The return of Terri Schiavo: Conservatives plan to block Obama’s DOJ nominee.

This is pathetic.

Thinkprogress:

One of the saddest, most hysterical crusades by conservatives over the past few years involved their intervention in the case of critically brain-damaged woman Terry Schiavo. Conservatives — including former Senate majority leader Bill Frist and former House majority leader Tom DeLay — brought the personal tragedy to national attention in 2005 by trying to write legislation forcing doctors to reinsert her feeding tube and taking the “extraordinary step” of subpoenaing Schiavo to testify to Congress.

These conservatives claimed that they had the best interests of Schiavo in mind (even though they had never spoken to her). But there’s no doubt that cold political calculations were really driving their actions. A GOP memo described their efforts:

“This is an important moral issue, and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue,” said the memo, reported by ABC News and later given to The Washington Post. “This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a co-sponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.“

Conservatives are now brushing off the Schiavo case to use it against Thomas Perrelli, President-elect Obama’s pick for the no. 3 spot at the Justice Department. Right-wing websites are outraged at Obama’s association with Perrelli, since he was one of the lawyers who represented Michael Schiavo, who wanted his wife’s feeding tube removed.