Killing Terri Schiavo

[Peachdiane]

Killing Terri Schiavo
Thomas Sowell (archive (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/archive.shtml))


http://www.townhall.com/graphics1/columnists/sowell.gif People who say that the government has no business interfering in a private decision like removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube somehow have no problem with a squad of policemen preventing her parents (or anyone else) from giving their daughter food or water.

Do those who want to keep the government out of private decisions think that the police are not the government? Do they think that the judges who authorized this are not the government?

Sadly, this is not the only Alice-in-Wonderland confusion of words and deeds in this tragic case.

We are being told that Terri Schiavo is being "allowed" to "die a natural death." Such an argument might make some sense if this were a terminally ill person. But Terri Schiavo is not dying from anything other than a lack of food and water, from which any of the rest of us would die.

She is not dying a natural death. She is being killed.

What is being kept alive artificially is the liberal media version of events. One side of this story is being repeated endlessly, as if it were gospel, but anyone saying something different -- including doctors and nurses who have actually seen or taken care of Terri Schiavo -- is unlikely to be reported.

The nature of death by starvation and dehydration is also being depicted as "gentle" in the words of the New York Times -- the same New York Times which in 2002 reported starving people in India dying "clutching pained stomachs."

Complete Article (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20050324.shtml)

[Warlady]

Terri Schiavo is being killed because she is inconvenient to her husband and because she is inconvenient to those who do not want the idea of the sanctity of life to be strengthened and become an impediment to abortion. Nor do they want the supremacy of judges to be challenged, when judges are the liberals' last refuge.

Bingo

[Wolfcounsel]

I believe the supremacy of judges is about to be wiped out.

[DesertFox]

I think so, too. They may finally have gone too far.

[Warlady]

What makes you guys think that? The majority of Americans agree with them.

[DesertFox]

I don't believe that, WL. The MSM is lying again. By the time the truth gets out, Terri will be dead and it'll be time to, uh, "move on."

But I'm thinking that when the facts DO get out, the liberals may finally face an electorate fed up with them and their idiot commie judges.

[Wolfcounsel]

"The majority of Americans agree with them." --Warlady


I wouldn't call a liberal as*hole an American.

[Warlady]

I don't want to believe the polls either but Gallop is usually pretty accurate. Their poll shows a huge majority of Americans agree with the animal, Michael Schaivo and the grim reaper Greer and that it's a mercy killing and disagree with what Bush and Congress did. I don't want to believe that Americans can be that cruel and misinformed...but :(

[ThomasIsUnderrated]

The halls of justice are stained with blood tonight.

[Patriot Heart]

In my own informal "survey" which wasn't even that, I have found that people that I know that say they are "for" the removal of the tube, don't even KNOW the details of Michael Schiavo's evil behavior. Whe I fill them in, they feel quite differently. What I wouldn't do for a Florida sheriff to step up to the plate and say he is taking an abused person away from a situation for their own safety.
I am so sick over all this. I truly thought it would go the other way.

[Warlady]

The halls of justice are stained with blood tonight.

:dito:

THEY DON'T EVEN ALLOW ANIMALS TO BE STARVED IN THIS COUNTY. ANIMALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN TERRI SCHAIVO. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

[Melz]

The more I read about it and the more I think about it, I get strange vibes of "power" issues. Keeping those who are weak at bay. Resisting efforts to save the less fortunate. Writing off someone who's quality of life is not fitting in with the normal definition of some. It puts fear in me. And normally, nothing does that. Normally, I can dismiss idiot decisions. This one seems personal.

[Golgo 13]

Well, the tube has been out for a number of days now.

Let's see God's will.

[Melz]

She will starve to death. That is not God's will, that is the basic nature of humans who need food and water to survive. Hopefully those with their hand in killing her feel God's WRATH someday.

[Warlady]

The more I read about it and the more I think about it, I get strange vibes of "power" issues. Keeping those who are weak at bay. Resisting efforts to save the less fortunate. Writing off someone who's quality of life is not fitting in with the normal definition of some. It puts fear in me. And normally, nothing does that. Normally, I can dismiss idiot decisions. This one seems personal.

Melz, I don't know you personally. I wish I did. But this post expresses my thoughts and emotions more than anything I have read in this tragedy to date. I am honored to call you friend.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

The more I read about it and the more I think about it, I get strange vibes of "power" issues. Keeping those who are weak at bay. Resisting efforts to save the less fortunate. Writing off someone who's quality of life is not fitting in with the normal definition of some. It puts fear in me. And normally, nothing does that. Normally, I can dismiss idiot decisions. This one seems personal.

Melz,
You got the point. It IS personal . . . this is much bigger than one woman fighting for her life. With this case, the judicial branch has asserted sovereignty over an individual unalienable right -- in other words, judges can now transfer a person's "right to life" (which is a NON-transferable, God granted right) to be adjudicated by the court system, they can now revoke a person's "right to life" (which is an un-revokable, God granted right) based upon whatever arbitrary reasons they deem sufficient, and they can now terminate a person's ACTUAL life (which is a right only the right's owner and God can terminate) and mandate she be killed in a specific manner regarded by the judge to be a "natural course of action."

We should ALL be very, very afraid. As Americans we all basically lived safely unawares in the knowledge that for everything else in our life, we had at least ONE secure right intrinsic to us as individuals -- our right to, and our personal control of our own existence. We no longer have that right. The "right to life", A right that is inherently non-transferable, un-revokable, and cannot be terminated by any other than the owner, has now been ruled by the judiciary of the state of Florida, and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States of America (by the inaction and refusal to hear, judge, and rule on this case).

We should ALL be VERY, VERY afraid.

[Warlady]

Did anybody see what Pat Robertson had to say about this issue? I know he was going to have a segment on it.

