Mar 29 2005
Nat Hentoff… I agree with him!?!
What kind of a nation are we becoming? The CIA outsources torture—in violation of American and international law—in the name of the freedoms we are fighting to protect against terrorism. And we have watched as this woman, whose only crime is that she is disabled, is tortured to death by judges, all the way to the Supreme Court.
And keep in mind from the Ralph Nader-Wesley Smith report: “The courts . . . have [also] ordered that no attempts be made to provide her water or food by mouth. Terri swallows her own saliva. Spoon feeding is not medical treatment. This outrageous order proves that the courts are not merely permitting medical treatment to be withheld, they have ordered her to be made dead.”
In this country, even condemned serial killers are not executed in this way.
Because I live in New York City, I get the Village Voice all over the place. Every once in awhile I am happy with what they write. But never with Nat Hentoff.
Until today.
Add him to the list with Ralph Nader (who I voted for in 2000), and Jesse Jackson who I almost despise, of people who, in the issue of life and death have come out on the correct side.
Choose life.
March 29th, 2005 at 10:11 pm
That would lead me to believe that this is another good example of the fact that this is not divided on political or religous lines.
March 29th, 2005 at 10:22 pm
Well, for those that think this is a right wing issue, I’d love to see an explanation of the Senate vote, House vote, or the numerous left-wingers coming out against starving Terri.
For those that say Bush is doing it to be popular, why do those same folks keep bringing up the polls that say everyone is against it?
You can’t brag about the polls being against him and then say he’s placating the country by being against it.
Then again, some people can.
They’re called hypocrites.
March 30th, 2005 at 7:57 am
Good point.
March 30th, 2005 at 3:12 pm
Add to the list.
Lanny Davis: former white house counsel to President Clinton.
Tom Harkin: liberal democrat senator from Iowa, a staunch handicapped- rights advocate.
David Boise: counsel for Al Gore during the 2000 Florida election dispute.
Nat Hentoff, as noted by Vinny, is an outspoken liberal journalist, who is also a staunch civil libertarian. He opines in the mentioned Village Voice piece that he believes the Schiavo case should be a handicapped-rights case, not a right to die case.
This makes sense to me since Terri Schiavo was not dying before her food and water were taken away.
The charge that this is some sort of religious right-wing cause is a totally bogus.
March 30th, 2005 at 3:15 pm
As are most of the idiots making it.