New Jersey Republican Has Curious Take On Schiavo Saga

by Tony Peyser

Rep. Chris Smith says
Terri should’ve been labeled
Not as "brain-damaged"
But instead as "disabled."

To say that I find this
Just a tad offensive
Is like calling the Iraq War
A wee bit expensive.

I can argue this point with
No shortage of agility
An autism diagnosis
Is my son’s disability.

Coincidentally, finding out
What causes this condition
Is something that Smith has
Made something of a mission.

Smith should’ve known better
And be feeling some contrition
For how he manipulated
The "disabled" definition.

Those who call Terri "disabled"
Are simply trying to pander
To The Religious Right so they
Can make their stance look grander.

To put Terri under this heading
Isn’t at all accidental
And an insult to anyone
With problems developmental.

Disabled, Not Brain-Dead!
This becomes the new debate
Another line to be blurred like
The one between church and state.

It takes some special chutzpah
For Republicans to dare
And speak kindly of the needy
As they’re slashing Medicare.

(Not that you asked, but a fellow
Faced an awful last resort
When his relatives pondered
Taking him off of life support.

This family’s sick patriarch
Was not going to pull through
And pulling the plug on him
Was the only thing left to do.

This happened in ‘96
The matter’s long been tabled
I don’t think there was talk back then
That he might have been "disabled."

I mention this tragic case
Which involved a ventilator
Because this man’s son still is
A Garden State legislator.

Ironies are everywhere
And impossible to miss
His son’s last name is Smith
And his first name is Chris.)

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Tony Peyser provides poems and weekly cartoons for The Santa Monica Mirror and writes the new BuzzFlash column, "Blue State Jukebox." He was also a daily cartoonist for the L.A. Times from 1994 to 1997. You can contact Tony via email at tonypeyser@yahoo.com.

BuzzFlash Cartoons by Tony Peyser are © Tony Peyser.
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