What the hell are we doing?

At a time when we are at war, facing a growing deficit ($432 billion projected for the 2005 fiscal year), and at a crossroads with our Medicare and Social Security programs, why is Congress spending its time on steroids and Terri Schiavo? It is clear that steroid use is a problem. Steroids are illegal and dangerous, and efforts should be made to educate young American athletes. However, to this point, there has been no scientific data suggesting an epidemic the scale of which might warrant lengthy political discussion. Even more alarming, the United States Congress has attempted to impose their will on our nation's judicial system. Politicizing the impending death of a young woman has set a dangerous, and I believe illegal, precedent. The judicial system was intended to provide a system of checks and balances for the legislature, and the legitimacy of this institution will be forever compromised if we allow Congress to usurp the trustees of American justice. Conservatives have argued that the legislature was not trying to change the rulings, only to make sure that the proper authorities were given the opportunity to review the case. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with that; if the primary goal was, in fact, to ensure expeditious due process of law. This is clearly not the case. What should have been a decision left to family members and, later, to the appropriate courts, has now become a flash point for a pro-life political agenda. More than that, we see a thinly veiled attempt to establish a hierarchy within the branches of our government.