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Cruel and Unusual -Terri
NY Times ^ | 6/23/05 | Bob Herbert

Posted on 06/22/2005 8:06:02 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" asked Joseph Welch in his famous confrontation with the pathologically cruel Joe McCarthy. "Have you left no sense of decency?"

More than a half-century later, I would ask the same question of Florida's governor, Jeb Bush.

In an abuse of power that has been widely denounced, and has even appalled many of his own supporters in the Republican Party, Governor Bush has tried to keep the Terri Schiavo circus alive by sending state prosecutors on a witch hunt against her husband, Michael.

The state attorney who has been pushed by the governor into pursuing this case told me yesterday he has seen nothing to indicate that a crime was committed. Nevertheless, the inquiry continues.

Governor Bush asked Bernie McCabe, the state attorney for Pinellas County, to "take a fresh look" at this already exhaustively investigated case to determine, among other things, whether Michael Schiavo had perhaps waited too long to call for help after discovering that his wife had collapsed early one morning 15 years ago.

Mr. McCabe did not seem particularly enthusiastic about his mission. "I wouldn't call it an investigation," he told me in a telephone conversation. The word "investigation," he said, "is a term of art in my business."

He then explained: "When I conduct an investigation, it would mean that I have a criminal predicate. In other words, that I have some indication that a crime has occurred. That's my job...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: falseaccusers; feminists; manhaters; news; pantload; taxwaste; terrischiavo; wackjobs
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To: eleni121
She was in no way at the end of her life...she was a living breathing human being

Yes, she was.  That fact cannot be denied.  But the autopsy proved that she was never gonna "come out of it" and live a normal life again.

I agree with you, barring a signed and notorized written statment backing Michael's claims, she should not have been killed.

Again, you DON'T KNOW what Terri wanted any more than I do.

I go back to this point:
I know what MY wife wants and if this were to happen to her, I would fight you people all the way.  You can say I have no right to do it, but YOU have even LESS right to condemn her to a life she doesn't want anymore.

All the "I miss Terri" and crying would mean nothing to me ... you don't care about her ... you, in my opinion, would just want a martyr for your cause.

Again, I'm just generalizing and definately not singling you or anyone out.  Basically, we agree on one level but disagree on another.

121 posted on 06/23/2005 11:39:05 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: HairOfTheDog

HAHAHAHA ... good one!


122 posted on 06/23/2005 11:46:34 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: softwarecreator

You can't stop making assmptions can you? No we do not know what she wanted but she certainly seemed happy when her mom and dad were around. If there is no written directive, any judge or doctor should err on the side of life.

In any case, I would like to take issue with a statement you make:

"But the autopsy proved that she was never gonna "come out of it" and live a normal life again."

"Normal" is a relative word: It can signify many things to many people. Neither you nor I have any right to decide for others what a "normal" life is.




123 posted on 06/23/2005 11:52:46 AM PDT by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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To: softwarecreator
We both agreed and promised each other we'd "pull the plug" if we knew there was no way the person would come out and have a reasonable quality of life. My wife made me promise I'd do it. If this were to happen today and the media got ahold of it ... I would be the Michael Schiavo of the moment.

If your wife's mother wanted to give her water from a glass would you prevent her?

124 posted on 06/23/2005 11:54:27 AM PDT by Tribune7
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To: Altair333

The only problem with "letting it go" is that there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that Terri was strangled by her husband. If you're the governor of a state, how do you just let that go? The people who are appalled by this investigation are the same kind of people who strongly support capital punishment even though there is ample evidence that many innocent people have been wrongly convicted of capital crimes. Either you defend life in all cases or you do not defend life.


125 posted on 06/23/2005 11:54:59 AM PDT by carl in alaska (Hey John Kerry...we don't do this just for "entertainment.")
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To: Tribune7

My wife's mother died 12 years ago, so if she is giving her a glass of water, they are together in heaven and that would make my wife very happy.


126 posted on 06/23/2005 12:05:12 PM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: carl in alaska
The only problem with "letting it go" is that there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that Terri was strangled by her husband

The autopsy did not show this.  But why worry about medical science, I mean, you have a "feeling" it happened and so that is enough for you.

127 posted on 06/23/2005 12:06:46 PM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: softwarecreator
No, of course this is not based on my "feeling." Did you listen to the interview with the original attorney for the Schindlers on Hannity's show? There's several items of circumstantial evidence pointing to a strangulation. Here's just two of them for you to consider:

1) When Terri was examined by a doctor after her "accident" that left here brain-damaged, the doctor said she had an unusually stiff neck and the only time he had seen this before was with a patient who had been the victim of an attempted strangulation. Terri was also found by the paramedics face-down on the floor with her hands clenched up paround her neck, as though she was trying to fight off a strangulation.

