Dickie's Quickies

I haven't been commenting on the Schiavo case. Friends know where I stand generally and there's too much coverage in general. Shawn and I got the Washington equivalents of living wills made out over 2 years ago before we moved into our house. We also made out medical power of attorney documents as well as general wills. Shawn will have first rights to make those decisions followed by my brother and sister. Bottom line: if I reach that state, then put me under because I don't want to live. There, now it's in print for the world to see.

For those who haven't done it, particularly for couples who are in long term relationships, it's a good idea to take care of these matters early. Frankly, Shawn and I should have done it sooner, but we were younger and we have a habit of always hedging our bets as to whether or not the relationship would last. We've just celebrated 10 years together and those doubts have long since past.

Both political parties have disgusted me on this issue. The Republicans in Congress should be summarily dismissed for overt hypocrisy for claiming to stand strongly for federalism and then tossing those positions aside for what they perceive to be political expediency. Hopefully, conservatives will add this to their laundry list of such offenses and make a point of letting them know that in the next voting cycle. Make no mistake about this: a social conservative is not a constitutional conservative.

Likewise, Democrats claim to have discovered federalism now that they are in the minority. They are exploiting this issue as much as their Republican counterparts. Shame on them as well.

As for President Bush, well, Jerry Brown does a pretty good smack down of him today...oh, I mean, a summary of Bush's positions on the topic.