Posted on 12/16/2005 6:22:20 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
It is frequently said that truth is stranger than fiction. In the case of Michael Schiavo, husband of the now deceased Terri Schiavo, this is precisely correct.
You may recall that during the years that Terri Schiavo suffered from a debilitating condition, Michael worked very hard to acquire legal permission to kill his wife by denying her the basic human right of receiving food and water. He argued that she would not want to be fed through a tube. His view was that she actually died 12 years earlier, and that the person in the hospital bed was not truly alive. Once he succeeded in achieving his goal, and his wife died, it became clear that Schiavo had designs on attaining as much public support and sympathy as possible. In fact, one might say that in the wake of Terri's death, Michael Schiavo was starving - for attention.
He received notoriety due to various awards that pro-death groups chose to give him. He made headlines when a woman in San Francisco was convicted of a crime for posting an internet death threat leveled at Schiavo. The threat read, "If she [Terri] dies, I will kill Michael Schiavo and the judge."
A reporter in Florida claimed that Michael Schiavo, who is a licensed health care provider, was being investigated by medical malpractice authorities due to some alleged misrepresentation on an employment application.
None of this satisfied Schiavo's thirst for recognition; it appeared to know no bounds. In fact, his ego-driven self-absorption has recently launched him into the political realm. He has just announced the formation of the Terri PAC, a political action committee founded to "restore personal freedoms and individual human rights." If you think this is a bit ridiculous, then you are sadly unaware of the immensity of the culture of death into which America is nearly fully immersed.
"Personal freedom" should be based on one's ability to exercise free will and choose between good and evil. This is not the definition currently applied in the United States, however. The majority of our citizenry, for instance, claim a "personal freedom" to murder the innocent preborn child at any point in his life. So it is no surprise that Michael Schiavo is turning to the political realm to make sure that spouses like himself can exercise another aspect of this twisted idea of personal freedom: the "right" to eliminate an inconvenient family member when illness or debilitation strikes.
Some would call that killing. Others would describe it as pure evil. We would hope that very few indeed would perceive it as true "personal freedom." Hope, yes; unfortunately, opinion polls would prove us wrong. The vast majority of Americans condone what Michael Schiavo did to his wife; they also condone taking the lives of preborn children through abortion. It's all about those "personal freedoms" that we Americans supposedly hold so dear.
There's also the sticky subject of "individual rights." Schiavo's announcement suggests that "individual rights" and "personal freedom" are the founding principles of his political action committee. The active component of his effort, however, is gathering support for candidates who support killing the weak and the vulnerable. What, pray tell, is actually at stake? Will anyone challenge Schiavo by inquiring precisely where we are to find the basic individual rights and personal freedoms of those targeted by his goals?
The preborn child is an individual who - according to the likes of Schiavo and most politicians - may not choose to exercise his own rights because he does not have a right to live. So too, according to Schiavo and his supporters, the ill, the severely disabled and the family members who are simply a "drain" have no rights at all, and they surely have no freedom - at least, no freedom from harm.
In Schiavo's view, efforts to save innocent lives are nothing more than political opportunism while those who fall prey to agendas such as his are merely being respected for their individual right to die. As he noted on his new organization's web site, "If our political leaders have taken no lessons from their shameless exploitation of Terri, and the public outcry against it, I have. I have taken my sadness, anger and worry and channeled them into a personal resolution: I will do everything in my power to keep another unsuspecting American family from re-living our private national nightmare."
Excuse me? How could Michael have forgotten the personal agony and the nearly debilitating toll the struggle to protect their daughter took on her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler? It occurs to me that the so-called national nightmare was started by an unloving husband who wished to be free to cavort and beget children with a new mate while denying his wife rehabilitation and care, leaving her to decay. And we are supposed to be thankful that Michael Schiavo is taking his case to the political arena?
C. S. Lewis once wrote, "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth, only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair."
It is my firm conviction that Lewis' words apply totally to the Michael Schiavos of this world. The problem is, of course, that those who support his point of view (most Americans, it would appear) happen to be in a position to make Michael's version of truth become reality, enlarging that wicked comfort zone that will result in hell on earth for the victims. It's the American way.
Judie Brown is president and co-founder of American Life League, the nation's largest Catholic pro-life educational grassroots organization. She is a recognized expert on the sanctity of human life and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Mrs. Brown is the author of three books.
I believe this is exactly what many Freepers stated would happen in due course of time. That he would continue to profit, and further the cause of his lawyer.
But Schiavo is smarter than Peterson and much more admired by the American people.
