Michael Schiavo's a good dude

[BCPVP]

[ QUOTE ]
What do those evil "trial lawyers" have to do with anything?

[/ QUOTE ]
Their silence is deafening.
Can you imagine how quickly many of the scummy trial lawyers (perhaps I should have better phrased who I was talking about) would be after Don Rumsfeld if he sent on terrorist in Gitmo to bed without dinner? Contrast that with the lack of enthusiasm that is shown over a court-ordered torture/murder of a woman who's only crime is of being inconvenient. Andrew McCarthy had a great article on it
National Review . Look what the prompting of what the legal definition of torture was got Gonzalez. Contrast that with what the Terri Schiavo case has received.

What Michael Schiavo is doing is murder and torture. He's no better than Brian Nichols.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What do those evil "trial lawyers" have to do with anything?

[/ QUOTE ]
Their silence is deafening.
Can you imagine how quickly many of the scummy trial lawyers (perhaps I should have better phrased who I was talking about) would be after Don Rumsfeld if he sent on terrorist in Gitmo to bed without dinner? Contrast that with the lack of enthusiasm that is shown over a court-ordered torture/murder of a woman who's only crime is of being inconvenient. Andrew McCarthy had a great article on it
National Review . Look what the prompting of what the legal definition of torture was got Gonzalez. Contrast that with what the Terri Schiavo case has received.

What Michael Schiavo is doing is murder and torture. He's no better than Brian Nichols.

[/ QUOTE ]

HUH?

[fluxrad]

LOL. An article siding with Schiavo's parents written by a pastor and published in the National Review. Fair and accurate assessment of the facts...

Check!

It would seem to me that there is a concerted effort on the part of the pro-life/anti-euthenasia segment of the U.S. to discredit Michael Schiavo, but not because he deserves discredit. Instead, I think it is being done to prevent cognitive dissonance. If Michael Schiavo is a good guy, who honestly believes that this is what Terri wants, it becomes much harder to lobby successfully against her death. However, by discrediting Mr. Schiavo, Terri's parents are (by proxy) able to subdue the argument that she would not want to live like this. That is to say, shoot the messenger, and the message will die.

From everything I've seen and read, Terri Schiavo is in a persistant vegitative state. No further tests are going to show anything different and it is extremely difficult for me to believe that Terri Schiavo is going to both regrow significant portions of her brain and begin to use it after 15 years in this state. Throughout this whole ordeal, Michael Schiavo has done nothing but attempt to care for his wife. Because of Terri's incident, he became a nurse. He has repeatedly turned down offers for vast sums of money when all he would have had to do is walk away. Either this man is evil incarnate who is hell bent on destroying the life of his wife for nothing but the sheer pleasure of it or he is simply a husband who loved Terri Schiavo very much and is trying to see her will be done, much to the chagrin of the right wing lobby.

Personally, I doubt Michael Schiavo was sent here by Satan to open the sixth seal in an attempt to undo the world!!!!!!

[BCPVP]

MYTH: Terri is PVS (Persistent vegetative state)
FACT: The definition of PVS in Florida Statue 765.101:
Persistent vegetative state means a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is:

(a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of ANY kind.
(b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment.

Terri's behavior does not meet the medical or statutory definition of persistent vegetative state. Terri responds to stimuli, tries to communicate verbally, follows limited commands, laughs or cries in interaction with loved ones, physically distances herself from irritating or painful stimulation and watches loved ones as they move around her. None of these behaviors are simple reflexes and are, instead, voluntary and cognitive. Though Terri has limitations, she does interact purposefully with her environment.

MYTH: Terri does not need rehabilitation
FACT: Florida Statute 744.3215 Rights of persons determined incapacitated:

(1) A person who has been determined to be incapacitated retains the right
(i) To receive necessary services and rehabilitation.

This is a retained right that a guardian cannot take away. Additionally, it does not make exception for PVS patients. Terri has illegally been denied rehabilitation - as many nurses have sworn in affidavits.

MYTH: Removal of food was both legal and court-ordered.
FACT: The courts had only allowed removal of Terri's feeding tube, not regular food and water. Terri's husband illegally ordered this. The law only allows the removal of "life-prolonging procedures," not regular food and water:

Florida Statute 765.309 Mercy killing or euthanasia not authorized; suicide distinguished. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.

MYTH: Many doctors have said that there is no hope for her.
FACT: Dr. Victor Gambone testified that he visits Terri 3 times a year. His visits last for approximately 10 minutes. He also testified, after viewing the court videotapes at Terri’s recent trial, that he was surprised to see Terri’s level of awareness. This doctor is part of a team hand-picked by her husband, Michael Schiavo, shortly before he filed to have Terri’s feeding removed. Contrary to Schiavo’s team, 14 independent medical professionals (6 of them neurologists) have given either statements or testimony that Terri is NOT in a Persistent Vegetative State. Additionally, there has never been any medical dispute of Terri’s ability to swallow. Even with this compelling evidence, Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, has denied any form of therapy for her for over 10 years.

