burn the docket

The U.S. House of Representatives is in special session tonight, debating a bill that would give the federal courts a chance to review the Terri Schiavo case. The Senate has already given its consent. Passage of the bill would put Schiavo back on feeding tubes in order to extend her life for another trial. I don't have an opinion really, because I am not this woman's parents, neither am I her husband.

But what's got me all fiery right now is this: Where is the emergency session to forgive third world debt? Where is the emergency session to fix federal entitlement programs? Where is the emergency session to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa? Or find new ways to become less dependent on Arab oil? Or secure our ports and borders against terrorist aggressors? Or keep guns out of the hands of criminals? Or revolutionize a failing public school system?

Lights. Camera. Action. Those stories don't grab headlines anymore. So instead we debate something that will.