Simple plan to decide difficult case

Aberdeen American News ^ | March 31, 2005 | Art Marmorstein

[ancientart]

Hearing about the great wisdom of Solomon, the queen of Sheba went to Jerusalem to see if he was really as wise as people had been telling her. She tested Solomon with difficult questions, and finally concluded that Solomon was even wiser than she had been told - so wise that he just might have the answer to a question that was really troubling her.

"We have in our kingdom a difficult case, King Solomon. We have a helpless woman we just can't decide what to do with. For 15 years, she has been able to do almost nothing for herself. She can't walk. She can't talk. She can't feed herself. It's hard to tell if she's even aware of what is going on around her."

"Go on," said Solomon.

"Because she can't make any decisions for herself, she has to have a guardian to make all her decisions for her. Now, normally, that guardian would be her husband."

"And he doesn't want to be her guardian?"

"No, he definitely does. But the woman's parents are insistent that they be allowed to take over guardianship."

"And why is that? Isn't the husband doing a good job?"

"Well, he says that he is. He says that every decision he makes is motivated only by love for her, and that he is making exactly the decisions she would have wanted him to make. In fact, seven years ago, he suddenly said he remembered a particularly important wish of hers, and, for the last seven years he has been doing his best to make sure that wish is carried out."

"And what have the parents to say to this?"

"They think the husband is making very bad decisions, that he is not at all doing as the woman would wish. They say they would do a much better job providing her with the loving care she deserves."

"Any evidence for this?"

"Well, there are doctors and nurses, some of whom have actually worked closely with the woman, who insist that the husband hasn't provided good care at all. They say he didn't allow the kind of treatments that might have helped in her recovery. They claim that his plans for her right now are as bad as they can be."

"The husband's response?"

"Well, he's got medical people on his side too, many of them insisting that what he wants is absolutely the best thing to do at this particular time."

"What do your wise men and counselors say about all this?"

"That's part of the trouble. They can't agree even at the best of times, and this issue is making them hate each other all the more. Some of them insist the husband is right, some of them insist the parents are right. And it's not just our leaders who are at odds with one another. The whole country is upset, and it seems that, no matter what decision I make, people on one side or another are going to be angry. What do you think I should do?"

"Well," said Solomon, "I had a similar case many years ago. A variation on what I did then might help you now."

"So what do I do?" asked the queen.

"Call both the man and the parents together. Tell them that it is too hard to figure out who is telling the truth and who would make the best guardians. Tell them you're proposing a compromise. Tell them you want them to share in the guardianship exactly equally. Tell them that the woman should no longer be fed, and that, in a week or two, neither side will have to make decisions for her anymore. Then look closely at the way they react to your suggestion. It will probably be obvious who the true guardian should be."

And the queen marveled once again at the wisdom of Solomon. It was clear beyond a doubt that his plan would work.

[supercat]

I like it. On the subject of oral food and hydration, a Solomonic solution would be likewise simple. Michael says attempting to feed her by mouth would kill her. He wants her dead. Parents say it wouldn't. They want her alive.

Obvious solution would have been to let the parents try feeding by mouth. Whoever was right would have gotten what they wanted.

[Diogenesis]

Pinellas county, Florida subhuman murderer Judgenfuhrer Greer:
"In Pinellas county, I would have fed the child to my seeing eye dog.
Listen closely, slaves. ----- YOU LIVE AT OUR JUDICAL BLACK-ROBED MERCY.
Tonight begins Holocaust Remembrance Month with our "Perfect Murder".
Never forget that we Judgenfuhrers in Florida --who let you live at our convenience--
celebrate Holocaust Remembrance Month with our worldwide public
2 week starvation-execution of a young handicapped woman.
Now that America's honor is finished in the eyes of the World, thanks to me and my black-robed Mullahs,
you have no more hope. So you WILL serve us,
and then quietly and meekly die after we have enough of your money
or are in sudden need your organs for ourselves or the PRC."

---

Theresa Marie Schindler - December 3, 1963 - Murdered by Judges for NOTHING: March 31, 2005 (after Judicial torture)

[terriwellwisher]

I agree that Michael Schiavo is a murderer and so are our state and federal judiciary.Michael Schiavo will pay for what he has done coz there is a GOD above.I hope that bastard goes through an intensity of pain that is thousand times more than what Terri and her family went through.I will not be surprised if his daughters go through the same thing as Terri.

[cinnathepoet]

Marmorstein nails it.

[American Quilter]

Excellent post.

Now that Terri is with her Heavenly Father, I'll bet she's surprised and pleased to know that her murder caused so many of us to learn about her and to think more deeply about how our society treats the weakest and most vulnerable of our citizens.