re: 'Nutjob'

Legally, Factually, Scientifically and Constitutionally, this is an open and shut case.

Legally, the advocates of TS (not the parents, the national Right Wing Right To Life agenda supporting the appeals, paying for the appeals and running the slander machine) have had every shred of due process granted them. Nobodys rights were abridged here. Mr. Schiavo is the legal guardian. Mr. Schiavo is acting within his legal rights to the best of his ability. If you want to abridge or end what Mr. Schiavoi is doing, you are asking for an intrusion of the state (Federal or Local) of an unprecidented level into the affairs of individuals.

Factually, there are certain inescapable truths here. It is a fact that the family and Mr. Schiavo sought, attained and exploited the best medical alternatives available to them FOR SEVEN YEARS, with no recovery or signs of recovery on the part of TS. It is a fact that Mr. Schiavo stands to gain nothing financially from the termination of TS. it is a fact, established time and time again in court, that Mr. Schiave took excellent care of TS during the 7 years he sought to improve her state (and after).

Scientifically it is without credible denial that TS is in PVS. NUMEROUS BRAIN SCANS have revealed that there is no cortical function of any meaningful level, and NUMEROUS PHYSICIANS have described her Cortex as a 'sack of fluid'. No neurologist who has examined her at the behest of the court has denied any of this. There is no scientific basis to believe that this state of PVS will be reversed.

The cortex is the seat of everything human, science knows this. The emotions of Love, Hate, Hope and Faith all spring from the cortex. thousands of peer-reviewed scientific publications attest this.

TS is a brain stem. TS has been dead for a loooooooong time.

Constitutionally- there you have it. Mr. Schiavo is acting according his rghts afforded him by the law and ultimately by the constitution.

WHAT I MEAN BY 'NUTJOB', LINDY, is that some set of politically driven jerks have made this an issue.

In part, some of those people believe that this is a proxy for abortion- that is if they can staple 'must not terminate' to the forehead of this brain-dead shell of a human being, then they can enhance the case for the unborn foetus to be treated the same way. To them I say: fight the battle you intend to fight, don't use this shell of a person as a meat puppet for your cause.

In part, some of these people simply feel or believe that TS is 'alive' and are either ignorant of, or don't care about the scientific and factual case. Its the same bullshit that got us into the war in Iraq: people feel or believe something, don't give a rats ass about the facts, and want other people to be held to what their beliefs tell them. Some jerks out there dress this up as 'Moral Righteousness', I just call it being an ignorant self-serving jerk.

So if, in the face of every scientifically sound statement and in the face of the full legal findings of 19 judges and 30+ hearings, These People so righteously think that they are right and EVERYONE else is wrong. If in the face of ALL OF THIS, These People want to abridge the rights of a husband to make care-giver decisions for his spouse, then yeah. I call them a bunch of nutjobs, and I pity our country that they have allies in the congress and presidency.