George Felos: Dehydration and Starvation--A Great Way to Die

George Felos, perhaps trying to ease his guilt, (though this is unlikely since one must have a conscience to feel guilt) and improve his image as a heartless ogre, went before cameras and fed the world one of the biggest lies it has ever heard. He related how "peaceful and beautiful" Terri is as she lay dying. I guess if dying of dehydration and starvation is so lovely, perhaps we should all die that way. Perhaps we should give that option to criminals on death row. We certainly should stop being concerned about the children in poor countries dying of starvation. George Felos has told us it's a great way to die!

All of the chaos surrounding Terri's impending death isn't just about Terri or her family. It is about what we as a society are going to be willing to accept in the future.

The court rulings, all in favor of the legal murder of a non-terminal human being, are laying the groundwork for the legal euthanasia of the old and physically and mentally handicapped people of all ages. We have become Nazi Germany/1933. This is a dark and dangerous path that America is moving down and what amazes and frightens me is how willingly some people are being led and what lengths are being taken to justify murder.

Let's clear one thing up right from the start. There cannot be any comparison between Terri Schiavo's case and the case of a person in the final stages of cancer or some other life-ending disease. Terri is not terminally ill; she was never terminally ill. She was illegally admitted to the hospice where she is now being killed. Her admission was illegal under Hospice protocol and Medicare guidelines because she was not terminally ill. With a simple feeding tube, she could live for decades without any health problems at all. If Terri had received the therapy that has been denied to her, she probably could eat food normally. Terri is not brain dead. She has committed no crime. Yet, because her husband convinced a few judges that Terri "would not want to live that way," she has been condemned to death with fewer rights than a mass murderer. In fact, she has no rights at all. Terri never had her own lawyer to represent her.

If Terri was truly brain dead, it would not be murder, but she is not brain dead. Every day in this country families make the painful decision to "pull the plug" on a loved one who has suffered a catastrophic injury. Their now-damaged-beyond-repair bodies are kept alive totally by machines and their brains are not functioning enough to tell them to breathe. Often, an external pacemaker is needed just to keep their hearts beating. It's only a matter of time before their bodies realize the organ-in-charge is dead. In fact, they don't swallow their own saliva, a sign of severe brain damage. These people require almost constant suctioning or they drool and aspirate their own secretions.

I have heard people say everyone has the right to refuse medical treatment. This is true. However, the law clearly states that minors and those who cannot speak for themselves are protected and if those in charge of their care refuse treatment for them, the state makes that child or person a ward of the state for treatment.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions. If the child of a Witness member is brought to the emergency room hemorrhaging and the parents refuse a transfusion for that child and that child will die without a blood transfusion, a judge will issue a decree making that child a temporary ward of the state. Every ER in America has a judge on speed dial for just that reason.

Why has Terri not been given the same protection under the law? Because the man appointed to be her guardian has decided he wants her to die. For reasons that simply cannot be explained, the legal system turned Terri's fate over to the two men who stood to benefit from her death. George Felos has benefited financially in the litigation involved in killing Terri. It has been reported that as much as $600,000 of Terri's money has been paid to George Felos and his staff. Judge Greer even allowed Terri's money to be spent by Felos to "deal with the media." Michael Schiavo reportedly spent most of the money that he was awarded on personal expenses, impressing a long string of girlfriends, and in his quest to kill his wife. He certainly didn't spend much of it on Terri. The taxpayers have been paying her bills for the last five years.

Judge Greer waved off all the sworn statements from people claiming that Michael Schiavo had told them he didn't know what to do with Terri because they had never talked about dying. Instead, the mantra has become, "This is what Terri wants." Greer ignored the bone scan riddled with healed fractures and numerous claims of spousal abuse. Greer just didn't care.

