Jeb had this to say about Terri Schiavo's death; "Many across our state and around the world are deeply grieved by the way Terri died. I feel that grief very sharply as well..." He should feel it sharply because he is responsible. He put Michael and the courts into a position where they couldn't give an inch to make Terri comfortable. If they had the right to lifers would have jumped on it and used it as an example to take a mile.
This was a case of extremes. Extremes in the law, and extremes of religious fervor. When things are taken to the extremes then everyone involved suffers. Had this not been politicized, had every detail and nuance of every action and opinion been scrutinized endlessly then accomodations could have been made. We all know that the leway that exists in the exercise of law and in the practice of religion is there because we are all human. But when you shine the bright light of the media on it then judges, police and politicians necessarily move to the extremes.
If Jeb were serious about his concerns then he should look to himself first. It was his own intervention, and then that of the Congress and his brother, that created this polarization.
It didn't need to be this way, and it isn't this way in most circumnstances. I've worked with hospice in the past. These are good people who provide a necessary service that allows people to die with dignity. It's a crying shame that the Republicans and the pro-life movement have been so thoughtless as to drag these good people through the wringer like this.
Posted by jherr at March 31, 2005 01:11 PMWhile I understand your political arguments, this was a disagreement between her husband and her parents. The political system is not responsible for her death, only prolonging it--and the family is equally at fault. And I agree that no one should have to starve/dehydrate to death, but that was the only way, short of shooting her up with an overdose. What I understand further is that the hospice did everything they could to make her comfortable--she was on morphine (or some other narcotic) to stem the pain.
This is a case that should have never made it to the press, never gone to court. It should have been decided in her family circle. Because it wasn't, the legal system was the only way.
Posted by: eigga49 at April 1, 2005 09:10 AMIf I was of the opinion that this was against Terri's wishes and I was a member of the family, and I thought there was some hope, I might have fought like they did as well.
The problem comes when the courts had in effect shut them down, and people like Jeb Bush, Tom Delay, Bill Frist, and George Bush re-opened it up for political gain.
What they saw, and this is some sick shit, was an opportunity to exploit this woman's suffering to drive home their views on the judiciary. And we are getting this today. The Republican talking points for today are clear. Their needs to be an amendment to the Constitution to allow Congress to control what the federal judiciary has jurisdiction over.
This isn't about Terri Schiavo. It was never about Terri Schiavo. It's about Republicans gaining control over the last branch of the government they don't control completely.
Posted by: jherr at April 1, 2005 11:17 AMAs an aside, hospice didn't do everything they could to make her comfortable. Her lips and tongue could have been wetted. Her parents could have been at her bedside. That wasn't done because that would have required reason and sanity on the side of the right to lifers. If Schiavo had let that happen then the right to lifers would have used that leniency to crack him, hospice, and the courts wide open.
The only response to extremism is extremism. That's what the conservatives have brought us to.
Here is the question I would love to ask the Republican leadership and people like Hannity, Coulter and Limbaugh: "What should the role of liberal thought play in America?" My guess is that the answer would be some form of "None". It's all or nothing. They want all power completely. There are no half steps. There is no line of contrition. There is no settled territory. This is going to be a Republican country and that's it.
It's not conservative by any means. It's an extremist position. That requires, unfortunately, an extremist response. And the people that get hurt are the little people, like us, who think somehow that this involves us. And so we prey on each other like angry wolves.
"You are betrayed. You fought for something you did not get. And the glory of the armies and navies of the United States is gone like a dream in the night, and there ensues upon it, in the suitable darkness of the night, the nightmare of dread which lay upon the nations before this war came; and there will come some time, in the vengeful Providence of God, another war in which not a few hundred thousand men from America will have to die, but as many millions as necessary to accomplish the final freedom of the people's of the world."-Woodrow Wilson
What amazes me is the people still believe that Bush cares about their social concerns. It's so obvious. After Schiavo do we see an amendment that addresses these pro-life concerns? No. After the election do we actually see the President going after the gay marriage amendment? No. What we see is a power grab against the judiciary. And a long winded attempt to loot the Social Security trust fund.
Posted by: jherr at April 1, 2005 11:35 AMBut it was the lawyers that took it to Washington to make the federal courts look at it--that's when the congress stepped in. When it became a request to make it a federal issue.
As to the hospice, I can't say what they did. Two days before her death, Schaivo's lawyers said she was not in need of such treatment (I lost track after that point). As I read, her parents were asked to leave before her death (after being there several hours) so that the hospice could administer whatever care they were giving her--change sheets, I don't know. Mr. Shiavo was there when she died from what I read. She didn't die alone.
Long ago, this case became something that was not about her. This last round of battles over the last year was certainly not about her. It was about control, hope, lack of hope, not being able to let go, not wanting to say goodbye, and wanting to do the same.
The political commentay went in so many directions, I don't hope to comment.
Oh, if it were only about hope and not wanting to say goodbye. If you believe it was that then you have been had.
Unfortunately in reality it was just another monstrous attempt at a power grab. 80% of Americans polled saw it exactly in these terms. It was only the Schindlers and the true believers who couldn't see through the fog.
Posted by: jherr at April 1, 2005 03:19 PMMy comments addressed the state of affairs before this went haywire in the courts. When it was still a matter between opposing members of her family.
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