[Jeff Head]

Who says this decision respects her wishes, Tarantulas? Her clearly and hopelessly conflicted, and totally unfaithful husband? Where is that written down and notoriized...that her wishes are to die of starvation or thirst if in that position...which would violate her religious beliefs which, by all accounts, she was adamant about?

As to the "clear" constitutionality of this decision, emplying that it was the only constitutional thing he could do...that's hogwash, kust pure, unadulterated Bravo Sierra. The Judge could easily have ruled constitutionally that she had a right to life, which trumps all of the other legaleze and mumbo-jumbo being supported by those who support having her killed.

Common sense has fled so many of our people. When there is the least shred of evidence, doubt or disagreement in such a situation as this, particularly amongst direct family members who are willing to lovingly care for her...you ERE ON THE SIDE OF LIFE!

Anything short of this is an abject violation of the most fundamental principles upon which this Republic was founded.

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the right to life...

If we cast that aside, we tread a path that will lead to our ruin, our enslavement and our destruction as a soveriegn Republic and a nation founded upon liberty and the rule of law, that law being undergirded by fundamental moral principle.

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."- John Adams, Oct. 11, 1798"

Sadly, in this ruling and episode, as with many others of our day (ie. abortion) we are living out the negative of John Adams statement...right before our eyes. God bless those who are standing for life, against the culture of death. May we as a people have the fortitude and the willingness, if neccessary, to stand boldly and resoultely on these principles against such conditions of our day.

[nicmarlo]

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

[thecabal]

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the right to life...

Apparently that truth is not self evident any more...

[Jeff Head]

JH2, see my post 429 for my thoughts on this latest re Terri.

[Tarantulas]

Who says this decision respects her wishes, Tarantulas? Her clearly and hopelessly conflicted, and totally unfaithful husband? Where is that written down and notoriized...that her wishes are to die of starvation or thirst if in that position...which would violate her religious beliefs which, by all accounts, she was adamant about?

Her husband says this decision respects her wishes, the other people who testified about her beliefs say it respects her wishes, and the courts say it respects her wishes.

My wife and I discussed with each other our wishes not to be kept alive by "extraordinary means" if we're ever in a persistent vegetative state. Even if we didn't have living wills (which we do), I'm sure each one of us would fight to enforce the wishes of the other if that ever happened.

FYI, if this same case occurred in New York or Missouri, the feeding tube could not be removed under state law. In Florida and many other states, it can.

[Squantos]

I figure at most this lady has 3 days max left without water......the judges, sleeping at night and breaking for lunches and happy hour have spoken as to their decision.

Doom on these SOB's.......

[betty boop]

God bless those who are standing for life, against the culture of death.

Amen to that, Jeff. I am appalled and ashamed that our legal system sees this case as a "right to die with dignity" case, not a case about the right to life. How "dignified" is it to perish from slow starvation and dehydration? Plus I don't understand why Terri's husband-in-name-only (he hasn't been her real husband for years) gets the sole say in this matter, over the anguished pleas of her own family. This case simply sickens me; I feel so ashamed for our legal system right now. I do not see how any of this honors the Constitution.

[joanie-f]

Common sense has fled so many of our people … May we as a people have the fortitude and the willingness, if neccessary, to stand boldly and resoultely on these principles against such conditions of our day.

Thank you, Jeff, for a lucid, common sense commentary, as always.

That the President of the United State, and the Congress of the United States, have been forced to concern themselves with the Terri Schiavo case is ludicrous, and is proof of just how far the state and federal legal/judicial systems in this country have wandered from the blueprint laid out for them in the Constitution. The situation would be laughable, if it weren’t laying the groundwork for our eventual demise.

The Terri Schiavo case painfully illustrates the fact that the ‘rule of law’ in our republic has found itself surreptitiously transformed into a spiderweb of irrational ‘legalities’ that no longer have any foundation in ‘justice’.

Our modern legal/judicial system is now based on decades of irrational precedents, set by (1) juries who were incapable of critical thought and who allowed themselves to be thought-programmed by glib attorneys, and (2) judges whose agenda is focused on self-enrichment and socialist societal engineering rather than truth and fairness.

Often, when an issue becomes clouded by a maze of man-made, agenda-driven ‘technicalities’, the simplest analysis can help to clear away the smoke. The following facts are pretty much accepted by most observers of this case:

(1) Terri’s physical and mental states are the result of circumstances that place her husband in a less than favorable light

(2) that same husband has denied her even minimal physical therapy, and has instead seen to it that stimuli have been denied her for much of the last fifteen years

(3) that same husband is now living in an adulterous relationship with another woman and has fathered two children by her

(4) countless reputable medical specialists familiar with her case have observed that, even after fifteen years, the patient could benefit from, and respond to, appropriate therapy

(5) the patient’s family is willing to assume all financial and physical responsibility for her care from here on in, and

(6) the husband is insisting on cremation of the body, without benefit of further medical examination after death.

Is there anyone out there with half a brain who doesn’t know where the truth lies, and what justice would entail in this case? So what is standing in the way of justice being done here? When did common sense cease to play a role in our legal/judicial system? And when did unaccountable judges, unscrupulous lawyers, and jurors who are incapable of rational analysis of facts, obtain the upper hand over our lives and liberties?

The tragedy in all of this is that we accept such perversions of ‘justice’ as an inevitable part of life in America 2005.

We have become like the Pharisees whom Christ consistently sought to redeem in the New Testament. Much of His ministry was spent doing spiritual battle with their ‘legal traditions’. They demanded that He validate and approve what they called 'the tradition of the elders'. In effect, they wanted Him to consider their foolish man-made laws equivalent to the laws of scripture. Christ was vehement that He would not give His blessing to these man-made traditions saying, ‘You lay aside the commandment of God and hold higher the tradition of men.’ The Pharisees’ laws set up a barrier between scriptural law and their nit-picking human edicts. Because they stopped people from learning and embracing the word of God, and forced them to focus on nonsense, Christ admonished them for making laws for the sake of laws. He consistently rebuked them, saying ‘Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.’ (Luke 11:52)

Every minute Judge Whittermore continues to ‘deliberate’ moves Terri Schiavo one minute closer to her deliberate death.

If he rules as many of us fear he will, or waits long enough that Terri cannot be saved, may God forgive a nation whose justice system allows a murderer to commit his crime over a period of years, in full view of three hundred million witnesses, and with the blessing of 'The Law'.

‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me’ … Jesus Christ

~ joanie