesn’t really give away his personal position on the matter:

The weakness of the social conservative case is that for most of us, especially in these days of advanced medical technology, it is hard to ignore distinctions between different modes of living. In some hospital rooms, there are people living forms of existence that upon direct contact do seem even worse than death.

The central weakness of the liberal case is that it is morally thin. Once you say that it is up to individuals or families to draw their own lines separating life from existence, and reasonable people will differ, then you are taking a fundamental issue out of the realm of morality and into the realm of relativism and mere taste.

It’s a good piece, worth reading, and you can click here to do so.

I really came out of my chair when I read this item from Carol Towarnicky, however. Her piece on the Schiavo case enraged me. It might be the most offensive editorial I’ve ever read. I will stop short of calling Ms. Towarnicky an arrogant, short-sighted, bitter, self-righteous moron. What good would that do? It would only make me look bad, so I won’t do it. I will, however, open up on some of what she says. And I’m not going to make that much of an effort to reign in my anger. I don’t really have a reason to. So... Ms. Towarnicky, who I have not referred to, I’ll remind you, as a pompous, audacious, malignant cur of a journalist, had this to say:

Throughout this sad case, right-wing religious advocates and their political frontmen - aided in part by a lazy, if not corrupt, news media - have exploited a family mad with hope.... No doubt drawing on experience gained in the extremist anti-abortion movement, they have used commonplace experiences like hunger and thirst to stir up volatile emotions. The better to fund-raise, my dear.

See, this is the kind of thing that might provoke a lesser blogger to call Ms. Towarnicky an iniquitous bitch-hog, but I’d never stoop to that. Instead, I’ll just point out the casualness with which she connects the words “extremist” with “anti-abortion movement.” Notice that she didn’t say “the extremists among the anti-abortion movement,” or “the few radicals that, to some of us taint the otherwise passionate but reasonable people who are opposed to abortion as birth control.” Oh, no. She said “the extremist anti-abortion movement.” Take note: If you believe that abortion is wrong, you are an extremist. Period. PERIOD.

And also note that it is the news media and the right wingers who have exploited the Schindler family throughout this ordeal. Some of you might have been under the impression that the news media was just reporting the Schindler family’s struggle, and that many of us on the right were supporting their efforts. Well, if that’s what you thought, you were clearly wrong. We were EXPLOITING them. I’m so glad Ms. Towarnicky, who is clearly someone I’d never refer to as a feeble excuse for a dog turd, pointed that out.

In fact, maybe I should switch tacks, here. Maybe I should only cut-and-paste the portions of Ms. Towarnicky’s editorial that I can support. Let’s try it that way:

The video of a seemingly smiling and responsive Terri Schiavo represents only a few seconds of at least four hours of tape in which she lies expressionless. Over 15 years, Terri Schiavo's brain has been replaced with spinal fluid. She doesn't think, feel pain, or even know she is alive. Most important, she can't suffer from hunger or thirst. ... Yet House Majority Leader Tom DeLay - who has never met the woman - has the nerve to proclaim, "She talks and laughs and she expresses happiness and discomfort."

Good point, Ms. Towarnicky. Tom DeLay has never met Terri Schiavo. But then again, have you? How much time did you spend in Terri’s hospice room? Or could it be that your assertions that Terri didn’t feel pain, know she was alive, or suffer from hunger and thirst are based on what you’ve heard from a third party? Could it also be that Tom DeLay’s belief that Terri could laugh and express happiness and discomfort was also based on third a party report? Could it be that both of you, neither of whom had actually met the woman, might be assuming as absolute fact the extreme possibilities that support your positions? Oh, that just couldn’t be. That would make you no better than Tom DeLay, the man you so clearly disdain. And we all know that you’re actually a progressive forward thinker. You’re clearly not someone I’d ever dream of referring to as an imbecilic slime-sucking maggot.

But, anyway, I digress:

The troops have been most stirred up by the idea that Terri Schiavo was suffering from "starvation." One doctor described the horrific deaths of Africans dying of malnutrition, comparing it directly to what Terri Schiavo was experiencing. (Dare I ask why, instead of storming Congress on the Schiavo issue, the concerned Christians aren't demanding that we help the Africans who can feel the pangs of starvation?)

Good point, Ms Towarnicky, and it’s clearly not presumptuous of you to believe that all Christians have had to make a choice. That's what it comes down to, isn't it? We can either support the Schindler family OR we can support aid to starving Africans. Oh, NOOOOO, that’s not presumptuous at all, and it doesn’t clearly reveal a DOGMATIC ANTI-CHRISTIAN FERVOR on your part, or anything like that. You’re right. Every Sunday morning, in fact, Christian clergymen around the country go out of their way to remind the flock we don't care if Africans starve to death. (Oh, it’s ok to vocally oppose Terri Schiavo’s murder, mind you, if it helps get some Republicans elected.) Your understanding of Christians and Christianity is clearly complete. Your insight on that issue is further proof that you’re not a contemptible refuse pile of a human being. Kudos.

I could go on and on, there’s so much in Ms. Towarnicky’s article to praise... but I have to stop now so I can go vomit. I feel like I've been choking something back.