When did food and water become medical treatment?

Think about it… The Schindlers are barred from even swabbing Terri’s lips with a cotton swab if it has any kind of water on it. They even had a debate this weekend over whether or not to allow Terri to receive Holy Communion on Easter Sunday.

The ruling by the brilliant Judge Greer, as far as I know, only precludes the feeding tube from begin inserted because, supposedly, that’s what Terri did / didn’t / did / didn’t / did want.

So I ask again, when did food and water become medical treatment? If the ruling was that the tube not be reinserted, why would even giving Terri a glass of water be considered a violation of that ruling?

Unless of course the objective was not to honor her wishes, but to kill her.

A subtle but important difference.

Choose life.

The real men and women made decisions.

For all you tools worried about the Constitution and how saving a life isn’t constitutional, but anal sex is, here’s a lesson:

Article. III.
Section. 1.

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Congress establishes what the jurisdiction of the courts are. Meaning if Congress wants to grant the power to review a case to a Federal Court, it can.

Done.

Next pointless objection?

Choose life.

Alaska zoo to install elephant treadmill
REBECCA BOONE

BOISE, Idaho - It’s not easy being a pudgy pachyderm.

Everyone - from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to the U.S. Department of Agriculture - seems to weigh in with opinions on trimming Maggie the elephant’s waistline or suggestions for putting extra energy in her heavy step.

But soon Maggie may become a bit less massive. Keepers at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, where Maggie lives, are preparing to install the world’s first elephant exercise treadmill.

Why not just starve it until it loses weight? I hear that’s a peaceful and beautiful way to lose weight…

Oh wait, we don’t do that to animals; only humans.

Source: AP

Choose life.

Of course, there are differences between the Gonzalez and Schiavo cases. But clearly many of the people who approved of dramatic federal intervention to return Elian to Cuba took a completely different tack when it came to the argument over saving Terri Schiavo. Rep. Frank makes a compelling argument that Congress took an extraordinary step when it met in special session to create a procedure whereby the federal courts could decide whether Ms. Schiavo’s rights were being violated. He may have a point when he accuses Republicans of “trying to command judicial activism and dictate outcomes when they don’t like” rulings. But where were Mr. Frank and other liberals when the Clinton administration decided to sidestep a federal appeals court and order an armed raid against Elian Gonzalez? While Mr. Frank allowed that the use of assault rifles in the Elian raid was “excessive” and “frightening,” he also defended the Justice Department’s view that “of course [agents] had to use force.”

According to some reports, Gov. Jeb Bush considered seizing Mrs. Schiavo, à la Elian, and taking her to a hospital so she could be fed. But he did not do so. “I’ve consistently said that I can’t go beyond what my powers are, and I’m not going to do it,” the governor says. Janet Reno and the Clinton administration showed no such restraint when it came to Elian Gonzalez.

All the Law & Order libs were pretty silent when Elian was taken into custody despite a ruling by the Federal Court that it would not order Gonzalez be taken into custody. Now those same libs are all over the court system like white on rice. The court decided it, therefore it must be true.

Something to ponder as Terri moves into her tenth day of starvation at the hands of one Federal Court judge who wouldn’t do what he was supposed to do, and a Circuit Court Judge who is nothing more than a rubber-stamp for Michael Schiavo’s interpretation of what Terri did / didn’t / did /didn’t / did / didn’t actually want.

From the Wall Street Journal

Choose life.

I must have said this about a thousand times, and now I’m saying it again.

Daniel Medley is one of the best bloggers in the world.

Why?

Because he, like myself, and unlike so many others, is not afraid to speak his mind.

Witnesseth:

Twisted Irony

I find twisted irony in that as a society, apparently, we are willing to let Terri Schiavo starve to death–in fact we’re being told that death by starvation is downright fun–while at the same time five elk are shot rather than be allowed to starve, presumably so they would not suffer.

I’ve been on the fence concerning this whole Terri Schiavo thing but now I’m gettin’ off the fence.

I think it’s bullshit and the feeding tube should be put back in. Now, just to be sure, I’m all for one’s right to die if they so choose and in such a case I don’t think that government should give a damn one way or the other. The problem I have with the Terri Schiavo case is that no one knows what she wants. Her husband says she wants to die and her parents say she doesn’t want to die. It’s all hearsay and circumstantial at best. There is no proof positive that Terri’s wishes are to be allowed to starve to death. Under such circumstances it’s best to err on the side of letting her live.

Under these circumstances Federal Government has every right to get involved. The first tenant of the Constitution is life, followed up by liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since no one knows really what Terri Shiavo wants we must assume that she wants to live. The will to live is the strongest human instinct. I’d also opine that the will to eat is a close second.

