Terri Schiavo Was Braindead; Fred Thompson, Too?

Posted by Steven Reynolds at 6:40 AM on September 14, 2007.

This post, written by Steven Reynolds, originally appeared on All Spin Zone.

Fred Thompson does not remember Terri Schiavo enough to have an opinion on her case. He said this in Florida, not too far from where the protests for Schiavo occurred.

In a discussion in The Villages in Florida, Fred Thompson was asked about the controversial Schiavo case. Think about it for a moment. The Schiavo case was wildly important in Florida when it happened a few years ago. End of life decisions are vitally important to residents of The Villages, an adult community. But Fred Thompson says he can't remember enough about the case to give an opinion. From the AP wire:

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson gave no opinion Thursday when asked about efforts by President Bush and Congress to keep Terri Schiavo alive, saying he does not remember details of the right-to-die case that stirred national debate.

Thompson was asked in an interview for Bay News 9's "Political Connections" program whether he thought Congress' intervention to save the life of the brain-damaged woman two years ago was appropriate.

"I can't pass judgment on it. I know that good people were doing what they thought was best," Thompson said. "That's going back in history. I don't remember the details of it."

I'm having a hard time figuring that anyone had zero opinion about the Schiavo case. This was such a big cause that the Republicans in Congress passed a bill specifically for her. Bill Frist diagnosed her from a distance. Rick Santorum, arguably, lost an election in a landslide because of how he handled the Schiavo mess. Americans all over learned what a living will was. Heaven forbid they became like Terri Schiavo, the rope in an ugly tug of war. Even my mother-in-law, as staunch a Republican as you can find, had difficulty with how Frist and the Republicans handled the Schiavo case. (She wants a nice Chardonnay in her feeding tube when the time comes.) But Fred Thompson doesn't remember.

Fred Thompson doesn't remember the Schiavo case because he doesn't want to offend one part or another of the Republican constituency. There is not a chance this is anything other than cynical political "nonremembering." Republicans are good at not remembering, of course. Just check out Alberto Gonzales. Check out Scotter Libby. They're gone, in part for not remembering. Mr. Thompson better watch out. Even the Republican constituency he's trying to woo will have problems when he conveniently doesn't remember one of the biggest controversies of the last 10 years.

Tagged as: election08, thompson, schiavo

Steven Reynolds is a regular blogger for the All Spin Zone