So Jeb Bush and his "Save Terri Schiavo" fanatics were wrong about the possibility of her recovery. Results from the autopsy this week showed that she was "severely and irreversibly brain damaged and blind as well." Furthermore, the autopsy showed no signs that Terri had been abused, a charge leveled against Michael Schiavo by his in-laws.
Now most reasonable adults would see this as the end of the long and tragic story of Terri Schiavo. Unfortunately, there are plenty of unreasonable zealots out there who cannot stand that they might have been wrong. Jeb Bush appears to be their new leader. The Governor has called for a probe into the collapse of Terri 15 years ago citing an alleged time gap between when Michael Schiavo found his wife and his call to 911.
To me, this seems like a last-ditch ploy by a man who wants desperately to keep a hold of the "Save Terri" following he built in the weeks and months before her death. This is more political posturing for a man who could likely be running for president in 2008. Too bad he shares a family trait with his brother in that he cannot admit being wrong or making mistakes.
It’s time for Gov. Bush to let the Schiavo case go. Even Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the man who pushed for unprecedented emergency legislation in an attempt to save Terri, said the autopsy should mark the close of a divisive chapter. "The diagnosis they made is exactly right. It’s the pathology, I’ll
respect that. I think it’s time to move on," Frist said Thursday on CBS’ "The Early Show."
The Terri Schiavo case was a terrible situation for everyone involved, but it’s over now. It’s time to let the healing begin instead of starting a witch hunt and opening wounds anew.
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It’s not so much a matter of whether there was hope for recovery or not as it was a matter of how we treat people who are chronically ill. Terri Schiavo was not terminally ill. She may have continued on for many more years as she was. She was put to sleep in a manner (dehydration and starvation) that we wouldn’t use on a rabid dog simply because she required a lot of care and was becoming rather inconvenient. Those suffering with chronic illness themselves should be very concerned.
“She was put to sleep in a manner (dehydration and starvation) that we wouldn’t use on a rabid dog…”
Christians got thrown a total bone in this situation…. this whole thing put rational, thinking people in a real ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ bind. The religious folk were all, “Oh boo-hoo… the world is so evil for torturing this woman! She could still have been a functional doorstop!” (Note Michèle’s comment above.) But, guess what… we don’t have humane ways to give people the Big Sleep. The religious folk don’t like that either.
I just don’t understand how leaving her to rot in a bed as a vegetable (a _blind_ one with no hope of recovery, at that) is somehow OK with “god” and christians. And what’s more, people who are chronically ill and in constant pain, yet are still functional _ASK_ for death themselves and can’t get it.
This is a sick, sad world.
“This is more political posturing for a man who likely could be running for president in 2008.” This scares the life out of me. If the United States elects another Bush we will deserve anything he does to us. Look how much we have lost already. The world looks at us with distrust and disdain. We are thought of as a bunch of radical zealots much worse than Saddam and his followers, much worse than the Taliban.
We have lost the respect of the rest of the world and I am not sure we will ever regain that respect. What we need is a real leader, an honest man who can admit mistakes, tell the truth to us and the world and with all humility help rebuild America.
Andy said, “But, guess what… we don’t have humane ways to give people the Big Sleep.”
One could argue that criminals who get the death penalty die more humanely by lethal injection.
One could also argue that she wasn’t “rotting in a bed.” She was facing the destiny set before her–something many Christians strive to do. Of course it’s not the life she chose for herself. If given the option, nobody would choose to live like that, but many people are willing to for the sake of God’s will. In Terri’s case, she was forced to succumb to her husband’s will . . . Only God can judge this whole situation . . .
Just because something happens doesn’t mean that it’s “God’s will”. It is a cruel, cruel god indeed who would will this to happen to someone he made in his own image.
And I know the automatic response of Christians to reasoning such as mine: We don’t know everything that god knows. So how can we question when something like this happens? But I personally can’t, with a seeming shrug of my shoulders, proclaim hurt, sorrow and pain to be “God’s will” and then move on.
Everything that has happened in this case has to do with political posturing. Conservatives saw an opportunity in Terri Shiavo and in the process showed their true, ugly colors.
It is absolutely criminal that Jeb can use the power of the State of Florida to continue to demonize and harrass Michael Schiavo for political purposes. I only hope that most rational people see it for what it is.
I just don’t understand it. I simply cannot believe that people have not descended on Jeb Bush’s office like vultures to protest his further interference. He is a sick sick man. I cannot believe that Terri’s family has not said to him “Hey Asshole, don’t use our daughter for political gain”.