Bush's Comments on Terri Schiavo

Here is what President Bush on the morning of Terri Schiavo's death, according to a transcript from the Transcript:>Washington Post.

BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated.

Today, millions of Americans are saddened by the death of Terri Schiavo.

Laura and I extend our condolences to Terri Schiavo's families.

I appreciate the example of grace and dignity they have displayed at a difficult time. I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others.

The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak.

In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in the favor of life.

I, too, hope that we can build a culture of life where everyone (not just Americans) is welcomed, valued, and protected. I agree that the strong have a duty to protect the weak, and that we should err on the side of life. I think that these principles should apply to all sorts of policy questions, including abortion, immigration, health care, tort reform, the environment, foreign policy, capital punishment, bankruptcy, Social Security, Medicare, etc.

People of good faith can differ on exactly which policy proposals do the best job of promoting a culture of life. But I do think that it is reasonable to expect our politicans, particularly those who claim to be evangelical Christians, to explain how all their policy proposals fare when it comes to protecting the weak and valuing the vulnerable.

I think it goes without saying that I believe that most of President Bush's policies do exactly the opposite of encouraging the strong to fulfill their duty to protect the weak, in fact, most of them make it easier for the strong to exploit the weak. (If you want to make a prediction about his position on just about any domestic (or even many foreign) policies issues, ask yourself what would help big business. More often than not, that is Bush's position.)