With that slogan in hand, those who support euthanasia had a poster child. "Terri wants to die" was what everyone heard. A lie repeated often enough will eventually be believed. In truth, no one knows what Terri wants. When she was finally asked what she wanted, the same judge that condemned her to death decided that her response was not "credible." He took nearly an entire day to issue a rejection he probably knew he would issue after five minutes. Did he hope she would die and save him the trouble? Why did Judge Greer never go sit by Terri's bed and observe the woman now dying because of his order?

People must understand the goal of those who support the euthanasia of human beings. They are not talking about the terminally ill. Those people have been allowed to leave this earthy plain without intervention for a long time. The "Right to Die" supporters want the legal right to "humanely kill" anyone disabled or infirm that is deemed a burden or that is "suffering" because of their condition. If Grandma is a little senile and no one has time to take care of her, just go to court, say that Grandma didn't want to live this way, and legally dispose of her. It will all be neat, tidy, clean, and legal. No muss, no fuss. Will Grandma be starved to death like Terri? Of course not, since in a year or two, that also will be deemed cruel. No, it will just be a quick lethal injection and a then off to the crematorium for Grandma. The slogan of "Right to Die" should be "Right to Murder." That would be the correct description.

Anyone who thinks this is outrageous and will never happen here needs to study history. In the early days of Nazi Germany, people were convinced that their handicapped children, elderly family members, and severely injured loved ones "would not want to live that way." These unfortunate souls should be humanely put to sleep so that they could be "reborn" in healthy bodies. People lined up, willingly, to have their own family members killed. So don't think it can't happen here: It is happening right now--in Florida. Terri is just the first step. After this, it will be much easier to dispose of the unwanted. There is now legal precedent.

The massive and false "this is what Terri's wants" and "starvation is a beautiful way to die" is in full swing and it is being believed. The reports were a lie that she can't feel pain because of her massive brain injury. Terri is now being given morphine to "ease her pain."

You should be afraid, very afraid. The day will come when euthanasia will no longer be voluntary, but it will be the law. When you are no longer a viable contributor to society, you will be judged a burden and that will be a death sentence. When your family decides they don't want to be bothered with you anymore, it's the end of the line. What and who--are we becoming?

Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

Also from GOPUSA: Michael Schiavo - Return to Nuremberg
By Robert Yoho
March 29, 2005

At the time you are reading this, Terri Schiavo may be nothing more than a memory, the tragic victim of judicial malfeasance. On second thought, that description is much too mild for the crimes against humanity that are taking place right now in a Florida hospice!

When considering her husband, Michael Schiavo, I am reminded of the Nuremberg trials. The Nazis, who perpetrated these war crimes under the guise of "just following orders," were later hanged for their actions.

In her last days, Terri has been given morphine to alleviate her pain. Perhaps someone can please tell me what happened to the initial claims that hers would be a painless and peaceful end? Hospitals do not routinely dispense morphine for grins and giggles. If this weren't painful, then there would be no need for morphine!

Consider the cruel irony of the situation: you cannot connect a feeding tube to a disabled woman but you can inject her with a needle. But the morphine is not for her comfort; it is for theirs! The drug allows the officials--who also claim to be "just following orders"--to observe Schiavo's death without her groans and contortions that might make them feel uncomfortable with the barbarism of their actions.

Law enforcement personnel will have you incarcerated if you starve your beagle to death. Environmentalists will halt the construction of businesses that will most assuredly bring economic salvation to a region if it is learned that a few snail darters might die in the process. The same court officials who passed sentence on Terri Schiavo will not permit the execution of a convicted serial killer in the same manner, because that would be deemed as "cruel and unusual punishment."

The mainstream media spent weeks and months howling about the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. We listened to politicians and network anchors pontificating about the leaked snapshots of prisoners being led around on leashes or being forced to wear underwear on their heads. Horror of horrors!

Can you imagine the uproar if those same prisoners had deliberately been denied food and water? Perhaps the president should declare Terri Schiavo a "hostile non-combatant." Only then could the woman be treated as well as the family dog.

