Neoconservatives will use the Schiavo news to justify the "nuclear option"

Terri Schiavo's medical life support has been halted. Her feeding tube was removed about an hour ago.

The Associated Press reported on Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer's ruling. Greer, a state judge, said he saw "no reason why lawmakers should step in. ...last-minute action by Congress doesn't overrule years of court rulings."

Many of my fellow bloggers have been covering this story. It is now time, kids, to anticipate and prepare our response to the sophistry sure to echo from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, FOX News et al.

That sophistry will draw on the right wing's established disdain for "judges who legislate from the bench." Trust me. Our friends over at those right-wing media outlets will find a way to portray Judge Greer as an activist, far-left judge who has, as so many other "liberal judges," decided to overstep his authority and legislate from the bench.

This is huge, folks. If we don't get it together with a bulletproof rebuttal and fast, debates over this story will pave the way for roughshod approval of extremist right-wing judges to the federal bench.

How? They will use this story to drum up fundamentalist right-wing Christian grassroots support to justify neoconservatives' pursuit of the so-called "nuclear option."

What is the "nuclear option"? The "nuclear option" would end a minority party's right to filibuster in the Senate.

Watch out. Controversial stuff like the Schiavo story has a way of snowballing these days into much larger things that fundamentally alter our way of life.