To claim that this is a state’s rights issue is preposterous. Using that rational, slavery should still exist because, after all, it was a state issue. Slavery was legal in many states via state law and we are, after all, a nation of laws. Who is the government to get involved in the private matters of states?

Remember, Germany rounded up 6 million Jews and gassed them all under rule of law.

Like I said, Terri, you or I all have the right to make our own decisions as to how, and to some extent when, we die. But I’ll be damned if we should take hearsay as evidence enough to starve someone all in the name of compassion.

It doesn’t fucking compute with me.

I may not want to live under such circumstances, you may not want to. That’s understandable, but that’s you and me.

I can’t shake the feeling that we’re being sold a bill of goods that’s as rotten as the day is long. We’re told that Terri Schiavo’s condition is such that she can’t feel anything, is not aware of anything; that she’s no more than an empty shell. Because of this we are sold the notion that her death by starvation will be no problem for her. In fact Terri is, by all accounts, not even a “she” but rather an “it”; a shriveling pile of mindless flesh and bone with no mind and no awareness. All of this while at the same time we are sold the notion that she should be allowed to die so as to end her suffering.

I just as soon return the goods and cancel the bill.

I love you man. In a completely platonic way, of course.

Choose life.

After Defeats, Schiavo Parents Tell Supporters to Go Home

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (Reuters) - Terri Schiavo’s parents suffered more court defeats on Saturday, leaving them with dwindling hopes as their brain-damaged daughter passed her eighth day without food and edged toward death.

Bob and Mary Schindler, both practicing Catholics, urged dozens of supporters gathered outside the Florida hospice where Schiavo is being cared for to go home for Easter.

“The family would request that everyone go home, be with your children, hold them close and share every moment you have with them,” said Brother Paul O’Donnell, a Franciscan monk who is a spiritual adviser to the Schindlers.

It was not clear if the Schindlers had finally abandoned all legal avenues in their fight to restart their 41-year-old daughter’s feeding, a cause that embroiled the Florida legislature, the U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush.

But their message to end the vigil outside the hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, came after Circuit Judge George Greer, who has presided over their seven-year legal dispute with Schiavo’s husband and guardian, Michael, rejected a petition that alleged Terri had tried to say that she wanted to live.

These are seriously good people which obviously explains why they’re being tortured like this day after day.

Hug your kids. You never know how many chances to do it you’ll have.

Source: Reuters via Netscape.com

Choose life.

Judge Greer, much to the surprise of no one, has decided, yet again, he will not reverse himself:

Terri Schiavo near death as legal options run out
1 hour, 29 minutes ago

PINELLAS PARK, United States (AFP) - Terri Schiavo drew closer to death as a judge rejected a last-ditch appeal by her parents to keep the brain-damaged woman alive against the wishes of her husband and the US courts.

Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer said Schiavo’s parents had failed to offer a valid reason to change his decision and did not offer the new evidence in a timely fashion as required.

“Based on the respondents’ request for relief, this court does not find that a colorable entitlement to relief has been established,” Greer wrote.

I’m coming to grips with the fact that this is nearing its end. I’m not happy about it.

But can we stop with the bullshit that this case was heard on ten occasions? It’s been heard 10 times by Judge Greer, and unless the man is a total moron, he would never reverse himself. The mere fact that the same judge rejected the appeals of the parents ten times does not make the case any more or less agreeable to the court.

Source: AFP via Yahoo

Choose life.

Politics does make strange bedfellows, that’s for sure. The Wide Awakes, while way out there on the right side of the spectrum, have come up with some astonishingly chilling information regarding Terri’s “collapse.”

Read:

Dr. George McClane is the Director of the Forensic Medical Unit (FMU) at the city of San Diego Department of Family Justice Center. The FMU documents injuries sustained by living victims as the result of domestic violence. Dr. McClane is also a board-certified Emergency Physician and a diplomate National Board of Medical Examiners. Furthermore, even more relevant to Terri and Michael Schiavo, Dr. McClane has published works reviewing attempted strangulation in hundreds of cases. Crystal Clear he knows his stuff. I urge you to go read his full curriculum vitae and statement for yourself.
In his affidavit Dr. McClane attests:

The circumstances surrounding her initial anoxic episode and subsequent neurological status are consistent with a victim who has been strangled.

• A “heart attack” precipitated by severe metabolic disease secondary to an eating disorder is inconsistent.
• Such a severly compromised heart would never continue to pump effectively for 15 more years.
• It is critical that Terri Schiavo’s case be considered as possible attempted homocide.

