Gov. Matt Blunt dashed into town just long enough to proclaim that Harris Stowe State College had become Harris-Stowe State University on Wednesday and then caught the fastest transportation out of town.
A man who knows nothing of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their importance to Black America signed into law the name change. He said all the right things before some smiling black people and then went back to Jefferson City to dismantle Medicaid and other social service programs that countless needy African Americans depend upon.
The Republicans have almost absolute power in Missouri, and they are flaunting it, regardless of whose lives they destroy or the hardship they place upon those who can’t fight back.
The Republicans also have the power in Washington D.C., which is why the Political Eye applauds Congressmen William Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan for their willingness to stand up and work against the blatantly unconstitutional and outlandish “law” that was passed to interfere with a family decision in Florida.
In an unforgivable and egregious political power play, the GOP force-fed the nation a legislative action unparalleled in the annals of Congressional history. In an effort to win new, and curry favor with old, socially conservative voters, Republicans tore up the Constitution and spit on it. Shame on every cowed Democrat who broke ranks and voted for the folderol.
Too many Democrats are playing nice with Republicans in both Jefferson City and Washington, D.C. and, as a result, devastating legislation is becoming law. The Terri Schiavo case is not about feeding tubes or family rights in the eyes of Republicans. ABC has revealed a memo distributed to Senate Republicans crowing that “the pro-life base will be excited” and extolling the case as “a great political issue.”
Bush and the Congress are acting with shameless political opportunism in a matter of human misery.
However, most Americans differ with the GOP on the critical action of last week.
A stltoday.com online poll asked: Should Congress have gotten involved in the Terri Schiavo case?
Of 5,412 votes cast as of Tuesday evening, 87 percent said no and 13 percent said yes.
This poll shows that, while the majority of Congress, including many Democrats, voted for this preposterous President George Bush-backed folly, most Americans agree with the votes cast by Reps. Clay and Carnahan.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post lead editorial stated:
“The U.S. legal system is not supposed to be one of legislative ‘do-overs’ in which Congress, if it doesn’t like the outcome in a high-profile case, changes the rules on behalf of politically favored parties. It is supposed to be a system where litigants know the rules in advance and understand the jurisdictional boundaries of the courts that decide their cases. Lawmakers may believe that they acted this weekend to save a life, but they also took a step that diminishes the rule of law.”