2) When Terri was in rehab after the "accident" she was crying out as though she was in pain and her doctors then did a bone scan to determine if she had any broken bones. The results of this bone scan have been posted several times on this website and Hannity has discussed it on his show. The doctor who performed the bone scan wrote that "the patient has had trauma. There is evidence of healed fractures in several places." He went on to write about all the places where she had recently healed fractures, including in her back. So it looks like she took a real beating at some time not long before or during her "accident."

From now on, I want you to not jump to conclusions and pass judgment on people on this website when you are not well informed yourself.

128 posted on 06/23/2005 12:20:03 PM PDT by carl in alaska (Hey John Kerry...we don't do this just for "entertainment.")
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To: Gondring
So...in that grand tradition of American leftists, the "life at all costs" crowd pushes for investigation where no evidence exists.

"It's not the nature of the evidence; it's the seriousness of the charges."

Sound familiar?

129 posted on 06/23/2005 12:22:33 PM PDT by malakhi
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To: malakhi

There's a lot of evidence of criminal activity in this case. You're just not informed about this evidence. You have to read the threads on this website and listen to Hannity's show to get this evidence, because you won't get it from the MSM. See post #128 for the tip of the iceberg of evidence.


130 posted on 06/23/2005 12:27:21 PM PDT by carl in alaska (Hey John Kerry...we don't do this just for "entertainment.")
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To: malakhi; softwarecreator; Gondring

I have that interview with the Schindler's original attorney on tape. I'll see if I can find that tape and post some direct quotes from their lawyer. Their lawyer is a very sharp lady and the information she presents is powerful.


131 posted on 06/23/2005 12:30:54 PM PDT by carl in alaska (Hey John Kerry...we don't do this just for "entertainment.")
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To: carl in alaska
There's a lot of evidence of criminal activity in this case.

Nonsense.

You're just not informed about this evidence.

Nope, I just don't rely on the lies and innuendo promulgated by WND, NewsMax and Empire Journal.

132 posted on 06/23/2005 12:42:41 PM PDT by malakhi
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To: carl in alaska
Their lawyer is a very sharp lady

On the contrary, she was almost negligently incompetent, and probably cost the Schindlers whatever chance they might have had to win their case.

133 posted on 06/23/2005 12:43:27 PM PDT by malakhi
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To: carl in alaska
Their lawyer is a very sharp lady and the information she presents is powerful.

So is the autopsy report, which in my opinion would be more non-biased, and therefore more powerful, than a compensated lawyer.

134 posted on 06/23/2005 1:05:55 PM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: HairOfTheDog
I'll drink to that ... as long as I can ...
135 posted on 06/23/2005 1:24:17 PM PDT by RS (Just because they are out to get him, it doesn't mean he's not guilty.)
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To: malakhi
"On the contrary, she was almost negligently incompetent, and probably cost the Schindlers whatever chance they might have had to win their case."

Do you have any factual basis with which to back up this statement? My comment was based on listening to this lady for about 40 minutes on the radio. Based on that I believe she is intelligent and well-informed about this case. I can't comment on her competence as a laywer. But just because her clients were ruled against on numerous occasions by Judge Greer doesn't necessarily mean she is "incompetent." There could be other reasons why they lost so many rulings.

136 posted on 06/23/2005 1:36:20 PM PDT by carl in alaska (Hey John Kerry...we don't do this just for "entertainment.")
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To: softwarecreator
"So is the autopsy report, which in my opinion would be more non-biased, and therefore more powerful, than a compensated lawyer."

Why do you believe the autopsy report would be "more non-biased" than statements from a lawyer? Does the autopsy report even cover the same subjects that the lawyer covered in the interview I reference? (Generally it doesn't.)

137 posted on 06/23/2005 1:38:20 PM PDT by carl in alaska (Hey John Kerry...we don't do this just for "entertainment.")
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To: softwarecreator

Hey, Blake thought he was guilty too and boy was he surprised to get off!


138 posted on 06/23/2005 1:41:23 PM PDT by muawiyah (q)
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To: HairOfTheDog
A reasonable amount of time might be 4 or 5 hours. That's enough sleep for anyone. Beyond that it's safe to assume you are beyond help.

Fair enough?

139 posted on 06/23/2005 1:42:58 PM PDT by muawiyah (q)
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To: muawiyah
this really isn't about either of you.

New mantra?

140 posted on 06/23/2005 1:43:37 PM PDT by mountaineer
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