Jeff – and even the NYT! – has focused on both the danger and the self-righteous hypocrisy in this matter. The vision of conservative war-whoopers and defenders of capital punishment moralizing on the sanctity of life, elevates absurdity beyond the powers of satire. But there is another problem that adds to the historic record in illustrating the fallacy that written constitutions can limit political power. Words are but abstractions, never equating with what they are intended to describe. As such, they must always be interpreted, and in our society such powers of interpretation have been assumed by the state, which … Continue reading The Schiavo case