http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/balance/stories/090905dnedicyberpitts.6343a47.htmlLeonard Pitts Jr.: Government moves slowly to protect poor blacksMaybe if Terri Schiavo had been caught in the hurricane.
You think that would have done it?
Think maybe that would have moved federal officials off, to paraphrase the frustrated mayor of New Orleans, their posteriors a little faster?
After all, the feds moved heaven and Earth and every ZIP Code in between while imposing themselves in the medical care of that brain-ravaged woman. Congress passed legislation on behalf of her parents with lightning speed, and the president even made a dramatic dash from his beloved ranch to the White House to sign it. They said they did this out of respect for the sanctity of life.
Do you think if someone told them Schiavo was among those waiting for days on end at the Superdome or the convention center the government's response to this crisis would have been so slow-footed and confused? Do you think if it had been Schiavo waiting among filth and feces they'd have kept her waiting for days on end for help that was not coming?
Do you think Schiavo would have been left there to die, not from the storm, but from neglect, and have her wheelchair pushed ignominiously against a wall?