The GOP Terri Schiavo memo really doesn't tell us much. It just adds to the deafening roar.
The only people who were at all surprised that the Republicans were in fact behind the callous Terri Schiavo memo seem to be Republicans. Are they that naive? It's blindingly obvious that GOP efforts on behalf of Schaivo were disingenuous and politically motivated. The fact that someone from their side of the aisle was actually foolish enough to put it in writing hardly multiplies their crime.…
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26 - gonzo marx
a point i hav ebeen trying to get out there for the last month , alienboy..
this false dichotomy of mutually exclusive posturing does not denote conditions in the real world..
NOTHING is as black and white as they woudl have us take it
yet that is how ALL arguments are couched..
so much the worse when ONE PARTY completely controls all branches of government in a totalitarian fashion and stifles the Minority from performing the functions of checks and balances...
this has been the keystone of most of my rants...as many of you gentle Readers can attest..
nuff said?
Excelsior!
27 - Dave Nalle
Gonzo, the checks and balances in our system are not between the two parties, they're between the different branches of government and then between the federal and state governments. We could (and did for about 20 years) have a one party system and still have an equitable and perfectly functional government.
Dave
28 - gonzo marx
/sigh
Dave how will either Congress or the Senate check and Balance each other, much less the White House when they are all THE SAME PARTY, following Reagan's 11th Commandment..and under the same marching orders?
please show me one example, since 200...when ANY investigation has been done on the Congrssional level or higher in a bi-partisan fashion...the 9/11 Commision is the ONLY one that comes close..and they were NOT investigation Congree, the Senate NOR the White House...their mission was ONLY the Incident itself...
anything else since has been quite limited and definately NOT any kind of Independant nor bi-partisan
can you imagine a Ken Starr type of unlimited Investigation of ANYTHING that has occured in the last 5 years being allowed by the GOP?
do you deny that there are quite a few matters, including the one we are talking about, that SHOULD be Investigated in such an Independant fashion?
spare me the naive bullshit Dave...
don't insult my Intelligence, as i have never Insulted yours...k?
Excelsior!
29 - Dave Nalle
So, you're lamenting that we're going to have fewer of the ridiculous partisan witch hunts like the Ken Starr investigations?
None of these 'scandals' warrant an investigation of any scale, and I have yet to see evidence that the justice department or the relevant committees are trying to cover anything up. Let's get a REAL scandal going and then see if there's an investigation of appropriate scale.
As for diversity, even if the dems disappeared there's a hell of a lot of diversity within the republican party. This is one party with Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Tom Delay, Ron Paul and Karl Rove in it - it really ought to be 2 or 3 different parties.
Dave
30 - gonzo marx
Dave sez..
*it really ought to be 2 or 3 different parties.*
on that i can agree...
now..if the rank and file in the GOP would just speak their own minds and stand up to Rove and DeLay as well as the rest of the republican elite...maybe something would get done..and some of these things looked into as they should be
but it won't be until one of the Houses is held by a different Party's majority
those fireworks will be Fun to watch..
Excelsior!
31 - Pete Blackwell
The court system provided a quite effective check to the legislative and executive branches in the Terri Schaivo matter.
And ... VNRs are obviously propaganda when they're designed to masquerade as "real" news stories. They represent a highly selective (if not outright false) take on a particular issue and when they are run as straight news stories, the deception is obvious. People watching the news expect at least some semblance of balance in what is presented to them and the expect a certain level of disinterestedness , both of which are totally lacking in uncredited VNRs.
32 - gonzo marx
Pete sez..
*The court system provided a quite effective check to the legislative and executive branches in the Terri Schaivo matter.*
in that sense..concerning frivolous legislation , or a violation of state or federal constitutional Law...yes..i am very glad the Courts worked the way they were supposed to
but the Courts can not, and should not BEGIN and Investigation into something..that is for the House and Senate...or the Justice Department..
all 3 of those are controlled by the GOP...hence my concern
Excelsior!
33 - Dave Nalle
Actually, Gonzo, a Grand Jury can investigate just about anything if the DA is cooperative so long as they can figure out some way to justify it as being in their jurisdiction.
Dave
34 - gonzo marx
i understadn that Dave..but a DA s NOT the judiciary...meaning one of the three branches of government
a DA works for either his city,state, or federal Attorney General
see my point above about Gonzalez..
so what you are saying is that out only hope for checks and balances on the federal level is for some state or town DA to PROSECUTE someone and begin a Grand Jury investigation ni a Federal matter?
how long before such a so-gooder gets locked up undwer some provision of the Patriot act...
aaaAAAARrrrrrRRRggggGGGGggggGGG!!
not even gonna go there..i'll let al i've wrote on this one stand or fall on it's own merits
Excelsior!
