Two of the best pieces from my own reading so far are this one from a back

issue of First Things, and the

WSJ piece by James Q. Wilson that Kathryn linked to (but needs a

subscription).

I’m still reading. Here’s one point that has nagged me for some time

though. Inattentive as I have been to the details of the case, I have

caught TV news clips over the past few months. Most of them seem designed

to show Terri Schiavo in the most unattractive light. Fox News has played

over and over and over some footage shot from below, i.e. looking up the

poor woman’s nostrils. NOBODY looks entirely human from that angle.

Possibly there are some constraints here I don’t know about — imposed by

the parents, the husband, or the institution — but anyone who’s been

confined to a hospital bed wants to look their best for visitors, and it

seems a shame that the same thing can’t be arranged for Mrs. Schiavo, when

her “visitors” number in the millions.