Posted on 04/05/2005 2:22:08 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Well and clearly said, and not the least extremist.
I am all those things and yet have never been labelled an extremist. That term tends to be reserved for someone who will act violently against people who are nto of the same ilk. If you are wanting to force others to cow tow to your beliefs or promote violence against those who will not succumb then my friend you are indeed an extremist. If not then holding dear to the belief you have and standing up for that belief makes you a hero.
God Bless
Mel
That said, I usually defer to you, because FR is your baby. For the most part, out of deference, I kept my silence during the last election when you were so obviously upset when a great many of us wanted to know what IL Republicans were smoking when they asked Alan Keyes to run. I initially came out strong against Keyes, but once your preference was known I abstained, and I'm loathe to do anything but abstain this time, but I have to speak my piece here.
You still have my greatest respect. What you've done here is nothing short of amazing. You were at the vanguard of the new media that is now threatening the MSM. FR is surely the progenitor of the conservative blogs that shook CBS to the very core.
However, you're a man, and like all men imperfect. You didn't allow yourself to see the huge boondoggle that was Alan Keyes, and it unfolded. As it turned out, any random name out of the white pages would have surely polled better on the only poll the counted, the poll at the polls. Jim, with respect, you're wrong on this issue as well. You're far from alone, but you're still wrong, and I believe with all my heart that history will regard TS darkly, not because she was finally allowed to die, but because she wasn't allowed to die 15 years earlier.
Regretably, the TS issue has been sold to conservatives as a right to life issue, when in fact it's completely the opposite. Medical science has given us the ability to maintain bodily functions much longer than ever should. Terri Schiavo is a prime example of this.
Here's a woman who died, cardiac arrest (yes arrest), that deprived her brain of oxygen long enough that almost all of her grey matter was destroyed. Yet, she was paddled, intubated, cardiac meds were injected directly into her heart, and her bodily functions were restored, despite the fact that her brain never would be.
Now unfortunatly for Terri, and yes, I chose the word unfortunately, carfully, her brain stem wasn't damaged enough, so that when the trach was removed, and she was taken off the ventilator, she did not expire. Instead, a lifeless husk continued to respirate, digest and evacuate for 15 years.
Jim, with all due respect, this is Mary Shelly on steroids. This is the dark side of modern medicine. At some point, medicine is going to have to more fully address the question: "Should we, just because we can?" We've so lost sight that death is just a part of life.
On the heels of the prolonged ordeal of the Schiavo's and the Schindlers, Pope John Paul II took a different route, and knowing he was dying, stayed in his Vatican apartment rather than enter a hospital. There is no doubt in my mind that they could have prolonged his life in the hospital for a another week, another month, maybe even a year if they were willing to accept respiration and evacuation as the sole criteria for life. I'm glad he didn't see it that way.
"But, I for one, won't ever trust him again though I do think his methodology here is oreders of magnitude better than the slop we were getting advocating TS's demise."
You are correct about Zogby not being trustworthy. The most trustworthy polls I'd ever seen were ones that FoxNews was a part of, but that was years ago. No idea about now.
At the same time, Zogby is the best when he wants to be.
FReegards....
This assertion just flat out scares me. I've seen it proposed on other threads, and found it disturbing. To find it here, again, is MOST alarming. The implications are chilling, it is destructive and provides cover for opportunistic evil acts.
Yes, but is it a true statement?
ok
Congrats and thanks for the site. It's extremely important.
What a laughable canard.
Mythology.
You can always contact David Barton and ask him where he got it. Problem is, he can't tell you anything other than a secondary source. There is no original source for the quote.
LOL!
If you get a reply from the right guy, I may have to rethink my atheism!
The important question, in my mind, is when is brain damage so extensive that all that remains is an unthinking husk?
In TS's case, the line was crossed. After her injuries some 15 years ago, all that was left was a physical shell governed by very basic autonomic brain functions. Some posters have accused me of labelling TS as "sub-human." That is not accurate. IMO, TS was already dead and the "human" part of her had departed her physical shell over a decade ago.
Another Extremist checking in. We need a name for ourselves though.
Please show me a link where the Pope ordered his feeding tube removed.
What if? Exactly!
There are too many "what ifs" in this case. And there is new technology since Terris initial diagnosis of PVS. What if Greer had allowed Terri to have this test?
Nobody will ever know what Terri was capable of, what she could feel, what she could hear. Again....what if?
BRAVO. I wish I could have said it that well! BRAVO!!!
I wonder how many imperfect people are thankful that you don't get to decide who is human enough to live.
Unthinking husk? That you find it necessary to describe Terri as such to prove your point says a lot.
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