35 - David Harrison
To Whom it may concern,
I feel that because of the pope's death which is a true tradgety the Terri Schiavo death has been overshadowed and forgotten far too quickly. There are more facts coming to light now that Terri is dead. Our system failed us and it is too late for Terri, but not too late to make changes and save others like her. Some of the health care that could have saved her was witheld by her husband. She was denied physical therapy, MRI, PET and swallowing tests because he did not want her to have them. Doctors stated that they could have helped Terri and given her a better quality of life. Tests showed that Terri had been strangled and had broken ribs but there were no signs of heart failure. Immediate family members were given unequal rights, rights that should have been given to them were instead given to the husband. Terri had more life and spirit in her than unborn babies which are protected while still inside the mother. How is it that Terri could have survived with basic needs: food and water, yet she was denied them. Starving to death was something that should have never been forced upon her. That is something that is so evil not even so called hate groups use it as torture. A federal law should be put into place that keeps people like Terri alive until at least a panel of doctors can review the case and all of them unanimously decide that the patient is in severe constant pain and cannot be rehabilitated to a livable state. Judges should not have the power to sentence a person to death when that person is guilty of no crime. In our country life should be valued above all else. The subject of what is "life" and what is not will be strongly debated forever and then some. While we as humans are always learning and finding new ways to save and prolong life while at the same time inproving the quality of life I think we should all error on the side of causion. While today saving someone in Terri's place is not an everyday occurrance, soon it may be. Look at the technilogical advances we have made in just the past few years. Would it be so wrong to sustain life without any harm to the person being kept alive? As long as that person is willing to fight to stay alive we should do all in our power to help them. Who can say that a cure will not be found tomorrow? This case has been widely publicized and there are undoubtedly many more cases like it, yet we must act when we are made aware of unjustice. The constitution was made to be changed and improved upon. Let us use the powers we have to better our world.
Here are a few thoughts to ponder while you sit and wonder if what I have written should be used to bring to bear a change for what I believe to be the better. Terri's husband used his personal anger to subject pain and suffering upon her and her family. He left her for another woman who he had children and fell in love with. Why didn't he just get a divorce and let Terri's parents care for her? He would have had no guilt, he didn't have any when he went to another woman. He has started another family and left Terri behind except to have her killed. If he really loved Terri he would have exhausted every test possible to help her and would have done all in his power to save her and prolong her life. No matter what his argument with her parents. There was no love there between them. He just set out to finish what he started in the beginning. It was our justice system who helped him carry it out without any punishment. It is very obvious that he did not use the money awarded to him to help Terri get better care or help her. He instead used it to help to kill her. He refused to allow her help, care, and in the end life. This comes down to basic human morals. I feel if a man has moved on and started another family then the judge should have ruled that they were divorced.
Terri's husband was afraid that she would be helped and that his crime would come to light. He wanted to make sure that would never happen. Just by reading all the facts about this case and hearing how she could communicate and seeing the videos of how she could communicate, one could see that she had a soul and brought love to many. I am sure when the results of the autopsy if not altered come into public record years from now when statutes expire and the guilty party is long gone that we will see how much alive Terri really was. We will also see how high her chances were of full recovery. But now we can only sit and wait and wonder. Why is it that the one person who has the most to loose by what has happened is the one who has all the power in this case. Think if this was your daughter, what would you do? Your sister? Your wife? I know if it was mine I would go the extra step. I would give my life in order to ensure that she had every possible chance to survive. Also if she wanted to die, why did she fight so hard to stay alive? 13 Days without food or water. Try it and see how much of an effort it takes to survive like that. That in itself shows a willingness to live. God gave her the strenght to fight and in the end he had to save her from her pain because we failed her. The human race yet again failed to save itself. I do not understand how it is that immediate family members, blood relatives are denied equal rights as the husband. This is someone who was living with another woman and had started a family, engaged to be married. Would this happen again he will be given the same rights to kill his next wife? The family has equal rights to know about medical prognosis but yet cannot have the power to help that person. This does not make any sense, especially when he has moved on. He had his money and then decided to move on. Even before that he hurt her, he realized that his murder attempt did not work the first time. His original plan failed but in the end it was the money that helped him finish the job. He got his wish, not her wish. He even stated that he hated Terri's family and that was the reason he did not divorce her and let her live. That in itself shows what kind of person he is.
This will always be a tradgedy that a young girl, so young, who never did any crime and lost her life so young, died so painfully and a wrongful death. I am writing because I have freedom of speech. This country is supposed to be free and all of us should be given Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The way this country is going we are all without them. We are god's children and what made her any different? If her parents wanted to help her, then what gave the court the right to take that away? A death sentence was imposed upon Terri Schiavo, not just that, torture. because she wasn't like everyone else. I thought that was part of what our world is all about each of us being unique. It should not be a bad thing to be different. I feel that she was also discriminated against because she was disabled. No-one even know if she was as bad off as we were told. If she was why does that make the judge or the husband a god? So if a girl is dealt the wrong hand then she should die. No-one said life was fair but this is a moral error, like that of a public execution but worse. To all those people who thought this was the right thing to do, if it was your family member, you would change your mind. To her family which I saw I feel sorry for you, I could see the love in your family photos. It was a shame what happened to you. You should have been able to go to the courts and have Terri's husband removed since he obviously started another life with another woman and was causing Terri's downfall. So many tests that were refused and so much help that should have been allowed to her. At this point it does no good, but I have never seen anything so tradgic in my whole life. If this had been another country then you can bet our president would have made sure that things did not happen this way. Instead our president merely said a few passing words and ignored the issue. Dealing instead with his so called 'war'. I hope you continue to go forward and I wish you the best of luck. Remember we will be here to support you in your efforts to keep her memory alive. She will never be forgotten. Hopefully true justice will be served in the end. God Bless You All.
36 - Dave Nalle
Good lord, we've been over this before. None of this stuff is true, David. You need to look to somewhere other than Terri's family's website for your info.
Dave