Not taking sides on Terri Schiavo, but I'm getting sick of the politicking

[LittleClarkie]

It's almost as if it's some kind of spectator sport for some people. The joke cracking, the snide comments, the assumptions that one side is more right than the other, the vilifying of one side over the other.

I really wish this case wasn't being used to score political points. I think the truth is somewhere down the middle. Neither side is the demon, both are trying to do what they think best, I'm convinced. (When her husband wouldn't take the money he was offered it convinced me he was serious.)

But we're not doctors. What makes people so sure then they make one side crazy or the other side evil.

And above all, IT'S NOT DAMN FUNNY!!!

[Pirate Smile]

1. I agree. I don't find the issue so easy. The starving as opposed

to unplugging a ventilator makes me rather queasy.

I think we make a big mistake when we just take a side because it is the opposite of the Republicans.

Some issues are complicated and specific to the facts of the case. That damn nuance is important sometimes.

I haven't been in the GD threads on this issue but I take it is getting ugly.

[LittleClarkie]

2. Ayep

I don't understand why we should think the husband is a hero because he's on the side we want, and the parents are crazy because they're pro-life and religious.

And what if Terri really does exhibit the bits of response they say she does.

I'd be less queasy if it were a ventilator. But they're talking about starving a woman to death. We treat people on death row better. I'd rather they gave her a lethal injection than let her go slowly.

I just don't understand why one position is inherently Dem and the other inherently Repub. I suppose people like Frist have made it so, even though Conrad stood up with him today. And I suppose those who have vilified the husband are also to blame if it's ultimately not true.

None of this is clear cut to me. And none of it is funny.

[Pirate Smile]

3. I agree and one side isn't the Democratic side. We can't or

shouldn't fall into that trap. I think we should just stay out of it. Right now it is about the Republicans in Congress trying to fight the Courts. Democrats can't do anything about it.

[saracat]

5. They starve everyone who has signed a living will. Food and water

are considered"extraordinary measures" to keep anyone alive. My mother in Law was starved to death because she didn't want any"extraordinary measures". I didn't realize this until I asked if the tube she was on was glucose and found it was morphine! They will not tell you unless you ask. I wouldn't let my Dad sign a "living will" and I won't sign one. And boy, oh boy, does the hospital pressure you. I had to fight to keep my Dad alive . I had people pushing me to pull the plug every day. I wouldn't do it until I knew there was NO hope.Once you are older they really push the no code bit. They say it it harmful or intrusive to even try to save you.

[Pirate Smile]

6. So she was starving but on pain meds? How long did it take

until she died?

[saracat]

7. A week. And they lie about it being "peaceful" She choked to death with

husband watching. He pushed the alarm and pushed it but no one would come because she was a "No code" having signed a "living will". They told us she would drift off to sleep. It was not so.
And my Dad on the respirator, I had to unplug him, did drift off.

[Pirate Smile]

8. The respirator is the one everybody envisions, not the starving

over weeks.

Oh, that sounds terrible for her husband, and the entire family. How did your husband take it?

Are they giving Terry the morphine? Does anyone know?

[saracat]

9. My husband still has nightmares. Terry doesn't seem to be sentient to me.

I don't think she would be aware even if she didn't have morphine!

[Pirate Smile]

10. Yes, I thought that after I posted the question. Although I

have been told infants and pets don't feel pain (I wonder if they truly believed it because I sure as hell didn't) so I am wary when "experts" or Doctors say someone doesn't feel pain.

[LittleClarkie]

14. When you sign a living will you can specify wanting to kept alive

can't you? I thought you could.

I had to have either a living will or power of attorney for health care signed on my dad before they'd accept him at the nursing home. I can't remember which.

You're right, they do push no code for older folks, saying their chances of surviving recuscitation are less or that they could end up vegetative. I never did agree to that for dad, and thank God we didn't need it in the end. He had a second stroke and went quickly.

Sorry to hear about your dad and mom in law

[JI7]

4. it's not, it's about privacy , it's similar to the abortion issue

it's the Republicans who made this an issue like they did with abortion. the people behind Terri Schiavo's parents are right wing activists. they have an agenda.

this should never have become as big an issue as it was. there have/are other cases where the family dealt with it in private.

but in this case the issue is who has the rights to decide.and Michael is the husband so it's his right. those behind Schiavo's parents are trying to take away this right.


Michael has been smeared in horrible ways for the position he has taken, which is a position that many other spouses and other relatives would and have taken and continue to all the time.

[elshiva]

11. No, it ain't funny.

I just wish DeLay did not put his religious ethics sound bite about let's all pray for her on Palm Sunday weekend sounding like a self-righteous ponce.

