Posted on 03/22/2005 6:31:48 PM PST by BCrago66
Mayor Richard Daley on Tuesday viewed the controversy over the fate of Terri Schiavo through the eyes of a father who lost a young son to a disabling condition.
And though Daley tried not to take sides in the Schiavo case, it became obvious where he stands as he spoke about Kevin Daley, who died in 1981 when he was 33 months old.
"I think it gets down to people with disabilities," the mayor said. "I had a son who was very sick with spina bifida. Some people would have said, `Why should he live?'"
Kevin "had a struggle," said Daley, who was a member of the General Assembly at the time the boy was fighting for his life. He flew regularly from Springfield to Chicago to be with his son. "We loved him just as much as anyone else. If he was here today, we would love him even more. But you are not going to tell me you are God.
"I think every person with disabilities should have the right to good quality care, and the right to be loved by parents, loved by God and to have a life..."
What should happen in Terri Schiavo's case is a complicated matter and one that should be determined "by a full medical review," Daley said. But he expressed admiration for Schiavo's parents, who are fighting to have a feeding tube reinserted over her husband's objections.
"They could walk away and move to California and say, `We have nothing to do with her. She married somebody.' I'll tell you one thing: They are loving parents ... At least she has that.
"Other families don't even care. They put their kids away, their parents away. They wait until they get the call from the funeral home."
Schiavo's parents "have something they see in this child," Daley said. "They see love and good news in her."
Daley said he once read about a doctor in the Netherlands "who said that the last four children that he allowed to die were spina bifida children. I said, `Thank God, he wasn't (our) doctor.'"
The mayor, who sometimes becomes emotional when talking about his son, one of four Daley children, kept his composure Tuesday.
Particularly sensitive to the issue, Daley has made a point of seeking to hire people with disabilities and to promote employment opportunities for the disabled in private industry.
But some people think that the disabled "should be shunted away, should be hidden, should be locked up, (that) they have no life, no mind, no soul," the mayor said.
He thinks handicapped babies ought to be killed up to one month of age.
Some handicapped person should say to Singer, "You first."
I wish more democrats had the guts to speak like this.
bump
However, much as Ward Churchill, he does get students lining up to take his class.
Our culture has stopped it's downward slide but we have a long long way to go.
I can only pray that we get another man with a soul for president and not a democrat in 2008.
I don't think we will survive another america hating regime here.
Actually Singer believes that it may be possible to deny "personhood" to infants up to a year old or older, therefore justifying infanticide even further.
It's pathetic and sickening.
"i think every person with disabilities should have the right to good quality care, and the right to be loved by parents, loved by God and to have a life..."
You know, I grew up in Chicago and was home recently and there was a lot of criticism of Mayor Daley in the hometown papers for corruption (so what else is new, LOL!).
But I gotta say, this demonstrates that his heart is in the right place. Thanks, Mayor Daley!
Midwesterners--the salt of the earth, imo. :)
And speaking of another Illinoisan, I would love to find a picture of Ronald Reagan's epitaph. I believe it says something like, "I believe that every human life has value, meaning, and purpose."
*** Richard Daley***
He may be on the other side, but God bless him.
He's got a heart for that little boy he lost.
Heard her one time trying to justify working full time with a handicapped child at home.....she sounded plenty guilt ridden.
He's a man in his 20s now I would guess. Not sure what his health is like but there have been some crises.
I'm glad to hear that Daley is expressing support for Terri's family. Thanks for posting this.
"He may be on the other side, but God bless him"
Exactly. He has a heart, and thank God for that.
I feel like forwarding this thread to my friends back "home" in Chicago. It's been a long time since I lived there but my family is still there and it was like a breath of fresh air to go back home.
Well, maybe I'll just print this thread out and send it to my (partially mentally disabled after meningitis, former attorney) father, who is 70 years old and thinks Terri's tube should be put back in. I think he would appreciate this.
Amazing, huh? That people might just want to LIVE!
However my sister is a liberal Democrat and I don't even want to get into a conversation about Terri with her. ;)
Displaying my ignorance here, but does spina bifida affect the brain, besides contorting the body?
"Our culture has stopped it's downward slide but we have a long long way to go."
Our culture is in the downward slide, unfortunately. This Schiavo case is proof. Michael Schiavo should be sharing a cell with Scott Peterson.
A cousin of mine who is a far left prof (thanks to her education @ U of Chicago in the 60's) @ a west coast university also has a son in his 20's with spina bifida - severely handicapped. But she has made him her life's work and I have to admire her for that. She hasn't spoke to me since the 2000 election.
"Heard her one time trying to justify working full time with a handicapped child at home"
Though I may not agree with it, I am not criticizing Judy Woodruff's choice. That has got to be incredibly difficult, and possible only with a lot of money (to hire housekeepers, nannies, etc.).
I have some friends (women) with young kids who are professionals--architects, etc. They never stopped working when they had kids, just found day care as soon as a space opened.
I don't know how they do it. Their entire weekend is spent going to the cleaners, grocery store, doing laundry, cleaning the house, etc. There is no time for quality family time.
I have a law degree but just couldn't do the day care thing. And if I had had a child with a disability, I don't know...
There but for the grace of God, is all I can say.
I actually heard Judy Woodruff the other night on the Schiavo case. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she didn't seem to be on Michael's side on this.
"A cousin of mine who is a far left prof ... She hasn't spoke to me since the 2000 election."
Sounds like my sister and me. :)
What's sad is that I truly think that there are more issues that unite people, but the media needs controversy to stay alive and be interesting (dog bites man isn't news, the controverse is), so all they will do is highlight the differences, thereby creating a vicious cycle.
Michael has a job in the county jail as a Nurse. He better watch his back, Police hate wife beaters,and some inmates do also. He may be 6ft 7 but he does not have eyes in the back of his head,and it would only take one careless act to get his just desserts. Since he is a bully with women,it would be poetic justice.
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