The Real Schiavo Abuse

Florida's social welfare agency released records late Friday that show it investigated 89 complaints of abuse of the late Terri Schiavo but never found that her husband or anybody else ever harmed her.

However, the abuse of Michael Schiavo in public and in private by right-wing fanatics, from Congressman Tom DeLay to garden-variety foot-soldiers in the war against abortion, was relentless, long, nasty, and devoid -- so far as we could tell -- of either a grip on reality or on any known scruple.

Here's a brief sample of how Michael Schiavo was alleged to have hurt his wife: "Terri Schiavo was dirty and unkempt. She did not receive proper dental care or rehabilitative therapy. She was kept in isolation. Her husband beat her and broke her bones. He wanted her dead for her money or to remarry. He pumped her full of insulin, hoping to kill her. He often asked, 'When will [she] die?' Her lips were cracked and dry."

In the name of Christ, we can say anything about you we want to, so long as we declare you evil first.