[sandnsea]

12. I so totally disagree

She has been examined and examined and examined. Judge after judge after judge has looked at the case. I am just appalled and her family is putting out alot of misinformation, which leaves me less sympathetic towards them.

Terri was bulemic. Her heart attack was due to reduced potassium. Bulemia is related to hyper controlling parents.
She has had therapy.
She has had treatment.
She has had CAT scans.
Her cererbral cortex has been replaced with fluid.
The only disagreement between doctors is whether there is NO cerebral tissue or a small amount. They all agree there is extensive, permanent brain damage.
Michael Schiavo went through a Florida process where a court decides what they believe the person would want done. Michael Schiavo followed the decision of that court.
She has had a guardian ad litum.

http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html

[LittleClarkie]

17. thanks for the info

I didn't know all that. I can see what they've done to the husband now.

Amazing how the Repubs want government out of peoples lives, unless their issues are at stake instead of ours.

[LeftyLizzie]

13. Yep, it didn't need to be politicized.

I have sympathy for both Terri's husband and her parents - this has to be such a tough situation for all the people involved, and I can see where both sides are coming from. What disgusts me is that Congress is getting involved at all. Why does there have to be a Democratic side and a Republican side on this issue? I think it's ridiculous that the Republicans are using this horrible family tragedy as yet another political tool, but I also think that it's hard for the Democrats to stand up against them in this one - if they do, it looks as if they're condoning an inhumane death for this poor woman (at least that's the way Repub opponents will spin it.)

[XanaDUer]

15. God, people are joking about this?

:puke:

We will never win the hearts and minds of anyone until we get rid of some of this ugliness, on both sides.

[LittleClarkie]

16. "If Terri lives, can we run her for president

because she has as much brain power as the shrub."

Yeah, people are joking about it.

And I agree. I find coldness on the left to match the heartlessness on the right.

I couldn't believe it when I heard the Repub talking points about Terri. "We'll really nail the Dems on this one. Hee hee!"

Barf, indeed.

[XanaDUer]

18. They will indeed nail us on this one

What we on the LEft need to do it force conservatives, in context of their policies, to explain their "culture of life" ethos, especially in light of things like "tort reform", and national health care.

Put them on the defensive for a change. Instead, we look like heartless monsters when we post things like the above.

[LittleClarkie]

19. Someone should publicize the story of Sun

the 6 month old baby that was disconnected from a respirator against the wishes of the mother in Texas because they didn't think it was worth the resources being used. Did being black make a difference I wonder?

The hypocrites.

And, what about ANWR vs SS. In one case the Republicans aren't worried about the future, in the other case they are. In one case, there is no crisis, in the other, there is. In one case we don't need to find alternatives, in the other case we do.

Sheesh.

[TayTay]

25. DKos has a thread about the GOP and this

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/20/151626/707

It's all politics for them. I think this is one of the most hypocritical things I have ever seen. They are leeches latching on to a family's personal tragedy for political gain. It's disgusting.

[elshiva]

24. Yeah, It's all over the Lounge.

Yuck!

[XanaDUer]

20. What I am going to do is writing Mel Maritinez

and have him explain to me exactly what he plans to do to further his "culture of life" philosophy, touching upon the fact that TS got her money from a lawsuit.

NOw is the time we need to be shoving Republicans' hypocrisy in their faces over this, not making fun of sick/disabled/brain dead people.

[TayTay]

21. Turning tragedy into an issue

Remember this when the Rethugs go crazy over Terry Schiavo:

Terry Schiavo's husband won a negligence lawsuit against the doctors who first treated his wife after her heart attack. Under the Republicans, such lawsuits would be scaled back considerably.

Terry Schiavo recevied $1 million dollars as a settlement in her case. That money has gone to her full-time care at a hospice. The money ran out years ago and the State of Florida now pays over $80,000.00 a year for her hospice bills. Under the Repuplican budget, over $14 billion dollars is taken from Medicaid. This is the self-same Medicaid fund that pays for indigent people like Terry Schiavo when they need medical help and have no money.

Can you say HYPOCRISY? I thought you could.

[rox63]

22. This is a tragic situation for all involved

The whole Schiavo case is a tragedy, for the parents, the husband, and most of all, for Terry. The parents can't say goodbye and let her go. The husband may have been a bit too eager to let go. And Terry gets tossed around in the courts, the congress and the news.

I don't know what Terry's wishes may have been about being kept alive under these circumstances. I know I would not want to live that way. It's horrible that this tragedy is being used for politcal gain.

[ginnyinWI]

23. Ron at LUTD has a nice piece on this subject

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/

He says that the Dems can use this issue to define their party as the party that wants government off the backs of the people, if they will stand against the repubs on this.