Posted on 03/14/2006 11:28:51 AM PST by KevinNuPac
Terri's Day challenges the nation to unify
Kevin Fobbs
March 13, 2006
Terri's Day A Celebration of the Culture of Life honoring Terri Schiavo with a day of remembrance challenges each and every one of us to stop for a moment and ask ourselves a question, do we respect ourselves, our families, our lives?
And if we are faced with the question of the possible certainty of death, does anyone truly know, or even have the faintest clue about, our wishes? That is the greatest good, the greatest legacy that Terri Schiavo's death and an annual "Terri's Day" can bring to our lives and to the celebration of the Culture of Life.
On March 18th, we as a nation will begin to grieve again, to reach into our hearts and feel with our collective national spirit what the Schindler family felt last year at this time as each moment since Terri was disconnected from the feeding lifeline, the moments crept by like hours and hours like days.
All of us have felt in some way that pain even if it were only in the privacy of our loved one's home, hospital room, hospice or perhaps talking with an attorney and doctor attempting to make sense out of some fleeting comments made in a conversation perhaps voiced ten, twelve or even two decades earlier not necessarily an expression of her true feeling about an end-of-life decision but merely an incidental musing in a long-forgotten side conversation.
For at least one million Americans, and quite possibly a whole lot more, this is an opportunity to voice an opinion through a pledge supporting a resolution in each state called "Terri's Day A Celebration of the Culture of Life." Each and every person who cares that your family, your spouse, your mother, your father, your sister or brother understands with clarity what you wish the end of life for you to be, with dignity and certainty should sign the online pledge at www.kevinfobbs.com and take the additional step to sign a Living Will or as they call it at www.terrisfight.org, the Will to Live.
Some have asked why Americans should care about an annual Terri's Day. It is quite simple, we tend to keep turning the page on the Culture of Life because we feel it does not affect us. We tend to believe that seemingly universal belief that those who are handicapped, those who are not quite living a "perfect" life or by contemporary notion "ideal" then those lives are possibly disposable, marginal, not relevant, and part of the Culture of Death which embraces a "disposable society."
But life and our values for the Culture of Life are not disposable. Think about the young people today who would rather hurt themselves or even take their own lives rather than feel "imperfect" or the elderly person whose family is told by an insensitive health care professional while the stricken person struggles to cling to life, "she would be better off in another place," just let her die, disconnect her from life, because her quality of life is not up to "contemporary standards. "
Why does celebrating the Culture of Life in Michigan become so essential for all of us in America? It is important for several reasons. Dr. Jack Kervorkian, also known as "Doctor Death" helped launch first in Michigan and then the nation the notion of the death culture. Secondly, and equally as important, at the May 12 event just two days before Mother's Day there will also be a "Mary's Moms" celebration of those women and mothers who have met challenges in standing up for some aspect of the Culture of Life.
This past weekend I sat at my cousin's funeral or going home celebration, which more accurately describes it thinking about the dearly departed and how she packed so much caring for others into her life even as she struggled with illness and advancing age. She was a wonderful woman who had lived through many, many challenges in her life, but in her 73 years she had met these challenges with dignity and had conveyed to her family when would be the right time to allow her to pass away.
Her daughter, who is a minister, spoke to the packed church about the times when, with all of her pain and then a stroke, the doctors had informed them that perhaps it was better to let her go. Yet that was three years ago that that occurred, and if the family had listened to the doctors and refused to see how she fought back and not only recovered but went back to volunteering at the church to feed and clothe the homeless. The medical professionals didn't care about an elderly lady who was on dialysis, but the family did and they knew better. Patricia lived three more years years her extensive extended family considered "a gift from God."
So isn't part of the lesson of Terri's legacy and Terri's Day for families and loved ones to have a meaningful conversation with their family and to have the written document on hand as well that conveys the wishes clearly and concisely? You betcha.
