Tom DeLay knows all, tells all

Sanctity of life vs. sanctity of marriage? The world's most powerful exterminator has all the answers.

Published March 21, 2005 11:21PM (EST)

This has been bothering us all day. Michael Schiavo is married to Terri Schiavo, right? And George W. Bush and the religious right are all for the sanctity of marriage and totally opposed to interference by activist judges, right? So how is it that the Republicans think that, when it comes to medical decisions for Terri Schiavo, a federal judge should be free to overrule the wishes of the man she married?

Thanks to Tom DeLay -- brought to us by DC Media Girl -- it all makes sense to us now. Asked over the weekend by a reporter to square the Republicans' allegiance to the sanctity of marriage with their interference in the Schiavos' marriage, the House majority leader explained: "The sanctity of life overshadows the sanctity of marriage. I dont know what transpired between Terri and her husband. All I know is Terri is alive. . . . Unless she has specifically written instructions in her hand, with her signature, I dont care what her husband says."

We feel so much better now. But we'd feel even better -- a little clearer in how we order our affairs, a little more confident that we're on the way to reaching our great reward -- if the Republicans' exterminator-turned-moral-philosopher would lay out the pecking order, rock-paper-scissors style, of all of the other sanctities and rights and commandments out there. Life trumps marriage -- we've got that. With just a few more words from the lips of The Hammer, eternal wisdom could be ours.


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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