The Constitution of the United States: Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3: "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed."

The Senate of the United States, and tomorrow the House of Representatives, are rushing headlong to pass a bill of attainder in the Terri Schiavo case.

Make no mistake. Just because the purpose of the bill is not overtly punitive, by the public statements of Senators involved this bill is being passed exclusively for Terri Schiavo and pertains to no other human being on the planet. It is, de facto, a bill of attainder.

What is Congress' game here? Do they hope to pass an unconstitutional piece of legislation, buy the time to get the feel-good result on Terri's behalf and then when it is later struck down under judicial review say "Aw, shucks. We didn't realize that."? Oh, and since the legislation was invalid to begin with they aren't saddled with any of those pesky precedents that would require endless weekend sessions passing bills on behalf of every little constituent in similar straits.

That's a little disingenuous even for political pros playing at the level these guys are.

I want Terri to die, and to do so with all possible haste and comfort. Not that either of those are likely in the immediate future for her. Please don't misunderstand. I wish her no personal ill will. Until this matter is resolved by her death, Terri Schiavo will continue to be nothing more than a human yo-yo trapped in an emotionally charged struggle. Perhaps when she is gone, more reasoned debate can craft a policy that reflects our collective desires and accounts for the rights of the minority to be preserved as well. Which is the purpose of constitutional governance in the first place.

A cynic might also pause for a moment to wonder how much of Congress' concern is based on outrage that a redneck judge in Jerkwater, Florida, told them where to get off with their subpoena ploy and then had the Supreme Court tell them to take a hike when they complained their feelings had been hurt.

News flash to Congress, and many others in this case: You don't always get the answer you want in life. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't make it wrong, and certainly doesn't justify changing the rules in hopes of getting what you want.