pühapäev, märts 27, 2005
Why We Fight
Somebody asked me why this case matters so much to me and what it has to do with the liberal political agenda. That question seems to miss the point, but this is my answer.
Personally, I don't see this as a liberal issue or a conservative one. I don't think of it politically. I don't care if its a Republican or a Democrat, everyone responsible for passing that bill in Congress disgusts me. I think Republicans and right to lifers desperate for a cause to rally around made it political and made it a conservative issue. But this case ultimately has no relevance at all to the liberal agenda, except in the sense that some (Tom Delay) are trying to abuse it to advance the conservative agenda.
It matters to me because I think it's insane that it's become such a national spectacle. Because this attention is the last thing Terri Schiavo would have wanted. Because her parents' insistence on feeding pictures of her in her state to the media destroy any sense of dignity that remained. Because she and her parents have been abused and exploited by polticial activists. Because this is not an unusual situation and it has somehow become one for some people who don't care about the truth. Because I see so many people talk about the situation without knowing a damn thing about it.
I've had to study and research this case very heavily for my job. I've dealt with some of the family members and spokespeople. I know how many lies are out there. I watch people call Michael Schiavo a murderer as he sits crying by his wife's bedside. I watch people say there's been no due process as if there haven't been trials and many, many appeals. I watch people trot out former coma patients and act like it's the same thing. I watch protesters push their children out with cups of water just so they get arrested on camera. I watch so many people who know so little about this and still take a side with such conviction. I watch people who know nothing about the law argue that this is judicial tyranny even though, given the evidence, there was no other conclusion for any of the 30 something judges who have no been involved with it to reach. I watch people who are bizarrely unwilling to even consider that maybe someone in this kind of state might actually once have told their husband they wouldn't want to live on. I watch people give these parents, who have already suffered so much, false hope. They have no legal case. They have no medical case. They cannot win. Their lawyer should have sat them down 10 years ago and explained that to them.
Basically, this case matters so much to me because I find the things that are being said and done about it so incredibly offensive. I want this family to be left alone to say goodbye to their loved one with the peace, privacy, and dignity that thousands of people across the country are afforded every day. That's not going to happen and that's what makes me so angry.
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Somebody asked me why this case matters so much to me and what it has to do with the liberal political agenda. That question seems to miss the point, but this is my answer.
Personally, I don't see this as a liberal issue or a conservative one. I don't think of it politically. I don't care if its a Republican or a Democrat, everyone responsible for passing that bill in Congress disgusts me. I think Republicans and right to lifers desperate for a cause to rally around made it political and made it a conservative issue. But this case ultimately has no relevance at all to the liberal agenda, except in the sense that some (Tom Delay) are trying to abuse it to advance the conservative agenda.
It matters to me because I think it's insane that it's become such a national spectacle. Because this attention is the last thing Terri Schiavo would have wanted. Because her parents' insistence on feeding pictures of her in her state to the media destroy any sense of dignity that remained. Because she and her parents have been abused and exploited by polticial activists. Because this is not an unusual situation and it has somehow become one for some people who don't care about the truth. Because I see so many people talk about the situation without knowing a damn thing about it.
I've had to study and research this case very heavily for my job. I've dealt with some of the family members and spokespeople. I know how many lies are out there. I watch people call Michael Schiavo a murderer as he sits crying by his wife's bedside. I watch people say there's been no due process as if there haven't been trials and many, many appeals. I watch people trot out former coma patients and act like it's the same thing. I watch protesters push their children out with cups of water just so they get arrested on camera. I watch so many people who know so little about this and still take a side with such conviction. I watch people who know nothing about the law argue that this is judicial tyranny even though, given the evidence, there was no other conclusion for any of the 30 something judges who have no been involved with it to reach. I watch people who are bizarrely unwilling to even consider that maybe someone in this kind of state might actually once have told their husband they wouldn't want to live on. I watch people give these parents, who have already suffered so much, false hope. They have no legal case. They have no medical case. They cannot win. Their lawyer should have sat them down 10 years ago and explained that to them.
Basically, this case matters so much to me because I find the things that are being said and done about it so incredibly offensive. I want this family to be left alone to say goodbye to their loved one with the peace, privacy, and dignity that thousands of people across the country are afforded every day. That's not going to happen and that's what makes me so angry.
