Michael Graham: Talk Host from Boston's WTKK
THE SCHIAVO SYNDROME:
An hour after Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced an independent panel will review Haleigh Poutre's case, here's CBS's headline on the AP story: "Mass. To Review Right-To-Die Case."
Right to die? Where did that come from? Nobody has even suggested that Haleigh wants DSS to pull her feeding tube. And because Haley's condition has improved, DSS has for the moment announced they aren't going to. And even if someone testified Haleigh had expressed an opinion on life-saving medical care, what difference would that make? She's ELEVEN.
This is why the political system has, thus far, largely failed Haleigh. Politicians are afraid of a backlash from the Schiavo case. They don't want to look like some sort of "pro-life weirdo," even though Haleigh's case has almost nothing in common with Terri Schaivo.
And who can blame the politicians for this concern, when the press misreports the story so badly? Leaders have a duty to lead, but the incompetence of the mainstream media doesn't make it any easier.
Right-to-die is the "comfortable" way of talking about euthanasia. It really means a forced exit, but the Pete Singers and George Soroses of the world don't want you to know that.
I don't mean to butcher Shakespeare, but this reminds me of one of his sayings (from Hamlet), "One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."