The short life of Theresa Marie Schindler-Schiavo is, mercifully, over. Now that's what left of her body has ceased to function, the autopsy can be done, and the facts from that can be thrown in the face of the New Taliban, that group of crazies who acted as if Michael Schiavo had murdered a fully functioning human being.
Here are the facts, folks. Terri Schiavo had weight problems for most of her life; I can sympathize, as I am not tiny, as those who know me are certainly aware. Sadly, this turned into an eating disorder, which her parents denied. The reason she was in the condition she was in was that she suffered a massive cardiac arrest resulting from her bulimia. The dramatic loss of oxygen to her brain during that arrest created dramatic, and irreversible, brain damage.
Terri Schiavo hasn't been Terri Schiavo since 1990, folks. Yet, for the next 8 years, Michael Schiavo did everything possible to attempt to help his wife recover; however, as CAT scans began to show, that was not possible. At that point, he decided that the feeding ube should be removed.
Point of medicine here, folks: someone in a persistent vegetative state, as she was, does not have the cognition to recognize pain and suffering. Yes, her feeding tube was removed, no, she did NOT suffer as her body shut down. She dehydrated to death, but she felt nothing, as her cerebral cortex had already liquefied.
While I am sorry for all involved, I have less sympathy for her parents than I normally would; they have used the media (while being used by the New Taliban) to the point where they seem to have forgotten that this is about their daughter, and not them. That may seem harsh, but they have KNOWN about what the neurologists have been saying about this case for YEARS,a nd the CAT scans have confirmed the diagnosis.
I suspect that, while they are understandably in despair about the death of their daughter, their anger that Michael Schiavo has found someone else (remember, he has for all intents and purposes been alone since 1990) and had children has also affected their feelings. We are all human beings, and from a public relations standpoint I sure as hell wouldn't have advised it, but I'm not in his shoes.
The fact that the Mainstream Media has, as usual, shown its' right-wing bias by allowing incorrect facts to get out (check out this Media Matters report from Joe Scarborough's MSNBC craptastic show) and attempted to confuse the issue.
The majority of Americans thought that what DeLay and the Brothers Bush did was WRONG. Trust me, they will pay in 2006, if the DCCC and the DSCC show courage enough to throw this in their faces.
Maybe I shouldn't hold my breath.
