Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Rodeo Roundup: I Smell Desperation

And does it ever smell sweet! They fucked this up big-time and now they're kicking into panic mode trying to sell it.

How about we take a look at what's going on out there?

First of all, Patricia Heaton, of Everybody Loves Raymond? Yeah, turns out she's not only a genius, she's a brain surgeon!

Patricia Heaton: Terri Schiavo is not braindead. She's alive. She's breathing. Uh, she's disabled.

...

Patricia Heaton: There's a long history of this kind of treatment. In, uh, other cultures. We know that the Nazi's felt the same way about the disabled. That before they started taking the lives of jews and catholics and homosexuals, they started with the disabled.

...

Mark Stines: You say Terri's death is close. Have you done anything to kind of prepare for that if the feeding tube is not re-inserted?

Patricia Heaton: Yeah, I'm planning on, um, doing a fast, uh, possibly on Good Friday, if she's still alive by then. Just to show some solidarity with Terri and what she's going through. Of course it can't be anywhere near what she's going through.

...

Patricia Heaton: He (Michael Schiavo) had her put in a hospice to die.

...

Patricia Heaton: All you have to do is look at the facts. You don't need to sort of inflame the dialogue to understand what's going on here.


Hm, Patricia, I don't know. What IS going on here? Who are the nazis you're referring to? Surely not the DEATHOCRATS, which I kid you not, the Freepers are referring to us as. I don't understand the leap of logic required to associate genocide with this case, but, well, let's just say Patricia must have something in common with Terri.

Moving on, Rush Limbaugh offered his usual spew:

Now, I'm going to tell you this, folks. I didn't say this yesterday, but when I saw that the judge getting this federal judge getting the Schiavo case was a Clinton appointee, nothing that's happened since has surprised me. This guy didn't even... Well, the media reports are, "He doesn't have opinions about things. He's just a straight-down-the-middle jurist not known to have political leanings." Come on, now! This is more trickery and tomfoolery from the left. Liberals don't have political leanings? That's what they'd love you to think. Liberalism is just what IS. It's just what's natural. There's no ideology to liberalism. It's just natural. So this judge, a Clinton appointee has no political leanings. I mean the stretches that these people are going to to try to make their side of the case, the disinformation that they are putting out via the media -- and in fact the poll questions that are being asked.

Yeah, because appointees always reflect the leanings of the President who appointed them. Isn't that right, Souter?

Moving on, Scott (Gannon) McClellan was out there lying again...

McClellan: Twisting the Facts About 1999 Law

At the gaggle this morning, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan defended a law Bush signed as governor of Texas in 1999:

The legislation he signed is consistent with his views. You know, this is a complex case and I don’t think such uninformed accusations offer any constructive ways to address this matter…[P]rior to the passage of the ‘99 legislation that he signed, there were no protections…The legislation was there to help ensure that actions were being taken that were in accordance with the wishes of the patient or the patient’s family.

McClellan’s statement grossly distorts the nature of the law. The law does not ensure that actions are taken “in accordance with the wishes of the patient or the patient’s family.” In fact it codifies and legalizes the ability of doctors to stop treatment even if it goes against the explicit directive of the patient or the patient’s family.

Check out Section 166.046, Subsection (e):

If the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision required under Subsection (b) is provided to the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient …

Hey, not every conservative is in love with this idea! In fact, a lot of them are opposed to it. That's the beauty of it...

Bush role in Schiavo case bothers Right

By JESSE J. HOLLAND

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Not all conservatives are happy with the decision by Congress and President Bush to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. Some leaders said Tuesday the new law allowing a federal court review of the case is an example of the big government they have always opposed.

"To simply say that the 'culture of life,' or whatever you call it means that we don't have to pay attention to the principles of federalism or separation of powers is certainly not a conservative viewpoint," said former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.

Allan Lichtman, who chairs the history department at American University in Washington, said the intervention of Congress and Bush to try to overturn the decision by Schiavo's husband not to prolong her life is the antithesis of several conservative principles.

