I'm freaking out about Terri Schiavo, a bulimic woman I never met. Does her husband want her dead because he will inherit money? Are her parents just unwilling to let go? Is legalized euthanasia a slippery slope? Is starvation the way to do things? The case is being decided on grounds of stuff like legal standing, and spousal rights, but the issues are huge.

Before I begin to discuss them let me just tell you: I do have a living will and a medical power of attorney. It's in the rollup desk in my third bedroom. No tubes for me, please. DNR unless I can be totally back to my usual quality of life. That involves eating, thinking, and writing. Walking is nice, but not necessary. Talking's probably essential.

Now, have I told enough people?

On to the issues.

This case is full of paradoxes, just like real life. The same government that is trying to ban gay marriage is also saying marriage is sacrosanct, and the husband has the right to pull the plug. But the government is also saying NO ONE should pull the plug. That's the same government that's talking about spiralling health care costs. Right to life and right to die are totally confused in this case.

But the biggest paradox here is that of freedom. What constitutes freedom? Freedom to stay alive? To choose to die? Where's the freedom when the federal government comes into a family situation and takes control? When one branch of the government fights another branch (although this could be viewed as checks and balances).

Supposedly, the conservatives are in power. Then why is the role of the government expanding practically by the day? Yesterday I went to the Goldwater Institute luncheon and heard Paul Gigot, the editor of the Wall Street Journal, talk about Washington's agenda. His is the pro-business, free market view.

Do you know what he said? That the Republicans in the Senate should not try to change the rules against filibuster, even though they are frustrated about their judicial nominees, lest it come back to haunt them the next time they are in the minority.

That although health care is traditionally a Democratic issue, the Republicans should take it on and find a solution, because if they don't, we will drift inevitably to a Canadian single-payer system.

And that Social Security will not be changed this year because, although Bush's efforts are admirable, democracies are not in the habit of solving problems until they become crises.

Gigot said that although the conservatives control both branches of Congress and the White House, government spending keeps growing. Why? Because of the lure of incumbency -- elected officials trying to bring the pork home.

Terri Schiavo, poor woman, is a microcosm of the confusion we feel as a nation both politically and ideologically. The complexities of modern life have all but buried the old distinctions between liberal and conservative. And we haven't even begun to discuss stem cells.Street Journal, talk about Washington's agenda. His is the pro-business, free market view.

Do you know what he said? That the Republicans in the Senate should not try to change the rules against filibuster, even though they are frustrated about their judicial nominees, lest it come back to haunt them the next time they are in the minority.

That although health care is traditionally a Democratic issue, the Republicans should take it on and find a solution, because if they don't, we will drift inevitably to a Canadian single-payer system.

And that Social Security will not be changed this year because, although Bush's efforts are admirable, democracies are not in the habit of solving problems until they become crises.

Gigot said that although the conservatives control both branches of Congress and the White House, government spending keeps growing. Why? Because of the lure of incumbency -- elected officials trying to bring the pork home.

Terri Schiavo, poor woman, is a microcosm of the confusion we feel as a nation both politically and ideologically. The complexities of modern life have all but buried the old distinctions between liberal and conservative. And we haven't even begun to discuss stem cells.