Now go read the whole thing, and tell me this doesn’t, at the very least, upset you that the Federal Court didn’t do what they were ordered to do by Congress and reconsider the evidence. All they did was look at the law that was passed, despite being ordered to look at the case as a new case before the court.

Even the strongest supporters of just letting Terri die would have to admit that this is, at the very least, troubling.

Hat Tip to the Wide Awakes

Choose life.

One week later, I’ve learned a lot; not just about the Terri Schiavo case, but about people.

I’ve been pigeonholed more times than I’d like to even discuss here, by people who should know better.

My favorite pigeonholing was by a repressed gay guy who’s so uncomfortable with his gayness he won’t even come out of the closet publicly, but makes me out to be some kind of Jesus freak in a mock quotation with another “friend.” The other friend, of course, who likes to cheer, “Go Darwin!!!” everytime someone who that person believes is clearing the way for the rest of the gene pool by eliminating themselves from it but at the same time passing children along for therapy in different places, getting whatever drugs they need to take, and getting treatment all over the place. Not exactly the way to let evolution run its course, is it?

Of course, this same person has numerous illnesses including a heart condition and insists on smoking. Should I just cheer, “Go Darwin!?”

Well I don’t. Because despite the blatant hypocrisy of a repressed homosexual making fun of what he thinks I am (noting, of course, that I’m completely honest and open about who I am and what I believe, while he hides it) and the other person constantly chanting “Go Darwin,” as if to say it’s okay for Terri to die because, as this person puts it, Terri was “too stupid” to have a living will, while she puffs a cigarette and complains about heart problems and asthma, I don’t work like that.

Terri does not deserve to die because simply because she doesn’t have a living will. No innocent person deserves to die. This is not some “right to life crap” as its been called by one of the aboved mentioned people. It’s not a bible-banger issue.

It’s just not.

We have an obligation as a society to protect the weakest among us. That means taking care of people who are ill. It means helping to give medication to families that can’t afford it. It means giving people an opportunity to better themselves. It means protecting those without the voice to protect themselves. People like Terri.

I’m amazed at how black and white some people can make this issue. It’s the Jesus-freaks versus the real contemplative smart folk, in their mind. Well, for the record, let me state emphatically who I am and what I believe so that the gay guy and the smoker can just relax with their perpetual bullshit.

I am a white male conservative/libertarian. I know what my beliefs are, and some of them I feel more strongly than others. I am open to change on some or all of my views if new evidence changes my way of thinking on something.

I believe in the sanctity of life for innocent people. That includes unborn babies, and adults. No one has an obligation to die for any reason if they have not committed a crime. I also believe that criminals do have an obligation to die if they kill someone else; their innocence lost the minute they do the deed.

I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe a married relationship is better for raising children and starting a family than a “committed one.” It’s not as easy to walk away from a real marriage, and to a degree it forces you to work harder if something is wrong. I believe gay people should be allowed to marry because two fathers are better than one, and I think we have to open our minds to the fact that children being raised by two parents are always going to be better off than children raised by one mom and an absentee dad.

I believe people should be able to kill themselves if they so desire, as long as those wishes are clearly defined. I think Jack Kevorkian’s efforts are heroic. Terminally ill patients should always have the option, if they choose, to end their lives quickly and painlessly. As should people in a state where they can’t survive without either artificial feeding or a respirator. But, absent specific instructions on their wishes written down on paper, no terminally ill or disabled patient should ever be sentenced to death. While everyone is worried about the precedents being set if she’s not killed, I worry more about the precedent it sets if she is. At this point, all husbands can now say their disabled wives wanted to die and we can just kill them. That’s scarier to me than saving one life.

I believe that the people who think I do anything on this site for hits are out of their fucking minds. In fact, despite the assertion of someone who christened me with a comment, and who should know what blogs are about, my traffic this month, despite my extraordinary efforts to bump it up by capitalizing on this sad case, is going to be just about where it was a month ago, and two months ago when I hardly wrote anything at all.

Now you know what I believe. As always, I have been 100% open and honest with my readers about who I am, what I believe, and my position on any issues. I never hold back when I post something because frankly I don’t care who it offends. I don’t care if you’re a “friend,” my best friend, my mother and father, or my worst enemy. You always get the straight dope when I write something.

Now ponder that for a second, and apply it to yourself. Do your readers know exactly what you think at all times? Do they know your background for thinking so? Do they know what you do despite the best efforts of Darwin? Do they know that you don’t want to become the “gay conservative blogger” so you hide it?

For all your mocking, shitslinging, pigeonholing bullshit, my readers know exactly who I am.

Do yours?

