culture of life is a lie

The White House web site contains a brief paragraph entitled “President’s Statement on Terry Schiavo”. That statement contains this assertion: “It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected…”.

It is likely that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people died in New Orleans and other areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. Who protected them? Where is the outrage among fellow culture-of-lifers like Phyllis Schlafly, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, or Pat Robertson? Shouldn’t they have been screaming at Bush last week to snap into action, as he did with Ms. Schiavo, to do everything in his power to save thousands in the Superdome?

If it wasn’t clear before, it is painfully obvious now that the “culture of life” is a lie, a sham, a political prop. It only applies to fetuses and the privileged. It clearly does not apply to the poor, the dispossessed, the black Americans of New Orleans.

The President and his men, and women, can continue to bob and weave, using talking points like “blame game” to try to divert attention from their inaction. But the grim, naked reality cannot be denied. There is no culture of life in the United States. Poor black Americans, the needy, the old, are left to fend for themselves. If the President has the temerity to invoke his devotion to a “culture of life” in the future, he should be ignored, or jeered. And someone should remove the “President’s Statement on Terry Schiavo” from the White House website. It is an insult to those who were left to die in New Orleans.