Rest In Peace Terri, none of us will ...
The outcome of the Terri Schindler Schiavo case will be felt for decades, if not generations to come.
1. There will almost immediately be a rush from Hollywood and the publishing industry to get the rights to the story from the participants. I'm sure talks have already started. Considering the enmity between Michael Schiavo and The Schindlers, there will no doubt be at least two authorized versions of the story, and two made-for-tv movies, if not a mini-series. Everyone will be involved in this with their hands out, from the lawyers to the reporters to the judges to politicians to the religious.
2. Because the leftists denied up and down that Terri Schindler Schiavo felt any pain during her 13 day death ordeal, death by starvation and dehydration, removing a sustenance tube from a patient will continue to be an acceptable form of the termination of a patient's life. It, in my opinion, is euthanasia's version of the pre-clinical abortion day's "metal clothes hanger." But this procedure will be allowed to continue and we'll still refer to ourselves as a "higher being" than animals.
3. It doesn't matter that the judge who ruled Terri Schindler Schiavo's sustenance tube removed, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer, is a conservative Christian and longtime Republican. He was asked to leave the congregation of his local Southern Baptist church because of his decision. The religious right is incensed at the judicial approach to this case, more incensed than people are to the political approach taken by President Bush and Congress. The judge says he interpreted the law and the religious believe the law is wrong and the judge should've ruled in favor of keeping Mrs. Schiavo alive. The religious right is active, can raise a lot of money, and will pressure congress to accept every judicial appointee President Bush sends them. I doubt this would be the best for the public interest. I want checks and balances. The press release wires are already flooded with appeals from religious organizations for money and members, promising coordinated political action. The Roman Catholic Church has authorized the formation of a new religious order of priests, like the Franciscans and the Jesuits, but the new order will be highly political and vocal in its opposition to abortion or euthanasia of any type.
4. Many people will seek Living Wills, DNRs (Do not resuscitate orders), and assign medical powers of attorney because of this case. A whole new specialty practice of legal work will be formed because of this case, and people will have to hire an "end-of-life" attorney to make sure their death is dignified, quick and painless. The lawyers will get even richer. And despite all this, even with all this preparation, there will still be many cases where the death will not be dignified, quick or painless because of the national aversion to confronting the inevitable and making the best out of a terminal, non-recoverable situation.
5. The emphasis will not be on people learning CPR or on the national obsession with dieting or eating disorders brought on by negative body images reinforced by the mainstream media or on fighting media's fascination with the thin. "Thin" allows the mainstream media to reap hundreds of millions from the trillion dollar diet, exercise and fashion industry. If you appeal to someone's vanity and fears, you can sell them anything. What female would want to be viewed as the object of the type of national ridicule such at that presented by Viacom's SpikeTV and the New York Times? It's not like Terri died from plastic surgery. It was a personal problem, an "eating disorder." All this despite the fact that Terri's coma-like state was brought on by a heart attack which deprived her brain of oxygen for an estimated 10 minutes! And someone -- anyone -- with the knowledge of CPR -- a skill that could be learned in a few short hours -- could have kept the blood flowing through her body and prevented that brain damage! The heart stoppage, when Terri was 26, was induced by a potassium imbalance, the result of what the media calls an "eating disorder" in news accounts or "latest diet craze to slim down for the summer" in feature articles and morning talk shows.
As a nation we will be in agreement only when the conservatives believe that what they tried to do for people like Terri is what they'd do for Laura Bush in the same situation; and when the liberals believe what they'd do to people like Terri is what they'd do for Hillary Clinton in the same situation -- let them live with no hope of recovery or let them waste away, like a cast-off.
U.S. Army Capt. Rogelio "Roger" Manulyet knows firsthand what can happen to someone who decides to end a terminal patient's life quickly, honorably and painlessly.
Rest in peace Terri, the mania that surrounded your case has just begun and your autopsy hasn't even been completed.
[Update 4/1/2005: U. S. Army Capt. Rogelio "Roger" Manulyet, convicted of a mercy killing of a terminally wounded insurgent, will be dismissed from the Army for his actions but will serve no time in jail.]
[Update 4/1/2005: Want to find out if the writers of the news report or commentary you're reading/listening to about Terri Schindler Schiavo favors the husband's position and is pro-pulling the feeding tube? Check out the way the reporter writes Mrs. Schiavo's name -- Terri Schiavo or Terri Schindler Schiavo. I use Terri Schindler Schiavo in my commentary because she was not only Michael Schiavo's wife but also the daughter of the Schindlers. Both opinions deserve to be considered. Most of the reports I read or heard that just used her married name were heavily biased in favor of pulling the feeding tube and keeping it out. This type of bias research is well-documented, accepted in academia and is called "content analysis." Style sometimes means everything.]
---1. There will almost immediately be a rush from Hollywood and the publishing industry to get the rights to the story from the participants. I'm sure talks have already started. Considering the enmity between Michael Schiavo and The Schindlers, there will no doubt be at least two authorized versions of the story, and two made-for-tv movies, if not a mini-series. Everyone will be involved in this with their hands out, from the lawyers to the reporters to the judges to politicians to the religious.
