Posted on 03/21/2005 4:05:17 PM PST by goldstategop
RUSH: Here's Gary in Champaign, Illinois. Gary, welcome to the program. It's nice to have you on with us.
CALLER: Thank you. Rush?
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: I'm a Republican. I voted for Bush, all that stuff like in your commercials, but I have to disagree with everybody on this one, and let me tell you why.
RUSH: All right.
CALLER: Six years ago my mother had a brain aneurysm, went through a surgery to repair it, had another operation, procedure and a few other things. Finally the neurosurgeon, the neurologist came and told us she was in a chronic or permanent vegetative state. And for nine months I convinced my five siblings to withdraw the tube feeding her and let her die naturally. We did not kill our mother, we let her die naturally. Now, I've seen film of this lady, I've seen the news reports, doctors have said she is in a chronic or permanent vegetative state. What that means is, you have very, very basic brain function. The part of your brain that makes you breathe still works, you may have some response to pain or other minor basic stimuli but they have absolutely zero cognitive function. That lady has no idea what's going on around her. She doesn't know the difference from night to day. She doesn't know who people are. She doesn't feel anything at all. The right thing for her to do is what her husband wants to do, and that is pull the plug on her and let her die a natural death.
RUSH: Okay. You've told a personal story.
CALLER: I've been there.
RUSH: Well, so have I. And I'm going to tell you a personal story.
CALLER: I do not think that I killed my mother. I let her die naturally.
RUSH: I know you don't want to think that. You let her die. You had the doctors remove the feeding tube so you didn't even do it. She died a natural death, starvation, on the basis that she couldn't feed herself, so she starved. I'm just going to go back to the first hour, and, you know, the New York Times ran a brilliant story on Sunday that starvation is painless, it's a very dignified way to go. We could rid the world of poverty by letting them all starve. They may not all be in a vegetative state, but they soon will end up in one after they don't eat or drink long enough. Just gonna let 'em die.
Let me tell you my own personal story. My grandmother, my maternal grandmother. To give you the short, down-and-dirty of this, she had a stroke and was sent to the hospital, and the doctors said, "We don't know how long she's going to live like this." She was not in a coma but she was not quite there. The doctors said, "We don't know how long she's going to live like this, but we're going to give you 48 hours, you've got to make up your mind what you want to do, pull the tube or send her to a nursing home and pay for it because we need the bed." So my mother, my father had passed away, my mother talked to my brother and I about it and she wanted to pull the tube. And I said, "Mother, you really want the burden of having killed your mother? You really want that?" Before the 48 hours had passed a decision had to be made, my grandmother had another stroke while nobody was there and passed away in the hospital. At least that was the story. I've always doubted it. Given that we were given 48 hours to move her out of there, I've often wondered. Nobody will ever know, so it's just speculation on my part. I don't know how many patients are actually killed already on the basis that they don't know what's going on, it's better for them, we need the bed, insurance isn't going to cover this, blah, blah, all these decisions.
Now, I know, Gary, that you don't want to think that you killed your mom, and this sort of thing, but the argument about this woman exists because I think your scenario of her circumstances doesn't jibe with what some family members are saying. Some family members are saying she does respond to stimuli, that she does know when her dad and mom walk in the room, this sort of thing. So I think that the way you have to understand this -- well, you, the audience, the way you, the audience, have to understand, because everybody -- well, 90% of the people on the phones waiting to talk to me disagree with me on this, and I think the culture of death is very seductive. We can tell ourselves that we're doing the best thing for the person that's going to die. And we do that to hide the fact that we don't want to be inconvenienced ourselves in some way, either financially or personally or a combination of the two or what have you. And individual case, okay, so Gary's mom died the way she did, that's not going to wreck society, a single instance, it's not going to, you know, sow the seed, fabric of destruction. However, when a culture of death overtakes a society, and we have one now, you know, we've gotten to a point where it's permissible and even heroic to abort babies.
In order to make that argument we've now started calling pregnancy a disease. Pregnancy is a disease, it's not a natural state for women say some abortion rights activists. Then on the tail end of the life spectrum we decide, "Well, this person wouldn't want to live this way." Even though they may never have said that they don't want to live this way we assume it for them because we project. We don't think we would want to live that way. "I don't want to see my family member suffer," or what have you. And I realize that each one of you that have been in this situation do not think that you have contributed anything but love and the goodness of your wishes to your family member in taking this action. But there are societal ramifications for all of these particularly as they accumulate and the cumulative effect of the culture of death is one of the things that takes us to where we are at now. And that is that we literally have divided up sides in this argument that perplex me, and they give me pause. There's an actual energized enthusiasm for this woman's death out there, and there's an actual energized enthusiasm to save her life. I can understand the energized effort and enthusiasm to save life. We're oriented toward that in so many areas of our society. Sadly, we're also oriented on the side of ending life, and there are a lot of people-- I hear all this talk, Democrats have all these accusations, Republicans have ideological attached to this. Let me tell you something, if you want to argue who's more ideologically at risk here by losing this, take a look at the left.
They've got two things they're going to lose on, if the judge here -- and he's a Clinton-appointed judge, and I have no idea what's going to happen in this case -- but if the left loses it, they lost twice. They're going to have lost because the Congress has exercised Article 3 and is exercising its authority over the judiciary. They can't stand that because that's going to send a bad signal over their filibuster of Bush judges. The second thing they're going to lose on is their base, the pro-abort, feminist base. I mean, they're as actively involved in this as -- "Well, Rush, this has nothing to do with abortion." -- no, it doesn't have anything to do with abortion. It has to do with the rights of individuals under the so-called declaration of privacy or what have you to terminate a life they'd rather not deal with. Which is what abortion is. That's all it is. I want to kill this baby, I don't want to deal with it. You come up with other excuses, "I don't want it born to poverty, oh, it's a sorry circumstances," da-da-da-da-da-da, but boil it down, that's what it is, and if they lose both of these -- and that's why they're panicked. They've got two ideological battles that they're fighting in this little battle here over Terri Schiavo, and they're afraid to lose both of them. But don't think they don't have an ideological stake here, either.