As I sat in the church I thought of all of the families across the nation and the world who were sitting at their loved one's bedsides or even standing outside of a hospital emergency room overwhelmed with emotion, torn by what may be days of conflicting anguished decisions. I thought again of how out of death we may have the certainty of life. Terri's death reminded the nation that yes a state can and will starve you to death, and your family may be rendered helpless as you watch your loved one's precious life forces drain slowly away.
By signing the online pledge at www.kevinfobbs.com or going to www.terrisfight.org, you can learn about how to encourage your state legislature to establish March 31st as an official Terri's Day. Hold a Culture of Life Home Party or meet-and-greet to sign pledges, share ideas and support The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation as well as Culture of Life activities and events in your community or around the nation. Between now and March 31st you can make a dramatic difference for yourself, your family and for the nation. Stand up for the Culture of Life because one person, one life, one family can and does make a difference in America. Make the difference and be the difference today. America...The countdown for the Culture of Life has begun.
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Kevin Fobbs is President of National Urban Policy Action Council (NuPac), a non-partisan civic and citizen-action organization that focuses on taking the politics out of policy to secure urban America's future one neighborhood, one city, and one person at a time. View NuPac on the web at www.nupac.info. Kevin Fobbs is a regular contributing columnist for the Detroit News. He is also the daily host of The Kevin Fobbs Show on News Talk WDTK - 1400 AM in Detroit. Listen to The Kevin Fobbs Show online at www.wdtkam.com daily 2-3 p.m., and call in toll-free nationwide to make your opinion count at 800-923-WDTK(9385) © Copyright 2006 by Kevin Fobbs http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/fobbs/060313
I wish I had seen the CC interview. IIRC, she really lit into Bobby in the past. I would love to see her have a poor interview with them.
I apparently just missed the 10:00 replay of Nancy Grace, but I have it set to record at the next showing.
Thanks for your help, both of you! :-)
What does the "total silence" refer to? Do Scientologists believe that all should be quiet during labor and delivery? I'm not up on their protocols, but I knew Katie would have to do without the services of an anesthesiologist or any other pain meds. Does she have to be quiet, too?
*Caplan is so low and so predictable, he wasn't even a candidate for my tagline.
Awww! That was a nice interview! Thanks for the transcript! I look forward to watching the replay sometime tomorrow.
Arthur Caplan is dumb-@$$ typical bioethicker (just made that up, does it work?).
Ah, then my work here is done!
(not really)(the trolls are probably wishing we would all say that!)
Here's the excerpt of her appearance...
- - - - -
NANCY GRACE Let me go to Wendy Murphy, former federal prosecutor, at this juncture...
You know, Wendy, I want to put on the record right now: Don`t pull my plug, all right? Put me in front of the TV, feed me chocolate, comb my hair, pay me attention. I don`t want hindsight. I want a chance to live, all right?
Because what if, Wendy, the autopsy had shown otherwise, then what are we supposed to do?
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You can`t fix this result now, can you? I mean, I think that is one of the most important arguments here is that this is not a mistake you can repair after the autopsy is done.
Nancy, you know, ... the thing that bothers me the most about this case, aside from the vile statements this man is making about this family that loved their daughter so much...
GRACE: Horrific!
MURPHY: ... aside from his vile statements and the fact he was on "Larry KING" last night, and at the very end said something like, "I`ll never forget her."
He didn`t say, "I loved her dearly." At the very end, he said, "I`ll never forget her." Well, I won`t either. You know, that doesn`t tell us very much about his feelings, does it?
But here`s the thing: This guy was a fraud on the court, before anybody gave him the power to make the decision about this woman`s life. Forget the abuse. Forget the lies. Forget all that stuff for a minute.
The reason I`m offended by my legal system is that he is a fraud on the court and was known as a fraud on the court before anybody let him make the choice and have the power to tell anybody what she wanted.
And this is what I mean. After the dollars started flowing from the malpractice lawsuit, after the dollars started flowing, within weeks, this guy decides to go to a different courthouse and pull the plug. Now, why is that important? Because he had just told all the jurors in the medical malpractice case that he needed lots of zeros in that settlement amount, you know, in the jury award...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: To keep her alive.
