Obama says he erred on Schiavo
Asked to name a mistake, Sen. Barack Obama cited his position toward one of the most polarizing figures in recent Florida politics: Terri Schiavo.
During the first televised debate with his Democratic rivals for president, Obama said he regretted not fighting Republican-led efforts in March 2005 to reconnect the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube.
"A lot of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to intrude where it shouldn't have,'' he said on MSNBC. "I think I should have stayed in the Senate and fought more for making sure that families make those decisions, and not bureaucrats and politicians.''
The former constitutional law professor went on vacation for the congressional Easter recess and did not return to the Capitol, where a mostly empty Senate approved a House measure allowing Schiavo's parents to go back to court.
Most voters opposed government intervention in the case. Obama has publicly expressed misgivings before, but never in such a high-profile setting.
Hello All,
Mr. Obama and his economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, are conspicuous utilitarianists. They agree that Terri Schiavo's survival treatment was a gross economic mistake. So they approved of her judicial murder. Another famous (or infamous) comitted utilitarian, Peter Singer, argued that it is justified to kill infants who suffer from Down Syndrome. Mr. Singer did not exactly improve utilitarian's ethical reputation. Neither should judicial executionists, Mr. Obama or Mr. Goolsbee!
......Robert E Keenan, MD
Posted by: Robert E Keenan, MD | June 30, 2008 at 06:04 PM