I took an interest in the whole sordid mess, because of forced abortion in China, and our country's abortion laws. Even worse than remembering how to spell names, I murder them in the pronunciation. I think I'm going to google up the info. No one says anything about Romania anymore, and now I'm curious.
I was thinking of adding the testimony of the nurses, however, I forgot about MS's first gf. Another red flag ignored.
Nurses talk amongst themselves, and my aunt told me a couple of instances where relatives wanted the patient to go a little quicker. She's still disgusted with one woman who insisted that her mother needed more morphine. The woman reported my aunt to the doctor, and he straightened the woman out. Unfortunately, the patient became depressed and died within the week. The woman was her daughter...
Like certain people like Cindy "mother moonbat" Sheehan, Michael Schiavo is using the death of a relative in an inappropriate manner.
MS cries about wanting others to avoid the public scrutiny that he chose to go through, when they decide to murder a family member. See post #20 for some facts.
MS is being investigated, because he keeps sticking his face out there. Why isn't he spending this time being a father to his children? A husband to Jodie? Why did he and his brother create a PAC using Terri's name if he just wants to move on? Did you know that MS's brother Brian is the treasurer for this PAC? Brian is also owner and agent for a business called "Creative Marketing". Guess who's going to be in charge of booking all of MS's public appearances?
Smart criminals keep a low profile.
Surely the cause you would carry on in Terri's name has some deeper point to make than how much you hate Michael Schiavo.
Lord, what a boring book. His writing reminds me of a student who inserts too many adjectives to pad the word count. The tax case sounded interesting, though. Manny something vs IRS.
My feelings for Michael Schiavo are not personal. I feel the same way about Scott Peterson, Tookie Williams, Susan Smith, Karla Harmolka(sp), and anyone else who murders innocent people. I especially loathe those who get away with it. How do feel about OJ?
Any cause I may have is that people should be educated about emerging views within the courts and medical community, regarding the rights of those unable to speak for themselves. Just because they can't scream, don't think you can read their minds.
Ah - there you go... isn't that a ~much~ better cause than "Michael Schiavo is a baaaad maaaan".
I don't presume to read the mind of anyone... But I can't speak for everyone... on either side of this issue. But you're right that issues of medical and family ethics, human frailty and death will likely to continue to be subjects of much debate for years to come.
He's going to be running for office. He already has a PAC and is constantly getting media time.
check out euthanasia.com
www.churchofeuthanasia.org/
Do you know the meaning of the word "hyperbole"?
Someone as evil as MS will slip and one day be brought to justice.
I wanted to refresh my memory. Here are some moving stories about the children in the Romanian orphanages.
http://www.hri.ca/tribune/viewArticle.asp?ID=2650
http://www.sfu.ca/mediapr/Releases/News/1997/March97/orphans.html
Not just in Romania...
http://hrw.org/reports98/russia2/Russ98d-05.htm
The reason I posted the links, is because of the repeated remarks about neglected infants and children lapsing into a vegetative state, due to lack of human contact and stimuli.
Excuse me, but imo, Michael Schiavo IS a bad person for what he did.
No matter what you personally think, everyone must be vigilant so that they are not abused when or if the time comes.
Like you, I find that very hard to believe. I certainly hope that's not the case.
I've followed the Schiavo case. The effect it had on me was so disturbing that I told myself I will never get in that position again.
I see Michael Schiavo, George Greer, George Felos and all who aided them as pure evil. And they're not finished yet with spreading their agenda of deciding who deserves to live and who does not.
Who will challenge them...and win?
I'm curious. Did either of you sign a Living Will? Maybe they differ from state to state but I've read warnings about these documents. I am skeptical.
It sounds like you and your spouse have designed your own "wills" as to actions to be taken in regard to various circumstances.
It's not an easy subject...what to do. Our grandparents or great-grandparents did not have to deal with it.
For those of us who have a loving spouse or relative, or even a close friend, we have to trust them to know what to do.
I want to see MS get "his" while he's still on earth. Does that make me vindictive?
I'm a law-abiding citizen even though I don't agree with some of the stupid laws. e.g., I live on a one-way street, four houses from one end. While I often see cars driving the wrong way, and even some neighbors taking the short-cut, I can't bring myself to do it, even at 11 p.m. when no other cars are in sight. I constantly see drivers going through stop signs as if they didn't exist. Not me! Why? I don't want a ticket.
Despite the way I am, I could well understand a vigilante approach to obviously evil people getting away with their evil deeds, aided and abetted by a court system. If the justice system is corrupt or doesn't do it's job, IMO they have handed over the reins to outraged citizens.
I don't advocate murder but some way of getting them to own up to their crimes.
My imagination has run amok. Time for bed.
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