Every day as I drive to and from work, I pass the Florida State Capitol building (or the "Cock and Balls Building", as it is sometimes called). There are frequently protests going on at a busy intersection. The subjects range from stopping the war in Iraq ("HONK IF YOU LOVE PEACE!") to legalizing marijuana ("HONK IF YOU INHALE!" — which elicited a nearly continuous stream of honks) to, of course, saving Terry Schiavo's life.

I was going to avoid writing about that. I really was. But something I read tonight made me mad enough to reverse that decision.

"It is more than just Terri Schiavo. This is a critical issue for people in this position, and it is also a critical issue to fight that fight for life, whether it be euthanasia or abortion. I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, one thing God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America. That Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death for two weeks." — Tom DeLay; emphasis mine.

Lucid? Lucid? If Terry Schiavo's lucid, what the hell is all this fuss about? Instead of legal wrangling to determine whether or not she would want her life support terminated, why not just fucking ask her?! Or is this perhaps some other definition of lucid? Perhaps he merely meant that, having spent the last fifteen years out of the sun, her skin is so pale as to be translucent; not that she was coherent. Yes, that must be it. A politician would never knowingly utter a falsehood, surely.

To add insult to injury, Mr. Delay used the plural pronoun "them" to refer to a singular subject, a shocking display of disregard for proper English syntax. Is it wrong to expect our leaders to set a better linguistic example for the children? Won't somebody please think of the children?