The Case for Killing Granny

Newsweek ^ | September 12, 2009 | Evan Thomas

[jpl]

My mother wanted to die, but the doctors wouldn't let her. At least that's the way it seemed to me as I stood by her bed in an intensive-care unit at a hospital in Hilton Head, S.C., five years ago. My mother was 79, a longtime smoker who was dying of emphysema. She knew that her quality of life was increasingly tethered to an oxygen tank, that she was losing her ability to get about, and that she was slowly drowning. The doctors at her bedside were recommending various tests and procedures to keep her alive, but my mother, with a certain firmness I recognized, said no. She seemed puzzled and a bit frustrated that she had to be so insistent on her own demise...

[Nachum]

Newsdrek.

[muawiyah]

Just quietly offer one of these mad-dog killers an opportunity to test the water, so to speak, and you'll make sure they don't feel much pain but they must accept the deal NOW or be embarrassed in class.

They always back down. They only want to kill other people; they, themselves, don't care to die.

[BertWheeler]

Evan Thomas’ grandfather was a candidate for president under the Socialist Party - no kidding. Evan Thomas agrees with his grandfather but is pretending to be an objective journalist. It’s Newsweek, for crying out loud - they can no longer fool us.

[steve8714]

Evan, just put the pillow over the face and press firmly. If you want someone dead, do it yourself.

[BertWheeler]

True, but a college class is a classic example of a false environment - an artificial environment where real things are set aside for make believe.

Once those grad students enter the working world, they will become dissuaded from their falsehoods and only a few with cling tightly to their beliefs in socialism.

[Two Kids' Dad]

The decision about end-of-life care should be made between the patient, the doctor, and the patient’s family. The government should have nothing to do with it.

Less government intrusion (at all levels) is almost always a good thing.

[muawiyah]

The heirs and assigns should be prohibited by law from participating in "end of life" decision making.

They have a vested financial interest in the outcome.

[Salvation]

[BilLies]

I agree, the fact that the Government publications promote planning and the making plans for death is not the “Death Panels” objection. I am 77 and am preparing for death in the next decade....that is, I am preparing in having MY CLEARLY STATED wishes carried out.
As Sara pointed out, and the Son of OBama is trying to twist and hide, is the fact that the Federal bureaucrats will dictating guidelines for the provision of services. If a HMO screws up they can be sued or taken to court, and that gives them incentives to monitor operations. Ever tried to sue the Federal government?
An analogy to the “Death Panels” are the Rules of Engagement, issued by Federal bureaucrats, that our military is now operating under....where is the appeal, especially for the dead.