Dr. Melvin Greer, appointed by Schiavo, testified that a doctor need not examine a patient to know the appropriate medical treatment. He spent approximately 45 minutes with Terri. Dr. Peter Bambakidis, appointed by Judge Greer, spent approximately 30 minutes with Terri. Dr. Ronald Cranford, also appointed by Schiavo and who has publicly labeled himself “Dr. Death”, spent less than 45 minutes examining and interacting with Terri.

MYTH: This is just a family battle over money.
FACT: In 1992, Terri was awarded nearly one million dollars by a malpractice jury and an out-of-court malpractice settlement which was designated for future medical expenses. Of these funds, less than $50,000 remains today. The financial records revealing how Terri’s medical fund money is managed are SEALED from inspection. Court records, however, show that Judge Greer has approved the spending down of Terri’s medical fund on Schiavo’s attorney’s fees - though it was expressly awarded to Terri for her medical care. Schiavo’s primary attorney, George Felos, has received upwards of $400,000 dollars since Schiavo hired him. This same attorney, at the expense of Terri’s medical fund, publicly likened Terri to a “houseplant” and has used Terri’s case on national television to promote his newly published book.

MYTH: Michael Schiavo volunteered to donate the balance of the inheritance to charity.
FACT: In October, 1998, Schiavo’s attorney proposed that, if Terri’s parents would agree to her death by starvation, Schiavo would donate his inheritance to charity. The proposal came after a court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem cited Schiavo’s conflict of interest since he stood to inherit the balance of Terri’s medical fund upon her death. This one and only offer stated “if the proposal is not fully accepted within 10 days, it shall automatically be withdrawn”. Naturally, Terri’s parents immediately rejected the offer.

MYTH: Terri's Medical Trust fund has been used to care for her.
FACT: The following expenditures have been paid directly from Terri's Medical Trust fund, with the approval of Judge George Greer:

Summary of expenses paid from Terri’s 1.2 Million Dollar medical trust fund (jury awarded 1992)

NOTE: In his November 1993 Petition Schiavo alleges the 1993 guardianship asset balance as $761,507.50

Atty Gwyneth Stanley....................$10,668.05
Atty Deborah Bushnell....................$65,607.00
Atty Steve Nilson............................$7,404.95
Atty Pacarek.................................$1,500.00
Atty Richard Pearse (GAL)................$4,511.95
Atty George Felos.......................$397,249.99

Other
1st Union/South Trust Bank.............$55,459.85
Michael Schiavo............................$10,929.95

Total.......................................$545,8 52.34

From Terri Fights

[EarlCat]

Q. Why does Michael Schaivo want to let Terri die by removing her feeding tube?
A. Because she can't receive food orally.

Q. Why can't Terri receive food orally?
A. Because her doctors are afriad that if she were fed orally she'd choke to death.

Anyone else see the irony here?

[fluxrad]

Again, you are posing sources from a biased perspective. You cannot rationally expect someone to take at face value data pulled from a site named Terri's Fight.

Moreover, the definition of PVS used is exactly the state Terri Schiavo is currently in.

Personally, I believe the biggest source of disinformation is that of the videos. They are shown to people who know little to nothing about her case. Knowing nothing, viewers immediately believe they are seeing coherent and self-aware actions by Terri Schiavo. From that point on, it is a trivial matter to convince them that Terri Schiavo is in fact conscious and aware. To be quite frank, had I seen the videos first, before knowing anything about the situation, I myself might have been pulled in by the Schindlers' ruse.

But the sad fact is that the videos and assertions coming from Terri's parents' site are fabrications. Several minutes of video pulled from several years of taping do not change the fact that Terri is a vegetable. The reactions shown in the video are nothing more than coincidence.

As a poster on Fark put it: "I can edit a video so it looks like my dog is answering math problems. That doesn't make my dog a genius."

[BCPVP]

How about the irony (as sick and twisted that it is) that the money awarded to Terri Schiavo that was to be used to pay her medical expenses has been used in order to kill her? Absolutely disgusting.

[EarlCat]

[ QUOTE ]
But the sad fact is that the videos and assertions coming from Terri's parents' site are fabrications. Several minutes of video pulled from several years of taping do not change the fact that Terri is a vegetable.

[/ QUOTE ]

People who are in comas, who are PVS, and who are vegetables, if they are still alive, should be allowed to have food. That's not too much to ask. No breathing machines, no pacemakers, no artificial resusitation. Fine. Just food.

[EarlCat]

[ QUOTE ]
Again, you are posing sources from a biased perspective. You cannot rationally expect someone to take at face value data pulled from a site named Terri's Fight.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's an ad hominem attack. The fact that Terri's Fight is a biased source does not necessarily make the statements false.

[fluxrad]

[ QUOTE ]

That's an ad hominem attack. The fact that Terri's Fight is a biased source does not necessarily make the statements false.

[/ QUOTE ]

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.