Comments on: Have You Learned Anything?

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 07:24:43 +0000

Hey Matt, I just fell into this post; I’m not going to read the comments because I already spotted the word “fundie” and decided they’re not worth the BP spike.

Anyway, yeah, you’re right about the living will thing. In fact, some days after Terri died, there was even a post up there saying something about living wills being WRONG. Needless to say, that was about the last thing I read there until today. (Err…yesterday, I guess.) After that, I decided there wasn’t room there for me to post any more (again, until yesterday, and I quickly posted and disappeared).

I don’t know what to say about the position held by the others there, but as we’ve discussed elsewhere, a LOT of judgemental errors were made, in my opinion. So anyway, I’m glad I stumbled onto this post to remind me to update MY blog with links to living will information.

By: Kahn

Kahn — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 05:10:35 +0000

The Supreme Court usurped the right to “interpret” the U.S. Constitution. Of late however, it is longer interpreting anything – instead, it is adjusting interpretation to fit its own or popular views.

Examples: The 2nd Amendment. Research shows that the framers meant it to be absolute and to be an individual right. Or, the recent declaration that people under 18 can’t be executed. They even cited “international norms and laws”. What the heck?

The courts, from the lowest to the highest are out of control. Just as the Congress grew in power after Watergate to counter the real threat to the union that Nixon had posed, we owe it to ourselves to counter this current discount of Constitutional intent and individual rights by the Supreme Court. If the Constitution is broken – lets fix it. But not fix it with the input of 9 people. iamcitizen – thanks. I think you nailed it with that post.

By: iamcitizen

iamcitizen — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 01:18:59 +0000

Our United States government is a three-part representative system with checks and balances designed to preserve the basic rights of the people of this nation – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When any of these basic rights is threatened, it is the job of our elected representatives and judiciary to act collectively on the behalf of the people of this government. The Terri Schiavo case became a national concern that required a fresh judicial review to satisfy the concerns of fairness and justice for the American public. The U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate, and the President of the United States of America acted responsibly on behalf of a concerned nation to guarantee that a fair and just decision would be made when all of the available evidence and testimony were properly considered. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ignored the Congress, the Senate, and the President, refusing to acknowledge the need of the people of this nation for a governmental response to assure that the basic rights guaranteed to the people of this nation would continue to be protected by our three-part system of representative government. In so doing, the Supreme Court did not fulfill its obligation to the people of this nation. They refused to consider that once and for all, the question of fairness, liberty, and justice for all U.S. citizens could be resolved with regard to the Schiavo case. They refused to consider the severity and gravity of the national concern related to this case. What guarantee, then, do we the people have that our basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, will be protected? It is unconscionable to consider that greater harm could come to the people’s trust in this system of government by a fresh, honest, and open review of the Schiavo case. Instead, the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case has sparked a general discontent, distrust, and a growing belief that the current Supreme Court does not have the capacity to function as a representative unit of a government of, by, and for the people. At the very least, the Supreme Court could have maintained its integrity as a unit of government that will apply every conceivable means within its power to protect the basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and to provide liberty and justice for all.

By: Matt Margolis

Matt Margolis — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 16:56:57 +0000

amen Jay

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 14:47:30 +0000

Well, it’s done. Terry Schiavo can rest in peace.

The Schiavos and the Schindlers can mourn. And the rest of us can get on with our lives.

By: Kahn

Kahn — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 23:38:46 +0000

Matt, no – I’m afraid you’re right. I just hate to advocate death for an innocent person. But there is a difference between brain dead and brain damaged and this looks more like euthanasia than it does letting the body slip away for someone who is already gone.

I also don’t like the way advocates of life are characterized as “fundies”. It is such a narrow and ignorant view.

By: Matt Margolis

Matt Margolis — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 21:52:49 +0000

i think a lot of peopel are kidding themselves when they say that terri schiavo is not PVS, or that she coudl come out of it.. or whatever… lets get real folks..

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:37:25 +0000

Kahn, I’m not going to split hairs over “brain-dead” or “brain-damaged”. And no, I’m no doctor, but I can’t accept that the medical establishment of Florida joined the courts in an evil bond of blood to fulfill Micheal Schiavo’s evil wish of forcing his wife to have a lingering painful death. That seems to be the theory being tossed around on talk radio and in the fundie circles.

In Texas, you can get the plug yanked on you if you can’t pay the bill. In Florida, your next of kin makes the decision. I don’t know what my states laws are, but if a family member hadn’t left a living will specifying they wanted the plug pulled I don’t think I could do it, and thank God I’ve never had to make that decision. I don’t wish that on anybody.

This is a law left up to the states. That is what it is. The fundies (I don’t want to say evangelicals since a majority of those who call themselves evangelicals don’t think the Feds should be involved) don’t like the decision that Michael Schiavo made and they don’t like that they can’t do anything about it. Politicians like Tom Delay and my state’s own Rick Santorum are just feeding red meat to their fundie bases in order to win their vote again in 2006.

By: Kahn

Kahn — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:36:54 +0000

Jay,

I see you’re sincere – but you are wrong about her being “brain dead”. Look it up, really. She is brain damaged. If this method of death didn’t hurt, then why did they put her on a Morphine drip this weekend? And, why would a dead brain need pain killer anyways?

Again, what actual doctors testimony have YOU read and what makes you think you are qualified to make this decision? I have not read anything beyond the press reports and I know that I’m not qualified. No – this is not a simple argument. Its a tragedy in the making. A young wman is dieing. We are powerless to stop it and argue over whether we should even try. The politicians aside – there is no good from this death. And I won’t be happy when she dies. On the other hand – I would not wish to live like that. No, no simple answers to this one.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 17:58:04 +0000

The fundies are making political hay of Schiavo, but if you’re a supporter of Bush because of muscular foreign policy, or tax cuts, or even that the Democrats don’t offer an alternative of any sort, then you probably are not wild about the whole situation. The polls show that. 70-80% of America is not a “liberal culture of death.”

This the deal: Terry Schiavo is brain dead. She has been for some time. I don’t believe these claims about her being cognizant because it would have come up sometime in the last 15 years of court battles. And to believe it also means you have to accept a conspiracy of Michael Schiavo, the medical establishment, the US court system, and the media to kill Terry Schiavo in cold blood.

Do we know what she would want? No. She didn’t leave a living will. Florida law says the next-of-kin decides and that’s Michael Schiavo and that’s what these “activist” judges have been affirming for the last 15 years. If either George or Jeb Bush were going to send in the troops they would have done it by now. They know a political hot potato when they see one and they aren’t going to act.

That’s the breaks. The rest of this is a tragic and intensely private matter for the Schiavos and the Schindlers, and has nothing to do with the rest of this country.