Posted on 03/29/2005 8:58:34 AM PST by Long Cut
We, the Witness Protection Program For Freepers, aka the Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane, have through mutual discussion and rigourous thought, determined that:
1. The discussion threads regarding Terri Schiavo (hereafter referred to as "TS") have become too full of innuendo, rumormongering, hyperbole, hysteria, namecalling, paranoia, and general poor behavior to warrant participation.
2. Said threads have degenerated into "echo chambers", wherein the same, common thoughts are continually posted again and again, and the same old disreputable, unconfirmed and/or false urban myths are propagated.
3. Anyone who joins in said theads with alternative viewpoints to the most extreme posts are routinely driven away with slander, accusations, and vile namecalling.
4. No data or evidence contrary to the "prevailing opinions" are accepted, considered, or discussed; and in fact are rejected outright in most instances.
5. That the continued calls for armed insurrection, military or paramilitary involvement, impeachements of politicians and judges, and death threats are embarassing, stupid, shortsighted, doomed to failure, and contrary to most if not all conservative thought prior to this case, as well as damaging in the extreme to FR and the conservative movement as a whole.
6. That such emotional, hyperbolic, and propaganda-driven hysteria is in fact contrary to all conservatives USED to stand for.
7. That the holding up of swastika and other Nazi imagery towards the police and the Bushes, the use of children as political props, and the disruption of the peace at the Woodside Hospice can only reflect badly on conservatives in general, and should be discouraged.
8. That the pursuit of this issue to the exclusion of all others by the GOP has damaged, perhaps beyond repair, the pursuit of other important issues as well as the reputation of the GOP, FR, and conservatism.
The WPPFF is NOT of one mind as to the case of TS or its correct outcome. In fact, wide disagreement exists within our little group. However, we are united in our wish that reason and sanity be respected in the discussion, as well as the rights of all parties involved or participating. We wish to discuss this as adults and intellectuals, as conservatives and as FRiends, not as children screaming past each other on some playground of hysteria. We wish for facts and evidence to be provided, discussed reasonably, and considered fairly.
We reject all accusations of Naziism, "death cultism", or other slander as methods of debate. We reject the practice of "spamming" multiple threads, of posting unending vanities, and the posting of propaganda and calls for violence. We reject, in fact, all unseemly and childish behavior which has come to characterize this case on FR.
We DO invite others to come and reasonably discuss the issue. We have no problem with FReepers who wish to debate in a rational and fair manner, and with due respect for their fellow FReepers. We have NO problem with those whose views are formed by religion; however we reject "preaching" or "being beaten with a Bible" as legitemite debate tactics. Not all of us are Believers, and such tactics only cheapen the source.
If a FReeper finds this an acceptable meansd to discuss this and other issues, they are welcome to join in and participate. Those who find pleasure in attacks, flame-baiting, slander, stalking, and personal atacks will be ignored, and their egos will go unfed.
We assume this thread to be a zone of sanity in an overheated atmosphere. Thus, a general amnesty is in effect. If posters conduct themselves within the guidlines above, we will be happy to discuss and debate with you. If a poster wishes to apologize for past slips of the tongue, or for possible "over-the-top" statements to another, it will be graciously accepted, and your company welcome.
Please bring a sense of humor; we feel that too many have been taking themselves too seriously lately.
Let the discussion begin!
Signed,
The WPPFF, aka The Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane.
Good idea. LOL! I'll have to use that term at work. Should get a few looks!
For starters, if you really want to make any headway, then slinging around the term 'Nazi' is counterproductive. Emotionally charged terms don't convince people of anything, they just provoke emotionally charged responses. If you've got an intelligent case, and you think that people will support it, then make it heard. Calling people names isn't persuasive; if anything, it implies that you don't have anything else in your intellectual arsenel.
FReepers should have more tools in the toolbox than the old fully automatic mudslinger.
Executing the disabled is very Nazi behavior.
Okay, executing the disabled is very Nazi behavior. So is marching, speaking German, and visiting France. (You like sauerkraut, huh? You know... the Nazis also like sauerkraut...)
Come on, there must be more to your arguement than that.
LOL Sophistry.
Nazi behavior, yes. And Orwellian phrasing.
Is it your position that, irrespective of physical condition, if it is possible to maintain life, life must be maintained?
No.
Dr. Ron Cranford, a neurologist at the University of Minnesota, assessed Schiavo's brain function in 2001 as part of a court-ordered assessment. He was quoted in Florida Today as saying "[Schiavo] has no electrical activity in her cerebral cortex on an EEG (electroencephalogram), and a CT (computerized tomography) scan showed massive atrophy in that region."
Source.
Three Florida neurologists viewed 12 of Schiavo's CT scans on March 22 [10] (http://www.miami.edu/ethics/schiavo/CT%20scan.png). After viewing the scans, Dr. Leon Prockop (a professor and former chairman of the neurology department at the University of South Florida's College of Medicine) was quoted by the Sun-Sentinel as saying that Schiavo's scan exhibits the "most severe brain damage as I've ever seen." Dr. Walter Bradley, the chairman of neurology at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, said that he "doubts there's any activity going on in the higher levels of her brain."
Source.
In 2002, a trial was held to determine whether or not any new therapy treatments would help Schiavo restore any cognitive function. A new computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan) was done, and showed severe cerebral atrophy. An EEG showed no measurable brain activity.
I thought it was sickening when I heard it too.
Then I take it you would not classify, for example, Sun Hudson or Charles Delay as "disabled", and you would not view the decisions regarding removal of life support in those case as "executions".
There was a link on this thread to the site where they are offering a free book for a $35 donation, or the video for a $100 donation.
Tell me about their medical conditions at the time in question.
bump for placemark
Is there a link pointing out who is funding Felo's?
Felo's what?
his fees for this case
My understanding is there is basically no money left in Terri's Trust Fund
So someone has to be funding his expenses, they aren't cheap and I was just wondering who ?
I wish many had listened to the sober and serious discussion of this issue that Dennis Praeger just had during the last full hour of his radio program.
His guests were Michael Medved and Hugh Hewitt.
You have a point that is getting lost in the hysterical wielding of terminology you're engaging in. I urge you to take a more temperate approach if you truly wish to communicate in good faith.
"Hysterical wielding?"
Is that temperate?
Assuming it's true, doesn't it depend on how the money is used?
I think your word choices warrant the descriptive.
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