Posted on 04/08/2005 10:29:19 AM PDT by Theodore R.
National Disgrace
The coverage of the Terri Schiavo tragedy by the cable news channels was a national disgrace. They provided a national megaphone for fanatics to make wild and unsubstantiated — and, in some cases, previously discredited — allegations about Michael Schiavo and Florida Circuit Judge George Greer.
Their feverish greed for sensationalism caused them to disregard the truth.
One falsehood repeated by many people, including some who should have known better, was that Mrs. Schiavo's wish not to be kept alive was decided on the basis of "hearsay." That is untrue.
The legal term "hearsay" refers to a situation in which Person A says that Person B told him what Person C said. That is hearsay and is not admissible in American courts. In the case of Mrs. Schiavo, three people testified as to what she said directly to them at a luncheon following a funeral for an elderly relative. Presumably, the opposing party could not produce any evidence to refute that, because Judge Greer's decision was upheld repeatedly throughout the state and federal court systems.
You should also note that Schiavo and his in-laws, Bob and Mary Schindler, had a falling out not over the fate of Terri Schiavo, but over money. A malpractice suit resulted in an award of about $700,000, which went into a trust fund administered by the court for the medical expenses, plus $300,000 to Michael for what the law refers to as loss of consortium. The Schindlers apparently expected him to split that $300,000 with them, and when he refused, there was a terrible, vitriolic shouting match. Prior to that, Schiavo and his in-laws had been close and had worked hand in hand trying to rehabilitate Terri.
Michael Schiavo had been told from the beginning by neurologists that Terri's condition was hopeless, but for a number of years he stubbornly refused to believe it. He was so persistent and insistent that Terri Schiavo get the very best of care that he was described as "a nursing-home manager's worst nightmare." A man who didn't care for his wife would not have done that. When he finally accepted the grim truth, he went to court, and the Schindlers opposed him.
The fact is that if this family dispute had not been seized upon by national organizations with political agendas that used this poor woman as a fundraising tool, you would never have heard of it. Families have to make these kinds of terrible decisions every day in this country. Occasionally, they don't agree. In those cases, the standard procedure is to have the question settled by a judge. That was done in this case, and based on sworn testimony by people subject to cross-examination, Judge Greer decided that (1) her medical condition was hopeless, and (2) her wishes were not to be kept alive by artificial means. There is no justifiable doubt on either point, despite what rabble-rousers, quacks and people with grudges have blurted out on television.
It was shameful for the Florida governor, the Florida legislature, the U.S. Congress and President Bush to involve themselves in this private family matter. The courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court, have properly squelched their attempts. It was shameful for those fanatics to show up in Pinellas Park and disturb the dying in the hospice with strident shouts and irrational claims. Fortunately, those ugly faces, angry and threatening, do not reflect Christianity. National polls have shown that an overwhelming majority of Americans, including those who describe themselves as evangelicals, support the decision to remove the feeding tube and disapprove of the political intervention.
We are our brains. The rest of our body exists to carry the brain and to obey its instructions. When the brain dies, we die, even though the rest of the body can continue to function on automatic, provided the primitive part of the brainstem still functions. Terri Schiavo, the person, died a long time ago.
People should be encouraged that the rule of law has survived an onslaught by a mob of fanatics, a gaggle of opportunistic politicians and a swarm of television vultures.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, he was very sensible when he was still writing for The Orlando Sentinel. Since then, your guess would be as good as mine.
We are our brains = we are only our brains, so anything goes.
Exactly right...Reese is 100% incorrect about what constitutes hearsay
where was the editor on this article?
Well said and excellent post.
LOL. At least he's come out in a way that shows where his heart and mind are. I give him credit for that.
BTW, have you seen the Mae Magouirk case? Another family squabble with life on the line.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1379537/posts <-- Link
I suppose he is referring to the ABC poll. What an a$$.
When I read the first line of the article, I thought "Wow, Charley Reese took his medication today!"
Two lines later I banished the thought. Silly me, thinking he would point out the disgrace of the MSM's disinformation and slanted reporting, pro-death push-polls and vilification of Christianity.
Apparently the disgrace is a failure to pay proper respect to our government masters in the judicial branch.
National Disgrace are people like you, Charlie.
Is it weird or what that paleoconservatives and Christopher Hitchens-style liberals seem to agree on almost every issue these days?
Reese does not know what he is talking about when it comes to heresay. He got it dead wrong. He did not consider acts in respons to statements. (ie "what did you do in responst to 'whatever' was said?" or "is what michel doing consistend with 'whatever' was said?".)
Why is the MSM so affraid of this.
By the MSM standards the depressed democrats after the 2004 election should have all gone to hospice because "nobody" would want to live under another Bush administration.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, remember?
So those with less brainpower are less human, less worthy of life?
Very disturbing. I kept checking the sign-up dates for the many FReepers who were rapidly pro-death for Terri Schiavo. Many of them had been here since the early days. It's made me reassess what constitutes "conservative."
Not in the Middle East... there, the enemy of one's enemy is an enemy, round and round ad infinitum.
If CERTAIN sexual behavior gets enhanced deference under the law. (medical, special civil rights)
AND
If CERTAIN thoughs get enhanced punshment under the law
THEN
The MSM and the left could easily adopt the USSR concept of political disagreement equals insanity, low quality of life, and Noooooobody would want to live as a conservative, republican and especially a conservatvie or republican who votes that way since society is over 247% liberal.
I kept checking the same thing, and I was shocked to think that some of those very same people might have been standing next to me cheering on the speakers at the first March for Justice back in 1998.
Sorry, but he was 100 percent correct on what constitutes hearsay. a first person tells someone who tells someone else, if the someone else testifies, it is hearsay. Testimony from a person who says they heard it direct from the first person is not hearsay otherwise no evidence would ever stand up in court.
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