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NPR In A Coma SLATE October 25, 2003 Mickey Kaus Posted on 10/25/2003 4:54:37 PM PDT by NYer Saturday, October 25, 2003, at 3:58 AM PT Whats a complacent centrist do when he needs to be angry but cant find anything to be angry about? All Things Considered , in particular, rarely fails to come through. On Wednesday, I needed to come up with a rant for a scheduled radio appearance -and, presto, ATC delivered with a stunningly biased and condescending report on the Schiavo right to die case. A biased report might interview all sides but slant the story to favor one point of view while quoting only unconvincing generalities from the other. Wednesdays story transcended mere bias, covering the case as if the anti-death side didnt even exist, so there was no need to even try to find out what they were thinking. In case you havent been paying attention, the issue in the Schiavo case is whether or not to remove the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo, who has been found to be in a persistent vegetative state PVS. But there are, er, complications that lead some to question Michaels judgment. Floridas legislature has now intervened to allow Governor Jeb Bush to order the feeding tube reinserted. Heres who we heard from on NPR on Wednesday: a Melissa Block introducing Jon Hamiltons report and declaring that the governors action goes against more than two decades of legal and ethical decisionmaking.
Thats three experts on the husbands side, zero experts or non-experts on the parents side, by my count. This was followed by an extended interview with Yale death maven Dr. Nuland snidely refers to a typical situation involving Susie from Dubuque, who arrives late at her mothers bedside and inveighs against pulling the plug. He confidently attributes Susies views to her sense of guilt at not having paid much attention to her mother earlier. Nuland then discusses a hypothetical family that wants to keep feeding a relative who has been in a PVS fo years. He suggests that probably no member of that family would want to be exposed to what this woman is being exposed to.
Notice to All Potential Mickey Kaus Surrogates- If Im ever in Terri Schiavos situation, and not in any pain, please follow these simple steps: Keep the feeding tube in, and keep Dr. Given the actual facts in the Schiavo case, Im not sure which side I support. Its nice that bioethicists, lawyers and judges have settled on a clear rule eg the husband decides as the surrogate. Maybe that rule makes sense-though husbands, as a class, seem much more likely to have a Darwinian conflict of interest than parents. Basic evolutionary psychology: Men tend to want to start second families even when their wives arent in persistent vegetative states. Even apparently sensible clear rules can be twisted into perversities. The miraculous consensus of decades of legal and ethical decisionmaking sometimes seems like a conspiracy of convenience. I gag when NPR commentators glibly talk about upholding Terri Schiavos right to die as if she herself had exercised that right-eg by writing a living will-as opposed to having her husband exercise that right for her when shes unable to contradict him. And while Nulands Susie may often act out of guilt, isnt it possible that just occasionally a Susie arrives from Dubuque to find exhausted relatives and cost-conscious doctors ready to give up on a PVS or coma victim who still has a chance to snap out of it? How are people supposed to make up their minds if the assumption is that one side doesnt even deserve a hearing? TSLIST 1 posted on 10/25/2003 4:54:37 PM PDT by NYer Post Reply Private Reply View Replies To: Budge;
Here: N 14 posted on 10/25/2003 5:39:08 PM PDT by aruanan Post Reply Private Reply To 3 View Replies To: NYer Notice to All Potential Mickey Kaus Surrogates- If Im ever in Terri Schiavos situation, and not in any pain, please follow these simple steps: Keep the feeding tube in, and keep Dr. HA, its a funny thing, Ron Kuby, on Curtis & Kuby said essentially the same thing. He said I paraphrase: Assume I am a happy vegetable, keep me warm, keep me dry, give me medication, I wont mind the buzz.
ABC News maintained an active link to a story they published on Christmas Day in 1999. This was the true story of a woman, Patti White Bull, who suddenly awoke from a 16 year coma, or as it was referred to in the story - a Persistant Vegetative State. Another freeper was able to find the Google cached version with only the thumbnail image of Patti. CHRISTMAS MIRACLE 18 posted on 10/25/2003 6:10:59 PM PDT by NYer Close your ears to the whisperings of hell and bravely oppose its onslaughts.
Post Reply Private Reply To 1 View Replies To: NYer as opposed to having her husband exercise that right for her when shes unable to contradict him Yeah, especially when there is substantial evidence that might indicate that he has been trying to help her die since that night when she mysteriously collapsed.
Post Reply Private Reply To 1 View Replies To: NYer NPR may be the snore center on the radio waves but they really know how to get the big bucks from gullible American people who are duped into thinking that NPR is a low salaried bunch that turn away corporate sponsors. Their salaries range in the hundreds of thousands - Nina and Daniel and Robert and The Connection guys - all of them make huge salaties. As for the local affiliates - if anyone knows how to get at their salaries please answer me privately.
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