Schiavo & the "conservatives"

Okay, I know the blogosphere is blowing up about this case, so I'll throw my 2 cents in.

The biggest problem I have in this case is the highjacked Republican party abandoning all their supposed base principles of federalism and states rights. Whatever your view on this particular case, the basic fact of the matter is that under our system, family disputes are settled in state court. That has happened over the course of many years. For the federal government to now intervene, led by the party that is supposed to be for states rights and limited federal powers, is truly depressing- and dangerous.

The fact is, there really is no "conservative" party anymore in the true sense of the word. The Republicans have shown themselves to be perfectly ok with federal intervention and "judicial activism" if it coincides with their beliefs (medical marijuana, indecency legislation, gay marriage, the list is long). I think there are going to be a lot of disenfranchised conservative Republicans who are unfortunately going to end up not voting at all soon. If you're a real conservative, and by that I mean a believer in limited government and a strong supporter of Constitutional restrictions on powers of the state, what party are you supposed to vote for? The Republicans have abandoned those values, and the Democrats never had them. I think this factor will become a major factor for Republicans in the near future.