2. Because the leftists denied up and down that Terri Schindler Schiavo felt any pain during her 13 day death ordeal, death by starvation and dehydration, removing a sustenance tube from a patient will continue to be an acceptable form of the termination of a patient's life. It, in my opinion, is euthanasia's version of the pre-clinical abortion day's "metal clothes hanger." But this procedure will be allowed to continue and we'll still refer to ourselves as a "higher being" than animals.
3. It doesn't matter that the judge who ruled Terri Schindler Schiavo's sustenance tube removed, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer, is a conservative Christian and longtime Republican. He was asked to leave the congregation of his local Southern Baptist church because of his decision. The religious right is incensed at the judicial approach to this case, more incensed than people are to the political approach taken by President Bush and Congress. The judge says he interpreted the law and the religious believe the law is wrong and the judge should've ruled in favor of keeping Mrs. Schiavo alive. The religious right is active, can raise a lot of money, and will pressure congress to accept every judicial appointee President Bush sends them. I doubt this would be the best for the public interest. I want checks and balances. The press release wires are already flooded with appeals from religious organizations for money and members, promising coordinated political action. The Roman Catholic Church has authorized the formation of a new religious order of priests, like the Franciscans and the Jesuits, but the new order will be highly political and vocal in its opposition to abortion or euthanasia of any type.
4. Many people will seek Living Wills, DNRs (Do not resuscitate orders), and assign medical powers of attorney because of this case. A whole new specialty practice of legal work will be formed because of this case, and people will have to hire an "end-of-life" attorney to make sure their death is dignified, quick and painless. The lawyers will get even richer. And despite all this, even with all this preparation, there will still be many cases where the death will not be dignified, quick or painless because of the national aversion to confronting the inevitable and making the best out of a terminal, non-recoverable situation.
5. The emphasis will not be on people learning CPR or on the national obsession with dieting or eating disorders brought on by negative body images reinforced by the mainstream media or on fighting media's fascination with the thin. "Thin" allows the mainstream media to reap hundreds of millions from the trillion dollar diet, exercise and fashion industry. If you appeal to someone's vanity and fears, you can sell them anything. What female would want to be viewed as the object of the type of national ridicule such at that presented by Viacom's SpikeTV and the New York Times? It's not like Terri died from plastic surgery. It was a personal problem, an "eating disorder." All this despite the fact that Terri's coma-like state was brought on by a heart attack which deprived her brain of oxygen for an estimated 10 minutes! And someone -- anyone -- with the knowledge of CPR -- a skill that could be learned in a few short hours -- could have kept the blood flowing through her body and prevented that brain damage! The heart stoppage, when Terri was 26, was induced by a potassium imbalance, the result of what the media calls an "eating disorder" in news accounts or "latest diet craze to slim down for the summer" in feature articles and morning talk shows.
As a nation we will be in agreement only when the conservatives believe that what they tried to do for people like Terri is what they'd do for Laura Bush in the same situation; and when the liberals believe what they'd do to people like Terri is what they'd do for Hillary Clinton in the same situation -- let them live with no hope of recovery or let them waste away, like a cast-off.
U.S. Army Capt. Rogelio "Roger" Manulyet knows firsthand what can happen to someone who decides to end a terminal patient's life quickly, honorably and painlessly.
Rest in peace Terri, the mania that surrounded your case has just begun and your autopsy hasn't even been completed.
[Update 4/1/2005: U. S. Army Capt. Rogelio "Roger" Manulyet, convicted of a mercy killing of a terminally wounded insurgent, will be dismissed from the Army for his actions but will serve no time in jail.]
[Update 4/1/2005: Want to find out if the writers of the news report or commentary you're reading/listening to about Terri Schindler Schiavo favors the husband's position and is pro-pulling the feeding tube? Check out the way the reporter writes Mrs. Schiavo's name -- Terri Schiavo or Terri Schindler Schiavo. I use Terri Schindler Schiavo in my commentary because she was not only Michael Schiavo's wife but also the daughter of the Schindlers. Both opinions deserve to be considered. Most of the reports I read or heard that just used her married name were heavily biased in favor of pulling the feeding tube and keeping it out. This type of bias research is well-documented, accepted in academia and is called "content analysis." Style sometimes means everything.]
posted by NEWS4A2, blood-sucking journalist @ 09:55
2 comments
2 Comments:
Interested in freelance journalism? Why not try the alt.journalism.freelance newsgroup? There aren't that many original postings now, because spam from people promoting their blogs every day is driving them away. But it's still there for now...
That's a good tip. Maybe I'll try it.
It's not the spam that drives people away, it's the little egoist pretenders and would-be tinpot newsgroup dictators who act like they own the newsgroup that drive people away from the usenet. Don't worry about the ng going away; it's been there since 1995 when I first started on the net and I don't see it being delisted anytime soon -- as long as there's traffic, spam or otherwise.
Spam you can skip or delete. No one forces you to read it. But if you read it, you might find a rose among the thorns. Spam to some is news or something else to others. See my "Poetry of Spam"/porn spam post, it might give you a freelance idea.
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