From a
post I wrote in October of 2003:
...This is scary folks. All arguments regarding the courts and judges and lawyers aside, there are some incredibly crazy thoughts here.
Jeb Bush has ordered that nutrition and water be given to Terri, overruling a court order which removed them from her about 5 days ago. Do you understand what is going on here? A U.S. Court ordered that Terri Schiavo be starved to death!
According to the article [per outdated Reuters' link],
"Republican state Sen. Tom Lee said senators felt political pressure to quickly approve the bill or be blamed "for killing Terri Schiavo."
"Some people came up with a political brainstorm to use this woman's life as a political football, to appeal to the Christian conservatives in this state who will never understand the details that construct this case," Lee said.
Some lawmakers and scholars questioned whether the state constitution authorized the legislature to give the governor power to overrule a court."
That's right Tom, blame it on those moronic Christian conservatives who will never understand anything as complicated as this court case. From Boykin to Ashcroft to Schiavo supporters... it's those radical right Christians. Tell me Tom, do you have the fortitude to watch Terri starve to death? Do you understand that it is a long, painful process? Will you monitor her condition as her life slowly slips away?
Note the ending of the article,
"Robert Schindler [Terri's father] was delighted with Tuesday's turn of events, telling reporters outside the hospice where Schiavo is being treated in Pinellas Park, a suburb of St. Petersburg, "It's incredible."
But George Felos, an attorney for Schiavo's husband, called the legislature's action unconstitutional and said he would try to have the bill overturned. Felos also said he would file civil suits against anyone who helped put Schiavo back on life support."
Life support? This is completely false. Terri is not on life support... she is being provided with nutrition. Maybe attorney George Felos should be reminded of that the next time he sits down for a meal?
What should be scary here is the lack of outrage we see on the streets. Is this indicative of agreement by a majority of Americans with the court's decision to starve Terri to death? If so... where will it stop?
Update:
I was stunned on the commute home from work today. I carpool, and it was my turn to drive. I had Hugh Hewitt on and, of course, he was discussing the slow execution that Terri Schiavo is now experiencing. My carpool partner, upon hearing Hewitt's doubts regarding Michael Schiavo's veracity as Terri's husband, since he lives with his girlfriend and has fathered two of her children, turned to me and said,
"I didn't know that!"
It's truly mindboggling that entire segments of our population haven't a clue about what is going on here. Then again... maybe it isn't.
3 comments:
Rusty,
Unfortunately, according to Florida law providing nutritional support to someone unable to feed themselves is considered "life support".
Don't be surprised to see that change shortly, but too late to help Terri. *sigh*
Are infants, unable to feed themselves, considered to be on "life support" in Florida?
It is both a personal and social tragedy that we are witnessing.
That so many -apparently including large numbers of evangelical Christians- cannot seem to see the implications in this case of how far off the mark we have moved. We pretend we can know what "quality of life" is, that we know whether one wishes to live on that basis, all the while witnessing some of the most convoluted machinations of power struggle in our government than I think I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.
It was a simple matter, really. The husband abandoned his responsibility to care for his wife's best interest, and the parents were willing to shoulder it. To allow them to simply do that. Why couldn't they just do that? It is heartbreaking to see these parents led to see their (forced) dying daughter by officers of the state.
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