"It contradicts a lot of what those behind it say they believe: the sanctity of the family, the sacred bond between husband and wife, the ability of all of us to make private decisions without the hand of government intervening, deference to states and localities as opposed to the centralized government," said Lichtman.

Fox News idiots are chiming in:

A huge argument has broken out about whether or not Congress and the president should have stuck their nose into the Terri Schiavo case. Some people say thank God they did. Some say it's the end of the Republic — that Madison is rolling in his grave and that the separation of powers have been trampled by Congress butting into the business of the state courts.

I say we never would be in this position if it weren't for the Florida courts recognizing what is clearly a sham marriage.

At this point, Michael Schiavo (search) asserted his right as husband and guardian to insist his wife Terri's feeding tube be removed. At this point Michael Schiavo is married to Terri Schiavo only for the purpose of ending her life.

The reason I say that is that he has another "wife," has two kids by her and is leading another life.

If Terri Schiavo were in good enough shape to say whether she wanted to live or die, she might first say she wants a divorce, considering the fact her husband has another wife and two kids.

And if she were to do that, would Michael Schiavo still have the standing to claim guardianship to be able to pull her feeding tube? No.

If he didn't have that guardianship, who would? Her parents. Would they pull the feeding tube? No. Would it then be necessary for Congress and the president to get involved? No.

So this whole thing turns on whether Michael and Terri Schiavo are really married and the fact that the Florida courts continue to recognize a marriage that exists only for the purpose of killing her. Surely the Florida courts cannot be that dumb. And, if they are, then surely somebody else ought to get involved — perhaps even Congress and the president.

I don't think this is so hard. If you recognize reality you will see that as of Friday, when Michael Schiavo ordered the feeding tube removed, they weren't really married. They haven't been since he took the other "wife" and had two kids.

Are the Florida courts saying an ex-husband gets to decide when an ex-wife dies? If so, there is going to be a very long line at the court's front door.

That's My Word.

And, of course, we can count on Rick Santorum for his usual well-thought-out, intelligent discourse:

U.S. District Court Judge James Whittemore has defied Congress by not staying Terri Schiavo's starvation execution for the time it takes him to hold a full hearing on her case, a leading Republican senator said Tuesday.

"You have judicial tyranny here," Santorum told WABC Radio in New York. "Congress passed a law that said that you had to look at this case. He simply thumbed his nose at Congress."

"What the statute that [Whittemore] was dealing with said was that he shall hold a trial de novo," the Pennsylvania Republican explained. "That means he has to hold a new trial. That's what the statute said."
"What he's saying is, 'I don't have to hold a new trial because I've already determined that her rights have been protected,'" Santorum said.

"That's nice for him to say that But that's not what Congress told him to do," he added. "Judges should obey the law. And this judge - in my mind - simply ignored the law."


Scarborough Country runs with unfounded accusations:

SCARBOROUGH: Well, how did she get in this bad of a situation if she didn't have a heart attack?

HAMMESFAHR: Well, we don't really know. What we do know is that she was--she apparently told her family she was going to leave Michael. And they asked that she not return to him that night. And the next morning, she is found face down on the floor unresponsive. The ambulance--

SCARBOROUGH: I have got to stop you there. Who told you that?

HAMMESFAHR: That's in the record, the medical and legal record. So, we know that for a fact. And then she was taken into--

SCARBOROUGH: Are you suggesting foul play here?

HAMMESFAHR: I'm suggesting that an investigation needs to be done of this case.

SCARBOROUGH: Doctor, thanks for being with us. Explosive allegations.


And in the meantime, the truth:

In the beginning, they say, Schiavo was relentless in his search for a cure for his wife. He tried therapies. He rented a house large enough for him and Terri's parents.

He made sure she was dressed every day. He applied her makeup and dabbed on perfume.

He went to school to become a nurse, ''because he wanted to take care of Terri,'' Scott said. 'He swore that he could get Terri better. One doctor said: `Mike, you know what? There's nothing else we can do. The next time Terri gets sick, why don't you just let nature take its course?' And Mike wouldn't do it.

Posted by crimnos @ 6:56 PM