Beware of Letting the Unacceptable Become the Norm (Exceptionally clear-sighted!)

The Chicago Tribune ^ | April 1, 2005 | John Kass

[quidnunc]

Terri Schiavo died of forced starvation and dehydration in a nation that keeps telling itself it protects the helpless.

It took almost two weeks to kill her, finally, by denying her food and water.

And make no mistake. She didn't "pass on." She wasn't "taken." She may have "found peace," but these are passive terms. What happened to her was active. She was killed.

She was actively denied food and water for 13 days, her cells dying, until she was pronounced dead at 9:05 a.m. Thursday.

I suppose that no matter which side of this you're on, you'll have questions. Those of you who think she should have died will wonder: When will people like me ever shut up about this?

And those of us on the other side will wonder which disability will next be judged as not affording an adequate quality of life? Whose lives are worthy?

But there is another question that won't let go of me: How did we get to this place, where we've come to accept what was done to Terri Schiavo?

What was once horrible has now become acceptable, familiar the way a landscape becomes familiar. No matter how gruesome or spectacular, over time you become used to it. Eventually, you can walk through it without feeling any need to comment.

-snip-

[sgtbono2002]

More BS

[Conspiracy Guy]

Good article.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Good article.

[AmericanChef]

We are indeed turning into ghouls. It begins when the shallow and near-sighted make the rules, as the lefties do today. "What could it hurt?" If they got answers to the question, it's a sure sign they haven't got a clue.

[federal]

I still ask the same questions about the Branch Davidians in Waco. It still totally amazes me that the American people let the government kill so many citizens without someone in that administration answering for that tragedy.

[Captain Rhino]

"The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men." Psalm 12:8 (NIV)

[trisham]

What was once horrible has now become acceptable

****************

Only to some. Good article.

[sarah_f]

"But there is another question that won't let go of me: How did we get to this place, where we've come to accept what was done to Terri Schiavo?"

Sad he didn't try to answer his own question, however here is the answer:

1. An unrelenting assault of Evil by incrementalism.
2. Good people who do nothing.

[MHGinTN]

And make no mistake. She didn't "pass on." She wasn't "taken." Actually, it is even more accurate to say she was 'put down' like a vet puts down an animal (and Terri was a fellow human being, a Child of God, not an animal of non-divine nature) ... and that makes the florida judicial system quilty of 'practicing medicine without a license' ... better than accusing them of inquisitional executioners I suppose.

[Glacier Honey]

I read somewhere (can't remember where now) that she was also given two different drugs to help her die faster. Does anyone have any information on this?

[bubman]

bump

[PaRebel]

There's a long tradition of "pushing the little people around"; google "the bonus army".

[sarah_f]

it is even more accurate to say she was 'put down' like a vet puts down an animal

Huh?

Vets starve animals for two weeks watching them die slowly and painfully?

[TheDon]

How did we get to this place, where we've come to accept what was done to Terri Schiavo?

Amen to that! This is the law in every state. It is rather sad. We must change these laws.

[TheDon]

Good people who do nothing.

We have to start paying attention and getting involved.

[ClearCase_guy]

I don't know about that. But dying patients are often given morphine for pain -- and the dosage is slowly upped over time until it kills them. This doesn't get talked about very much.

I recall hearing that Terri was being given morphine near the end (people pointed out the irony because supposedly she was not in pain to begin with). But I don't know anything for sure, and don't want to pass on misinformation.

[PaRebel]

One of the nurses who served Terri talked about finding a vile of insulin, empty, in one of the trash cans after Michael had made one of his visits. She also found "puncture" marks under Terri's breasts and on the inside of her upper thighs.

[PaRebel]

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing". E. Burke or some other sage.

[syriacus]

those who don't want to hear complaints [say] it's time to be silent about Schiavo, that we shouldn't give offense, that we should accept her death as inevitable, perhaps rationalize her death as a blessing.

It's true. The death-toTerri hordes are trying to squelch the expression of opposing viewpoints and they're trying to paint life-to-Terri people as rude, unfeeling, insensitive to nuance, hard-hearted, unconciliatory ideologues.