This thread made me remember what a family friend did to his mother.
She was dying from cancer, and was a childhood friend of
my mother's.
My mom brought soup to her friend, but the son wouldn't let my mom feed it to her.
Turns out, the son had made the decision to starve his mother to death. He pumped her full of morphine and in just a few days she was dead.
She wasn't completely ravaged by cancer, she still could talk and sit up and walk and eat, but her son, thought it was best for Mom to go.
And so she got weaker each day until she died.
And dear son inherited everything, the little there was.
Is it always the desire for MONEY that causes mankind
to do such horrible things to those we once loved?
We do not know if the cerebral cortex has been destroyed because there has never been an MRI, which is sthe definitive diagnose for PVS. There are reputable neurologists that insist that Terri can be rehabilitated. Why not give her a chanace? You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. What is her so-called husband afraid of and what are his motives for wanting her dead. He has never ever authorized and rehab or PT for her. In fact, her teeth are rotting for lack of proper medical care.
This will be the Roe v.Wade of the 21st century if this woman is allowed to starve to death without a full examination of her capacity and chance for some recovery.
How many of us would say that if paralyzed like Christopher Reeve that we would rather be dead.Yet after a tragedy like that occurs to someone they still have the resolve to live and make the most of their lives.
Dangerous ground that is being walked on here.
I think there are plenty of people out there who claim they want to do what's in the best interest of their family member, but the TRUTH is that they do not want the burden of taking care of this person or seeing their loved one in a different state of life.
It's really a question of our VANITY. We are so vain that to have a family member in this state is bad and we justify terminating life because they wouldn't want to live "that way". There is no that way, it live or die.
I have a son who is autistic. He doesn't talk to me, he doesn't do all of the things that a normal little boy would do. If we are able to terminate life because we don't think they would want to live that way, what is to stop some bad parents from terminating their autistic son.
IT IS NOT THE RIGHT OF ANY LIVING BEING TO TAKE THE LIFE OF ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. WITHHOLDING WATER AND FOOD FROM TERRI IS THE SAME AS WITHHOLDING FOOD AND WATER TO A BABY. Neither one of them can do it themselves. I am ashamed that anyone in this country thinks it's okay to let someone starve to death. They could at least have the cojones to kill her immediately with some drug rather than let her wither away.
ping for Rush's personal story.
I have seen this happen, abetted by hospice nurses.
Rush is absolutely right on every aspect of the situation. We have in America from the beginning of the pro-abortion era a spirit of death hanging over us. It is a spirit that has been aloud to prosper and it will not stop until we see it for what it is.
Bless you for being there for your Mom!
Sometimes I think Rush just runs his mouth, and I turn him off. But I caught this part of the program today, and I thought it was truly awesome, especially since much of the audience evidently disagrees with him. When he said, "The culture of death is seductive," I thought he really nailed it. It's easy to see why he is the king of talk radio.
LOL!!
Wow. So, it's not uncommon to starve someone
out of convenience.
The unknown horrors....
Terri's parents love her very much to go this far. They have stood by her and have been battling for custody for her for years so she could be properly rehab. They have reason to believe foul play causing her brain damage to begin with because of initial xray reports, and I think this is one of the reasons they want this case thoroughly investigated by the Federal Court since Judge Greer refused to even consider it. But, the evidence is there.
But there is nothing "heroic" about food and water. Forgo some surgery, and the sickness takes them. Stop food and water, and you have killed them, and there is no point telling yourself otherwise.
I don't know how many patients are actually killed already on the basis that they don't know what's going on, it's better for them, we need the bed, insurance isn't going to cover this, blah, blah, all these decisions.
I know of a similar case. I have no doubt that there are doctors and hospital administrators who will take the case in hand if they think you aren't going to make the right decision. It is too easy to reassign a machine that was keeping a patient alive, or fail to order a procedure that would have kept the patient alive, and few will notice or realize what you did. If they do, and they complain, just act compassionate and assure them that you did all you could.
It is not the right......
Exactly. If a terminal cancer patient wants food and water, is it denied to him or her? Of course not!
If Terri is to die, it must be because of her condition, not by being starved! That way, it becomes INTENTIONAL!
Deathocrats, indeed!!
Quote: she can open her eyes and it appears she is aware of her family member.
You do not know that. 3 reknown doctors that deal with these vegitative states said she is not aware. That the body "Automatically" senses changes in light, heat, noise etc just like a plant that perks up to sunlight.
I know I'm going to get flamed for this so hammer away. For sakes people it's been 15 years. Let he die with dignity.
Heck it was not that many years ago that Christians were against keeping people alive artificially because it was against God's plan.
Also many people are getting on the husband because he has another woman etc. How many of you on this site are divorced and left your wife/husband for a better one but are hammering Mike Sciavo for doing the same thing.
Read it again. Rush thinks that they killed her. For the bed. Or insurance wouldn't cover it. One or the other.
bump
Once again Rush nails it BUMP!!
"You love life and we love death." al-Qaeda tape released on March 14, 2004
Folks, that's exactly why Terri is being starved to death. The people who have power over her have no emotions whatsoever. They have completely divorced themselves of her but, continue to rule over her as if she were just a fixture of inconvenience.
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