Terri's gastric feeding tube was not permanently attached to the woman. At meal times, this tube was temporarily connected to Schiavo for her water hydration and liquid nourishment. Her pulse and respiratory functions were absolutely no different than yours or mine. They occur without any mechanical aid or stimulation.

The feeding tube merely prolonged her life in much the same way that people with poor kidney function are dependent on a dialysis machine. There are individuals whose medical condition requires them to wear an insulin pump. Why shouldn't we take their lives also? They, too, are dependent on a machine for their survival.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying an individual has no right to make these intensely personal end-of-life decisions. My opinions regarding Schiavo would be altered if there were a legally witnessed document to affirm her wishes. However, there is none.

My position on Terri's care is solely based on principle, but I do have anecdotal reasons to bolster my opinion.

Two years ago this coming November, my dear mother passed away in an Ohio hospice. She suffered from diabetes, blindness, failing kidneys, poor circulation, and a bad heart. In short, she was an extremely old woman of scarcely 65 years. There is no doubt that some would have questioned her quality of life.

Like many people in their younger years, on occasion my mother had talked to me about how she didn't want her life preserved by a machine. Yet in her last days, in her occasional lucid moments, she made it clear to her loved ones that she wanted to live.

My dad went through hell as my mother lingered for almost six weeks in a couple of the finest heart treatment facilities in the country. Yet despite their expertise, they could do absolutely nothing for her. However, the doctors at one of these institutions--a hospital whose name you would all recognize--suggested to my father that he discontinue giving my mother her regular dialysis treatments. My dad, who was completely devoted to the woman and lived those last days at her bedside, politely told them to take a flying leap. I was never so proud of the man, who often made me proud! He didn't choose to play God. Instead, he left my mother's fate in God's omnipotent hands.

Suppose my father had already taken up with another woman and chosen to discontinue her dialysis treatments. What if my mother couldn't speak? And what if my father insisted that he was following her wishes? I have no doubt that I--despite my father's status as her husband--would have taken legal means to intercede in her behalf. At that point, I think any decision Dad made to terminate her life would have been tainted by his new relationship.

Moreover, I think any decision Michael Schiavo made for Terri is altered by his relationship with his live-in girlfriend. Perhaps it is the cynic in me, but I also believe that his actions were influenced by Hollywood and the lucrative idea that Terri's demise would make for a much better television movie of the week. Actors would line up by the dozens to portray the husband and dramatize his "tortured" decision.

Terri Schiavo's outcome is no less ghastly than those heinous acts exposed at Nuremberg. It is a travesty of justice that these crimes against humanity will not meet the same fate.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

Regardless of how one categorizes or describes the US military action in Somalia, when all is said and done, it was essentially a "War on Starvation." We all have our personal opinions as to the use of the US military in such a role, and how deeply, if at all we support UN activities. Having said all that, it was only a little over a decade ago that the most powerful military in the world was sent halfway around the globe to bring relief to the starving. Some of America's most elite soldiers engaged in vicious combat to capture those who were interdicting the flow of food to the hungry. As you read this, a woman lay starved and dehydrated in a Florida hospice. There's no shortage of food supplies in the state. There's no hostile warlord ambushing convoys of humanitarian relief. There's no need to boil or purify water for consumption, hell there's probably an open tap yards from her bed...The world has gone mad.

Starvation Somali style. Note the apparent look of euphoria.

Mohammed Farah Aideed: employed starvation to achieve his political ends. Ironically, in early August 1996, Aideed was shot twice, one of the bullets passing through his stomach. Aideed lingered for several days, and although accounts of his death vary, it is believed he would have been unable to eat.

Mohammed Farah Greer: employed starvation to achieve his political ends. This fat prick looks about two cheeseburgers short of a coronary. He may want to consider skipping a meal or two, himself.

Two of the uniformed heroes of Somalia: De Oppresso Liber.

Two of the uniformed heroes of Clearwater...Regular or decaf?

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Restore Hope

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