(CROSSTALK)
MURPHY: ... to keep her alive forever and ever...
Sure does. Bioethicker is very expressive (and accurate, btw).
I was heartened by Nancy's program tonight, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth when I realized that we are all being herded away from considering the dramatic changes in Terri's condition pre-awards vs post awards. I personally believe MS was responsible for Terri's collapse and further believe he continued to try and 'settle the issues' with 'interventions' which didn't 'settle' her quickly enough, thus enter Greer and Felos.
Affirmative. Including the insulin attacks Carla Iyer reported so very convincingly.
The death-trippers have a lot less comfort in the autopsy than they suppose. With the bulimia theory out the window, Michael a) loses his only alibi for Terri's so-called collapse, and b) is shown to be a total fraud in the malpractice suit. Followed by c) using the award money fraudulently in the bargain.
I keep wishing we had a Columbo. Maybe Wendy Murphy is the one we need!
We should talk more about her brain. That's not a comfort to them either. But not tonight... time for me to take my leave.
God bless Wendy Murphy! I didn't realize until I saw the replay that I've seen her before. I wonder if she has consulted with Nancy Grace on other cases. Her face is very familiar.
Couldn't say -- I'd never even heard of Nancy Grace; but from the way Wendy Murphy was introduced, she's probably a regular. In fact, she seems to be in brisk demand as a legal analyst elsewhere on TV. More power to her! She is a straight shooter and outspoken into the bargain. Here's a photo:
MURPHY: But here`s the thing: [Michael Schiavo] was a fraud on the court, before anybody gave him the power to make the decision about [Terri's] life. Forget the abuse. Forget the lies. Forget all that stuff for a minute.
The reason I`m offended by my legal system is that he is a fraud on the court and was known as a fraud on the court before anybody let him make the choice and have the power to tell anybody what she wanted.
Our troll visitors regularly base their arguments on the legal record in Greer's court. If unchallenged, that's a winning hand. All they have to do is say "the court decided this, the court ruled that," and we replay the whole travesty of justice. That script always ends with Terri being murdered by the law. Of course the overriding question -- which even the Supreme Court of the United States ducked -- is whether the Greer court was so biased (and corrupt?) that its rulings took on the color of premeditated murder. Or for an even bigger question, since when does man's law overrule God's?
Wendy Murphy, a Harvard educated law professor, is just as outraged as we are that the law protected Michael Schiavo's fraud. May the Lord smile on her works.
Diana Lynne of WorldNetDaily writes...
Imagine for a moment you're driving along the highway after dark and a deer darts across the road in front of you. You swerve and succeed in missing the animal, but your car careens head-on into a tree. You're transported to the hospital where doctors determine you've sustained a severe brain injury. You're in a coma.
According to the legal description, you are incapacitated you cannot speak for yourself. Who would speak for you? Who would make the decisions regarding your medical care? Would it be your mother? Your father? Your spouse? Your brother? Who would have the power to order the removal of the ventilator you rely on for breathing or the feeding tube you rely on for nourishment? Does that person or persons share your core values? Would they choose life or death for you?
Moral of Terri's story: Marry wisely
Terri's Story: The Court-Ordered Death of an American Woman."
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Terri after the attack and before bioethicking.
If you can read that poster she's standing next to, "It Happened to Alexa" is a new foundation offering support to rape victims. Murphy was the keynote speaker. (Alexa, a college girl who was raped at knifepoint, survived her ordeal and was the star presence at this gathering.)
This week marks the anniversary of two notable deaths: Terri Schiavo on March 31, and Pope John Paul II on April 2. Their passing led to oceans of coverage by the national media seeking typically not to report the stories but to explain it all to us. And, as usual when it comes to matters of faith, they got it wrong.
The liberal media, like many on the left, are heavily invested in what the late pope referred to as the "culture of death." From the promotion of abortion on demand to pointing out the supposed benevolence of euthanasia, the Schiavo case and the pope's impending death gave them ample opportunities to advance their agenda.
8mm
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