Since everyone on the blogosphere is talking about it, I suppose I should put my opinion down on the Shaivo case.
I consider myself a supporter of what has been labeled the ‘Death With Dignity’ crowd. I certainly don’t want to be hanging around after I should be gone like an unwanted party guest. Having machines breath and pump for me sounds like I wouldn’t be able to make it to the pistol range very often.
I also support assisted suicide. If you are suffering under an unreasonable amount of pain and there is no hope of recovery or relief without having narcotics-on-demand administered to you, take off dude (or dudette, as the case may be).
Now that we have those two things out of the way, here is my main gripe and why I support what her parents are doing:
I DO NOT BELIEVE OR TRUST HER HUSBAND.
He has no evidence that she was a “Hemlocker� type, so I don’t believe him.
He has let her condition decline to the point where she HAS to be fed by a tube that can be disconnected, so I don’t trust him any further than I can piss.
He stands to gain a substantial amount of money after her death, he refuses to divorce her so that his current family can be whole, he is suspected to have put her in this current state and she is the only witness who can make the affirmation or refutation of his culpability.
He has motives that could be considered ulterior and he actually creeps me out with his grieving husband dog and pony show. Why any judge with an ounce of sanity hasn’t taken control over Shaivo away from him and put it in the hands of an impartial guardian pending investigation is beyond me.
Do I agree with the federal government stepping in on this?
No.
But neither do I agree with the Florida judge holding Congress in contempt under their previous attempt to put a stop to this with the subpoena.
He has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and part of that means he is accountable to the higher houses of government to explain himself.
Of course, I only consider that Congress and the President are doing this in a half-ass fashion, as government does all things. If they really cared, the Congressional Sergeant-at-Arms would have been sent along with Federal Marshals to block the doctors from approaching Shaivo’s bedside and prevent the tube from being removed.
The optimum outcome, in my opinion: The judge whom is now currently reviewing this case would wrest control over Shaivo from the husband and give it to an unbiased party, most likely a social worker, pending a review and all relevant tests to determine Shaivo’s real status.
This will reveal the husband’s reckless disregard for Shaivo’s condition and letting her wither further down the vine than she would have if he had not refused all therapy and rehabilitative treatment for the last 15 years. Control will then go to the parents who will actually care for Shaivo, even if it is too much too late, and we can all go back to getting fed misinformation on the fight in Iraq, Michael Jackson’s impending suicide and rising gas prices.
If you read only one more thing on Shaivo’s situation, make it this. It is an account of Shaivo’s condition in 1996 by the nurse in charge of her care.
This woman put her professional nursing career on the line by putting this sworn deposition out. Take some time to read some truth instead of the crap the husband puts out or ABC’s push poll.
Also, ignore the left wing’s attempt to point to hypocrisy on the part of Bush. The bill he signed while Governor of Texas focuses on the availability of funding for long term care of a terminally ill patient and has nothing to do to with Shaivo’s case as she is not terminally ill and has no shortage of money.
Think more about the hypocrisy of the left: A man can rape, torture and murder multiple women and they would demand that he be imprisoned for the rest of his life on the taxpayers dime instead of being put to death.
But put a woman whose husband neglects her until she needs to be fed through a tube in front of them and their attitude is ‘Let the bitch die’.
But remember, they care.
Excellent analysis, as far as it goes.
But, I’m sorry to say, all those who point to the fecklessness of the various Shaivo parties and/or their lawyers ignore the fact that this happens every day in Probate and Dom Rel Courts. Our legal system, from the judges to the attorneys, all tolerate blatant lies in these courts. In Criminal Court, lying loses your case for you, as it usually does in any type of civil lawsuit, but lie in Probate or Dom Rel Court and the Court assumes that you have simply been “carried away by the emotion of the moment” and you are excused.
So, AK, let’s assume that both Shiavo parties have lied in this case, to some degree. Where does that put the case and the fate of Terri Shiavo?
It doesn’t move it an inch from where it is, because the Court excuses lying.
Let’s look at some salient points, even before we get to the nuke in my poker hand (Indian Poker is fun when you know that you hold the Nuke).
1. Michael Shiavo is not directly caring for Terri, so his “fitness” or whatever term is used to discribe him, is not applicable here. A licensed hospice is caring for her by State rules.
2. Terri’s parents have been at least offered support from various RTL groups adding up into the millions. I have not read where they have made any affidavit to swear that they haven’t reached any agreement with RTL nor accepted any RTL money. Until I see such proof, I am assuming that they are in the pockets of RTL, and will do whatever RTL wants them to.
3. Michael Shiavo is not known to have any political connections. I suppose George Soros could secretly be paying him to try to get Terri snuffed, but there is no indication or accusation of any payments to him.
4. At some dispute is the condition of Terri Shiavo’s trust fund, which Michael administers as her Conservator. It started with millions in it, and some observers in the know think there is still substantial money there, and some think the fund is about broke. Money in that fund, which goes to whichever Shiavo party prevails in court, is a powerful motivator.
