Thursday, March 31, 2005

An Unwilling Media Darling

I think the big problem I have with this whole sad story is the way she was allowed to die. I fully support ending somebody's suffering. If I end up like her I don't want feeding tubes, ventilators etc... I want to be put out of my (and my family's) misery.

The part I have a problem with is that there are no euthanasia laws on this continent to help bring a dignified end to suffering people. In the Netherlands Terry Schiavo would have been euthanized in a humane, caring environment by a doctor who was acting according to her wishes. No, here and in the States you are left to starve to death. I don't care if you are in a vegetative state, starving to death would be a miserable, painful way to die. As one of my sage friends pointed out to me, if this were a dog being starved to death all hell would be breaking loose.

The people surrounding this tragic case should all be ashamed of themselves.

Her husband and parents should be strung up for parading her and her story in front of the media spotlight. How much more dignity would she have had, had she been allowed to pass without the world watching her wither and die.

Every politician that spoke out during this outrageous circus should be ashamed for their blatant grandstanding. If there is any justice, they'll all be hammered at re-election by an outraged public. Perhaps this will break through our jaded cynicism.

And finally, you should be ashamed. If you watched this unfold with the same attention paid to say, the 9/11 tragedy, shame on you. It's viewership that keeps this and stories like it afloat. If you didn't watch, they wouldn't play it ad nauseum on the news.

Unfair criticism? I don't really care. This poor woman got dragged through the mud and everybody got something out of it in the end. CNN and Fox got ratings, politicians got air time, the families prostituted for sympathy and you watched it all unfold.

Everybody benefited except Terry Schaivo, who in the end died on camera instead of in private.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/kgtv/20050329/lo_wkmg/2648050

un-f***ing-believable.

-henwhen

9:26 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gasp!!! He updates!! Sorry, I stole that from Henwhen. She used it on my journal. I agree with everything you said, 100%. Why
did they ever put the feeding tube in, for gosh sakes, she was in a hospice. Is that customary?

1:20 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sparroweye
Gasp!!! He updates!! Sorry, I
stole that from Henwhen. She used it on my journal. I agree with everything you said, 100%. Why
did they ever put the feeding tube in, for gosh sakes, she was in a hospice. Is that customary?

1:21 p.m.  

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