A new coalition is birthing

This post refers to Terri Schiavo's death watch, but it is not as much about Terri Schiavo as it is about the impact that her dying it is having on the living.
As I was reading a Becki Snow post (via Judith Weiss) a light came on as I saw a vision of a lion lying down peacefully with a lamb. The lamb, if you scroll down the Becki Snow blog, is the writer. The lion, along with a disneyesque - some have said Woodstock-like collection out in the street, is described wonderfully.

The Mitchells are FLAMING liberals, total atheists and rabid Democrats. Not to mention they have wicked ninja skills. Mess with Mom Mitchell, and she will turn you into dog food; Dad Mitchell will just break you with his mind. They are also completely and totally on Terri's side.

The juxtaposition of atheist, liberal and pro-Terri crashes journalists' mental harddrives. It literally drives them insane. Watching Mom Mitchell take apart a reporter is fun. They are not expecting her to go crazy-go-nuts all over them when they assume she's part of the "religious right" simply because she supports Terri Schiavo's right to live. I didn't know grannies knew that kind of language, but there it is. The air literally turns blue, and then Dad hauls out a load of literature and pictures and stuff, and by the time they finish with him, the reporter is just a quivering heap of suppositions. Mom and Dad Mitchell are both just awesome in every way. They simply do not give a rat's bohiney about what other people think they should think. I sit back, look at them, and think to myself: "if I ever turn into a flaming liberal atheist democrat, I want to be just like them."

Something important is happening here.
I haven't decided exactly what that might be, but it is bigger than it looks.
I think it would be a mistake to try to sum it up in a couple of cute phrases. It's better we let it simmer for a while and see how it turns out.

When my lead salad maker saw a new recipe for spinach salad she remarked,
"I never would have thought to put oranges and onions in the same recipe."
Yep. Me, too.