Now the nuclear option.
None of the above is worth the proverbial rat’s ass. A serious violation of State’s Rights has been taken, and taken very selectively, and taken at the request of a religious coalition.
(Waits the 18 days for the radiation and dust to settle).
What part of Terri Shiavo, or how many Terry Shiavos is/are so important that the most basic premise in our Constitution was worth violating over her/them? I’ve heard “common decency” bandied about as if it were some sort of legal precedent, which is isn’t, or there wouldn’t ever be a single lawyer joke told.
Sure, let’s have Common Decency. The common decency to leave the Constitution alone so that our children and their children may continue to live free and express personal ideas, not have to run them by their local vicar or priest to see if the meet the Church’s standard of Common Decency WHICH. WE. JUST. WROTE. INTO. LAW.
Ooops, sorry George, that mushroom cloud you saw was the remnants of the MOAB I set off on that Kos freak in the post before. You forget, we are Random Nuclear Strikes and we control all things that glow. Your nuke was neutralized by our advanced satellite system. The fed wants some of this interception technology, but they refuse to pay our price.
Since you didn’t see it get blowed up, turn around and the screen behind you will show the replay. Here we go,
You are approximately 230 years too late to escape the underlying Judeo/Christian theology in America. You are not allowed to commit suicide, and the ability to assist someone doing so is currently under discussion all thanks to theological foundations. Drug prohibition; thank the theologians. Laws against prostitution, those damnable robed bastards again.
You just cannot get away from their laws that violate the Constitutions provisions as to your personal freedoms and decisions.
Also, you really should look into the doctor who fronts for Mr. Shaivo. The man is one of the Hemlock Society’s leading ‘experts’ in cases such as this one. He refuses to give any of the supposedly ‘braindead’ patients a PET test which would actually show real brain activity and relies on bullshitting judges and juries with his degrees and his hyping of CAT scans which show nothing, just the way he likes it.
So now that you know his background, you can start following the money. You weren’t too far off with your Soros comment, but you might also look towards the remainder of our favorite left wing funding sources.
These groups, as both you and I know, support the advancement of socialism, which is the worship of the state.
So now you have to decide whether you would rather worship an ethereal deity or a very real one that can actually tax and kill.
Either way, you’re stuck.
Or, you can see my argument and revel in the worship of the Rule of Law.
It is not my or my argument’s fault that the Schindler’s cannot put a decent case in front of a judge. It is, however, some ignorant or slothful judge’s fault for not seeing through Mr. Shaivo’s façade.
But it is neither here nor there, as it just came over the radio that the 11th Circuit denied the parents lame request and we all know the SCOTUS won’t touch this.
She is going to die and her husband will complete his (possible) crime.
I hope the left wing revels in it and shows them for the ignorant and sick hypocrites that they are.
Of course, if they are ever proven wrong on this topic, it will be Bush’s fault. If he wouldn’t have supported the Schindler’s cause, they might have supported them.
You’re right, AK, there are so many nukes going off on this battlefield, none of us troops will ever need to put batteries into our flashlights to read the newspaper ever again.
But, as former B-52 bombardier, I’m here to tell you that you CAN miss with a nuke. When you’re using one against a nuke-hardened objective, you have to have a precise hit to “roll” that bunker out of the ground. Been there, practiced that, had a 330-foot CEP BEFORE precision guidance systems.
But I digress.
As you pointed out in your last post, the 11th Circuit nixed the appeal to re-insert Terri Shiavo’s feeding/hydration tube.
Most of the pro-Shiavo hype from the Right seems to be tilting away from the merits of the case of keeping her alive now. Tilting towards assassinating the character of Michael Shiavo. As you know, character assassination is a tool the (D)onks perfected, but as we both know, the GOP has more than a few hatchet men in their stable themselves. Their hatchets are out, and slashing to the left and right as I write this.
So, if the fight’s over, the spin-meisters of the GOP will now try to explain why their party went against the evident wishes of the majority of the populace in this country to push this private bill through.
I’m just a little ahead of myself. The GOP will seriously spin their effort if their character assassination attempt on Michael Shiavo’s side fails. If they gain any traction with that event, they’ll just shut up and let it blow over.
I won’t let it blow over. As long as I can draw breath, I’ll be here to remind folks, many of them good, decent friends, just why the Shiavo Affair was a huge mistake for the GOP, and a threat to our Constitution.
But, let’s wait for the SCOTUS’ ruling. When that’s down on paper, we’ll finally know, even though the Florida Legislature seems to be willing to sit there and churn out bills in defiance of THEIR Supremes.
Maybe someone will resort to a terrorist-type action to kidnap Terri at this point. I don’t know, but I DO have the feeling that it will all soon be over, and so soon we can discuss the case on a historical basis, and without the emotion of the moment interfering with our love for our Constitution.