Michael Schiavo's a good dude

[EarlCat]

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That is not ad hominem. I'm not attacking the source, I'm attacking the facts based on the credentials of the source, namely that Terri's Fight is run by her parents and is therefore inherently biased. Many of the facts on the site are distorted at best and completely fabricated at worst so I don't think it inapropriate to say that you should question any and every fact coming from Terri's Fight.

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You are so attacking the source. You have not specifically refuted one point listed on Terri's Fight.

[fluxrad]

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You are so attacking the source. You have not specifically refuted one point listed on Terri's Fight.

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Are not!


There's a pretty good writeup here for those that are so inclined. Case in point (from the page):

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What about the video clips that show Terri reacting to her mother?


The court opinions indicate that similar videos were viewed in their entirety by the trial court, which found that Terri's actions were no more than reflexive and could not be reproduced with any consistency. The Second District affirmed that decision.

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[BCPVP]

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'm attacking the facts based on the credentials of the source, namely that Terri's Fight is run by her parents and is therefore inherently biased.

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One important thing I've learned in my short time on this earth is that almost everything is biased one way or another. I'm biased, I admit. But that doesn't make everything I say untrue. I look at it this way. Determine whether there is a bias and then weight the information accordingly.

Why is the information posted by the family untrustworthy while some blogger is? Simply because you agree with the blogger?

[fluxrad]

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Why is the information posted by the family untrustworthy while some blogger is? Simply because you agree with the blogger?

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Because as of yet, I've seen no reason to disbelieve the blogger. As an example, have you seen the CT scans of Terry's brain? She literally has no cerebral cortex. This means that all higher brain function is gone. And yet, her parents continue to push the myth that A)Recovery is possible and that B) She does things like laugh and cry and follow balloons around.

What they are saying she is doing is impossible.

An example of the fallacy (From the National Review article):

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But in spite of the lack of advanced testing, such as an MRI, attorney George Felos has claimed that Terri’s cerebral cortex has “liquefied,” and doctors for Michael Schiavo have claimed, on the basis of the CT scans, that parts of Terri’s cerebral cortex “have been replaced by fluid.” The problem with such contentions is that the available evidence can’t support them. Dr. Zabiega explained that “a CT scan can’t resolve the kind of detail needed” to make such a pronouncement: “A CT scan is like a blurry photograph.” Dr. William Bell, a professor of neurology at Wake Forest University Medical School, agrees: “A CT scan doesn’t give much detail. In order to see it on a CT, you have to have massive damage.” Is it possible that Terri has that sort of “massive” brain damage? According to Dr. Bell, that isn’t likely. Sometimes, he said, even patients who are PVS have a “normal or near normal” MRI.

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This is a picture of Terri Schiavo's brain. This is an MRI of a normal brain.

The truth of the matter lies in the ruling from the second circuit:

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By mid 1996, the CAT scans of her brain showed a severely abnormal structure. At this point, much of her cerebral cortex is simply gone and has been replaced by cerebral spinal fluid. Medicine cannot cure this condition. Unless an act of God, a true miracle, were to recreate her brain, Theresa will always remain in an unconscious, reflexive state, totally dependent upon others to feed her and care for her most private needs.

...

Although the physicians are not in complete agreement concerning the extent of Mrs. Schiavo's brain damage, they all agree that the brain scans show extensive permanent damage to her brain. The only debate between the doctors is whether she has a small amount of isolated living tissue in her cerebral cortex or whether she has no living tissue in her cerebral cortex.

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I do not believe the Schindler's have any particularly sinister agenda to push. I believe they love their daughter deeply and, as her parents, would do anything to keep her alive. Sadly, I also believe that includes lying to themselves and others about Terri's true condition, and her wishes.

[pistolwhipped]

This has been an interesting case for the longest time in Florida. IMHO Michael Schiavo is not a monster and if I were in his shoes I would remove the feeding tube myself. It’s one thing to be alive, but honestly if you put yourself in her shoes, what kind of life are you living?

Think about a car - picture whatever vehicle you drive; envision yourself getting in the drivers seat with keys in hand. Now picture the fact that you have a full tank of gas but you have no engine, so the car doesn’t start. That’s exactly the situation this woman is in.

Do you honestly think this woman is enjoying her life? To anybody who answers yes, if you could put yourself in her shoes, would you be enjoying life? I am more than certain the majority would choose to die as opposed to living the life that she is right now. This of course would only be the case if people gave an honest answer and decided to cut around the BS.

I have to agree with Daliman 100% when he says “P.S. For kicks guys, ask your wives what they would want done if they were in Terry Schiavo's shoes. Act surprised when she says pull the plug, and I'll act surprised when I find out most of you have no living will for either you or your spouse covering these instances.”