(Oh, and unlike some other people, comments will remain open on this post, as they are on every single post I write because I don’t fear what my readers have to say)

Choose life.

Schiavo’s parents get ‘emergency hearing’
Father says she is ‘down to her last hours’

PINELLAS PARK, Florida (CNN) — The parents of Terri Schiavo have launched last-ditch efforts to get their brain-damaged daughter’s feeding tube reconnected immediately, saying she is now “down to her last hours.”

Bob Schindler, Schiavo’s father, said, “Terri is weakening … Something has to be done and has to be done quick.”

It’s worth a prayer on this, the holiest weekend on the Catholic / Christian calendar.

Source: CNN

Choose life.

For all the “it’s just the right wing christian blah blah blah” types, here’s an interesting defense of Terri Schiavo.

From that right wing christian fundamentalist wacko, Ralph Nader:

Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader, Author Wesley Smith call Upon Florida Courts, Gov. Bush and Concerned Citizens to Take any Legal Action Available to let Schiavo Live
3/24/2005 6:48:00 PM

To: National Desk
Contact: Ralph Nader, 202-387-8034; Wesley Smith, 510-886-8609

WASHINGTON, March 24 /U.S. Newswire/ — Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith, author of the award winning book “Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America” call upon the Florida Courts, Governor Jeb Bush and concerned citizens to take any legal action available to let Terri Schiavo live.

“A profound injustice is being inflicted on Terri Schiavo,” Nader and Smith asserted today. “Worse, this slow death by dehydration is being imposed upon her under the color of law, in proceedings in which every benefit of the doubt-and there are many doubts in this case-has been given to her death, rather than her continued life.”

Among the many injustices in this case, Nader and Smith point to the following:
The courts not only are refusing her tube feeding, but have 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, it has ordered her to be made dead,” Nader and Smith assert.

The medical and rehabilitation experts are split on whether Terri is in a persistent vegetative state or whether Terri can be improved with therapy. There is only one way to know for sure- permit the therapy. That is the only way to resolve all doubts.

The court is imposing process over justice. After the first trial in this case, much evidence has been produced that should allow for a new trial-which was the point of the hasty federal legislation. If this were a death penalty case, this evidence would demand reconsideration. Yet, an innocent disabled woman is receiving less justice.

The federal and state governments are spending billions on what we are told will become miracle medical cures for people with all sorts of degenerative conditions, including brain damage. If this is so, why not permit Terri’s parents and siblings who want to care for her do so in the hope that such cures are discovered?

Benefits of doubts should be given to life, not hastened death. This case is rife with doubt. Justice demands that Terri be permitted to live.

I know… There’s some reason to dismiss what Nader is saying, and I’m sure I’ll hear it in the next eight minutes. I think the most interesting part of this piece is who wrote it. You don’t have to be a right-wing bible-banger to think what’s going on in Florida is wrong.

Via Slobokan

Choose life.

Schiavo’s Parents Back in Federal Court
37 minutes ago

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - For the third time in four days, Terri Schiavo’s parents asked the same federal appeals court to order the reinsertion of their brain-damaged daughter’s feeding tube. Their move came hours after a federal judge refused the same request.

In their latest appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Bob and Mary Schindler argued that their daughter’s due process and religious rights were being violated.

Well, we know her religious rights were being violated because no spiritual advisors of any kind are allowed in the room at all, and she will not be administered last rights; a blatant violation of her religious rights.

CORRECTION: I was fed improper information, and upon more research have found that Terri did have last rights administered, but she still cannot have any kind of spiritual advisor in the room at all period.

Choose Life

I know he’s talking about Al Franken, but honestly, how many in the opposition can be defined by these kind of statements:

Al Frankin was agitated.

The Saturday Night Live star and radio talk show host was asked on my show to talk about the human tragedy of a young, helpless woman being starved to death.

But Al wanted to use his time (and everyone else’s) reading talking points being sent around on liberal websites.

Frankin faithfully followed the party line and refused to answer questions about Terri Shiavo’s sad physical state. And neither Al nor the de facto Democratic spin machine wanted to talk about protecting this helpless woman.

Instead, Al lectured me on the intricacies of Texas law, the nomination process for the Nobel Prize, and what a hypocritical pig George W. Bush is — none of which had a thing to do with Terri Shiavo’s imminent death.

Joe, I love you man.

Choose Life

Some of you are under the impression that I’m writing about Terri for the hits. It’s okay, you’re allowed to be an asshole every once in awhile.

But just so you can see what my stats look like, here’s some numbers to chew on the next time you want to open your insipid cakehole and spew forth:

Here are my keyphrase stats:

Wow. Look at all those Schiavo hits!