Yes I saw his interview on Fox news. He called it a travesty, judicial homicide and he stated everything we have said here. He represented life and God's will admirably. He gave me great comfort with his words and counsel. I hope that he did the same for you. This is an extremely difficult and emotional time for anyone who cares about compassion, life and God's love and will. I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that God would sanction the starvation of one of his children. The Holy Spirit that fills me and speaks for me does not condone this.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

:sad: I can't even drink anything, without thinking how much Terri would like to have a sip. Starving is bad enough, but not allowing her any water is demonic.

:unsmile: But then, in a few years, I'm sure her "husband" will have an eternity of going thirsty, so his turn's coming. George Greer, too.

[Melz]

Thank you WL and Hms for your thoughts and general agreement with my comments. I have had to hold back during most of this because I know that at some point, I will reach my boiling point and all sorts of emotion will come flooding out, seeping into every post. I cannot add to what has been said here, all I can do is agree and try to resist breaking down with each passing day as this poor woman gets weaker and weaker. The day that Terri passes is the day that a part of humantiy as we have known it also takes a turn for the worse :(

[Warlady]

Melz, I hate to tell you this but we're already there.

[2nd_Amendment]

Ya know, I know I will take a lot of flack for this but the sentiment has been simmering for several days now: If someone were to happen to knock in the back of Mikey's skull with a blunt object and leave him in a PVS everybody could be happy. He could try out the other side of things for a while, even death itself, and Terri's parents would have custody and be able to avoid trying it all out. Seems like the perfect solution. Maybe someone would even step in and try to make the decision for Mikey. Hell, maybe even the person that put him there. Then we'd have perfect symmetry, wouldn't we, Mikey?

Were I Mikey I believe I would be on my knees every night thanking whatever god he worships that nobody near him has come to the same conclusion...yet.

[Warlady]

I wuv the way you think 2A.

[Warlady]

Oh I heard Mikey is getting death threats. Apparently that's all they are...threats. He's still breathing.

[2nd_Amendment]

I wouldn't wish it on him. I can think about it, but never really desire it. OTOH it might be nice if someone with a creative bent and a fluent use of the written word should describe to him just how he could wind up... Maybe it will jog something loose in the cold, black, withered thing he calls a heart. I'd have said soul, but I believe the jury is still out on the presence of such a thing with this fool. Maybe we can get Greer to make a ruling there too...

[Patriot Heart]

I was thinking about this whole awful thing last night (seems I can think of little else) and wondering......we homeschool and discuss all kinds of things while in the car. Of course like most children mine are quite sensible when it comes to issues like abortion (they instinctively disapprove) and they had a VERY difficult time with my explanation of why this is being done to Terri, and why their hero (GWB) can't step in and do anything for her (I explained he is not a King). That got me thinking about Michael Schiavo's kids, what a dreadful legacy for them. It has to cross theirt little minds...would Daddy do it to ME?

[Longhorn_Platinum]

:moo: Actually, Terri's brain functions far better than Michael's heart or soul.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

That got me thinking about Michael Schiavo's kids, what a dreadful legacy for them. It has to cross theirt little minds...would Daddy do it to ME?

:unsmile: They'd better learn to behave... real well.

[Warlady]

I can wish it on him 2A. He deserves the same fate he has sentenced Terri to but I'm not a murderer like him.

Not only could "Daddy" do it to him he obviously "would" considering his history. For once I'm grateful to the media for shining a light on this monster.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

I was thinking about this whole awful thing last night (seems I can think of little else) and wondering......we homeschool and discuss all kinds of things while in the car. Of course like most children mine are quite sensible when it comes to issues like abortion (they instinctively disapprove) and they had a VERY difficult time with my explanation of why this is being done to Terri, and why their hero (GWB) can't step in and do anything for her (I explained he is not a King). That got me thinking about Michael Schiavo's kids, what a dreadful legacy for them. It has to cross theirt little minds...would Daddy do it to ME?

PH,
I don't know how old your children are, but mine are teens, and even WE have had a hard time discussing this together. My kids and I have gotten into long conversations about this issue, my poor daughter (my little prayer warrior) has almost wiped out her knees praying for this woman and the situation. She feels everything very deeply, and this has been more incomprehensible to her than even the rest of us.

This really is an extraordinarily sad and scary situation. We, too, have wondered about the implications to the Schiavo children. Will they understand the truth? Will they then embrace a "death culture" mentality? But as I went deeper in thought, a song came into my mind -- Harry Chapin's song about a father's legacy to his son "Cats In The Cradle". With all apologies to Mr. Chapin, whose songwriting ability far surpases mine (and so does Jim Croce's :D ), but I'd like to add a verse to his tune:

I’m bedridden now, how still I lay

My son doesn’t visit ‘cause he’s busy all day

With lawyers in tow, a judge he seeks to find

To prove that I am not in my right mind

He wants take my right to life from me,

As I did back when I when I took her's from Terri

It’ll be sure nice getting rid of you, Dad

It’ll sure be nice getting rid of you.


As I silently cried inside, it occured to me

He'd grown up just like me

My boy was just like me.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

But as I went deeper in thought, a song came into my mind -- Jim Croce's song about a father's legacy to his son "Cats In The Cradle". With all apologies to Mr. Croce's memory,...

:unsmile: It was Harry Chapin.

[DesertFox]

The song was also Harry Chapin's

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Oooops!!!! :icon126: (http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=1&forumid=61#):icon126: (http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=1&forumid=61#):icon126: (http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=1&forumid=61#)


I stand corrected.

No one ever say I do not admit my mistakes. I will edit my post to reflect the correction.


(Man, I coulda sworn Croce sang that song!)