In regards to BCPVP’s comments: “Terry is not brain dead. She can follow people with her eyes. She smiles at certain relatives.”

All I see on the local stations here in the Bay area is the same clip of her smiling. Now you say she smiles at certain relatives. Personally I think it would be interesting if you showed her pictures of anything ranging from Adolph Hitler, Martin Luther King, any murder victim, a couple holding hands, a sunset, etc… (Trying to stretch the range of emotions). I want to see if in fact she does react to these pictures. If you could see discernable evidence that she understands what is going on in the pictures, perhaps pulling the plug wouldn’t be a good idea.

Hell, why don’t you just show her a screen shot of a Party Table with a flop of Ks Js Ts with hole cards of As Qs…if she doesn’t fall out of that chair then maybe it’s best to pull the plug.

I do believe this case is not about money, rather it is about livelihood - this woman has none and her husband understands this.

[pistolwhipped]

In regards to Bigdaddydvo’s statement:

“Don't you all understand that they're planning on making Terri starve to death??? A feeding tube is NOT extraordinary means. She's not on a respirator, and doesn't require any machine to keep her heart beating. This isn't a "pull the plug and die" situation. It will take 2 weeks or longer for her to shrivel up like a raisin and die.

Assess the morality here: Before he died, Christopher Reeve couldn't feed himself. Just to be safe, better let him starve. Hell my 10 month old can't feed himself either. Should we starve him, too?”

In a persistent vegetative state, Terri will not notice that there is no feeding tube…i.e. she’s so far gone that it will not be a painful death as you, me or your ten month old would experience.

Secondly:

"Michael Schiavo is no different from Nazi soldiers 60 years ago killing mentally or physically disabled people because of "imperfections."

If you saw an animal that was in grave condition and you knew for a fact that they wouldn’t live for longer than six hours – would you watch as they suffered or would you do something?

The argument you are presenting isn’t valid. Think about what this man has had to go through, certainly there are tons of other people who have had to go through the same type or problems with friends and family members from a wide range of illnesses/diseases and conditions (i.e. cancer/burn victim/etc…). There is a big difference though between what I’ve mentioned above and what Terri is going through, she’s suffering man and to let her stay that way is a tragedy. She is in a vegetative state. Imagine yourself in prison, in solitary confinement for fifteen years, with the ability to see people but not communicate effectively with them. How does this make you feel?

Just to add one last point to sum this up, people claim she smiles. Does that mean she’s all right? Have you seen someone smile before when they weren’t all right? I’m sure the answer to that is yes and I am sure that is not always a sincere expression. In fact, often enough that is a confused response to something.

[pistolwhipped]

How about the irony from the fact that the day you are born you're dying.

[Bigdaddydvo]

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Do you honestly think this woman is enjoying her life? To anybody who answers yes, if you could put yourself in her shoes, would you be enjoying life? I am more than certain the majority would choose to die as opposed to living the life that she is right now. This of course would only be the case if people gave an honest answer and decided to cut around the BS.


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This mentality arbitrarily assigns a subjective value to "quality of life," and holds that any individual falling below that threshhold no longer deserves to live. Our world places an inordinate emphasis on youth, beauty, and vigor, and is hurredly dismissive of a woman in Terri's position. The unsaid buttress that supports the "quality of life" argument is the concept of "inconvienence to the healthy." (Geez, grandma, don't you know what a royal pain in the ass your deteriorating hip is? Having to help you wipe your rear end is really cramping my style. Your life just isn't worth living any more...maybe we should do something about it) Allowing Terri to die could precipitate many instances where perfectly healthy folks are determining the fate of those with a range of physical and mental maladies. My question is: At what point does this stop? It may be hyperbolic to compare Terri to my 10-month old, but it is not unimaginable to envision many physically afficted people IN FAR BETTER SHAPE THAN TERRI having their right to life denied because some committee doesn't think their life is worth living any more. I regret employing the "slippery slope" axiom, but killing Terri puts us in that exact position.

[Zoelef]

The Rude One speaks:

"The distorted face of Terry Schiavo is now merely a canvas upon which ideology has been writ large, where the notion of "life" has been perverted to mean "a heartbeat," and where the cruel vicissitudes of politics now rear their ugly, hydra-heads.

The right loves this. This is better than Elian Gonzalez...Schiavo's fate is like manna from heaven because anyone who dares to say, for instance, "Terry Schiavo Must Die," can instantly be labelled as uncaring and cruel and then you can go on Fox "News" and Hannity'll show that reflex-smile of the damned and everyone can say they are doing "what's best" for Schiavo."

[EarlCat]

Maybe we should quit sending food to nursing homes too. I mean, you think they're actually enjoying their lives?