Wow. I’m rolling in Schiavo hits.

And that’s after a week of writing about absolutely nothing else.

Next time someone wants to call it a race for hits instead of belief in a cause, my advice would be to get your story straight or put something else in your mouth before it’s competing for space with your foot.

Choose Life

I have to say, it was refreshing seeing this video this morning with him saying exactly what I’ve been saying about the odd difference between animal cruelty laws and laws pertaining to people in Florida.

Joe, you’ve earned yourself a new fan.

Choose life.

As of early Friday, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration — flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

The woman’s husband, Michael Schiavo, says his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially, and he has been backed by years of court rulings affirming doctors’ diagnoses that Terri Schiavo lives in a persistent vegetative state.

The Schindlers appeared before a federal judge in Tampa late Thursday to make another emergency request that the feeding tube be reattached while they pursue claims that Schiavo’s religious and due-process rights were violated. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore previously rejected a similar request and said Thursday he would work through the night to issue his new ruling.

“It’s very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death,” said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at “pictures of prisoners in concentration camps.”

Michael Schiavo’s brother, Brian Schiavo, strongly disagreed with that assessment, telling CNN that Terri Schiavo “does look a little withdrawn” but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply “part of the death process.”

How nice. It’s just part of the death process. Here’s how the death process works for animals, in Florida:

828.05. Killing an injured or diseased domestic animal

(1) The purpose of this section is to provide a swift and merciful means whereby domestic animals which are suffering from an incurable or untreatable condition or are imminently near death from injury or disease may be destroyed without unconscionable delay and in a humane and proficient manner.

828.12. Cruelty to animals

(1) A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

828.13 Confinement of animals without sufficient food, water or exercise; abandonment of animals

(3) Any person who is the owner or possessor, or has charge or custody, of any animal who abandons such animal to suffer injury or malnutrition or abandons any animal in a street, road, or public place without providing for the care, sustenance, protection, and shelter of such animal is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both imprisonment and a fine.

Isn’t it nice to know that Florida has on its books laws that prohibit doing to animals what’s being done to Terri Schiavo? I mean, I know the omnipotent Judge George Greer, who appropriately wears a black robe, says it’s okay to just starve a human being to death, but isn’t it funny how if you brought a skeletal dog to his courtroom, you’d get a possible jail sentence or a fine?

But nah, there’s nothing wrong with our priorities. After all, Terri wanted to starve to death. Judge Greer and Michael Schiavo said so.

Choose life.

Schindlers Suffer Another Setback in Fla.
Email this Story

Mar 24, 9:31 PM (ET)

By JACKIE HALLIFAX

(AP) Nancy Kramer, of Pinellas Park, Fla., asks for the help of Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., to save the life…
Full Image

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday refused to overturn a judge’s order blocking the state from taking temporary custody of Terri Schiavo, another setback in her parents’ battle to keep their brain-damaged daughter alive.

Gov. Jeb Bush wants the state Department of Children & Families to take custody of Schiavo, presumably to reinsert her feeding tube, and to investigate allegations that she has been abused and prove that she’s not in a persistent vegetative state.

Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer earlier in the day denied Bush’s request and has blocked the state from taking emergency action to intervene in the case while it appeals his decision.

As of Thursday afternoon, Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for six full days and was showing signs of dehydration - flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

Her parents have also been rebuffed by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Senate.

AP via MyWay

Choose life.

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything”

-Alexander Hamilton

Choose life.

Okay. I’m flexible.

Let’s play a game.

Tell me in one paragraph why I shouldn’t support the feeding tube being reinserted into Terri Schiavo by any means necessary.

No doctoral theses, please. Just one simple paragraph, free of rhetoric, opinion, or reference to how in the hell you would want to live.

Facts.

I want to understand you folks, really, and I figure this is a good way to start.

(PS: If you support the tube being re-inserted, just hold on. DO NOT POST HERE. Your turn will come later).

Choose life.

Fla. Judge Won’t Hear Schiavo Arguments
By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A state judge refused Thursday to hear Gov. Jeb Bush’s arguments to take custody of Terri Schiavo, leaving the brain-damaged woman’s parents with only the slimmest hopes in their fight to keep her alive.

Bush’s request cited new allegations of neglect and challenges the diagnoses that Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, but Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer wasn’t convinced.

Of course he wasn’t convinced. If Terri Schiavo sat up, played dominoes, drank a coke and called him an asshole, he’d still want proof that it wasn’t a reflex action. There’s gonna be a lot of blood on a lot of hands when this whole thing is over.

Source: AP

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