ACTING LIKE THE LEFT, CONT’D: Donald Sensing is getting flamed over the Schiavo matter:

Some of you have questioned whether I am truly Christian because of my position on the Terri Schiavo case. This speaks volumes because it is not I or my ideological allies who are casting people into the outer darkness because they disagree. The speed at which some of you have reached to condemn me – in the most literal way, since as a not-true-Christian I am obviously Hellbound – reveals much more about your spiritual condition than mine.

Likewise, I’ve gotten some email from people who are actually angry at me for having the temerity to disagree with Hugh Hewitt (an anger that Hugh certainly doesn’t share). We’ve seen what the you’re-the-enemy-if-you-don’t-agree-with-me-on-everything approach has done for the left. It’s disappointing to see people on the right imitating it. But read this post by Dan Riehl for evidence that it doesn’t have to be that way.

UPDATE: Jeff Goldstein thinks that this will actually make it harder for Bush on the judicial confirmation front. I’m not sure.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Charles Johnson has comments.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: So does Michele Catalano.

And it’s worth reading this Terri Schiavo FAQ from Football Fans for Truth (no lefty front group!), which suggests that an awful lot of things people have been saying about the case are, well, wrong. And read this, too:

Courts, however, rely on facts. Facts are determined by a predetermined process. In this case, the process has gone on for a very long time. Both sides have had every opportunity to have their say on several occasions. Independent factfinders and physicians have made their reports. Several courts have upheld Judge Greer’s rulings, including one in which the appellate court reviewed all the evidence. The end result of this long process are several factual determinations: Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, she would not want to live in this condition, and Michael Schiavo has given his wife excellent care.

But this isn’t enough for Last. He goes into classic “Free Mumia” mode, declaring that these factual determinations are “tyranny by other means”. Much like Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover with Mumia, Last declares that to defer to the judicial process is to defer to “an imperfect system implemented by imperfect men.”

Free Mumia! Yeah, that’s pretty much the flavor of it.

MORE: Reader Charles Rutt emails:

While I agree that the Schiavo case has been handled by the courts in a way that is at least competent, it is the true innocence of this victim that arouses the passion of so many of her supporters. Mumia killed a policeman and was convicted. Terri Schiavo’s husband wants to end her life for what seem to be suspicious reasons. There is no written accounting of her wishes, her parents have said they would take care of her and release him from any responsibility, there is some money involved (to be honest there are so many “set the record straight” articles circulating.I’m not sure there truly is any money involved), and there are curious associations Mr. Schiavo’s lawyer seems to have with some strange “right to death” groups. I am not trying to convince you of the merits of the Schiavo case or that her supporters are right, but it comparing it and them to the “Free Mumia” crowd is borderline insulting.

That said, I enjoy what you do and really enjoy when you share your thoughts in depth.

Well, the “Free Mumia” comparison only applies to the unwillingness of some commentators to look at the actual record, and the willingness to posit a huge and implausible conspiracy on the part of numerous judges, attorneys, etc. (And Schiavo-partisan Randall Terry is just Al Sharpton with an inferior tailor. At best.). But the point is taken, and I apologize for any suggestion that the cases are otherwise comparable, because of course they’re not. There’s nothing tragic about what happened to Mumia.