Closure for Schiavo Issue

Ok, I’m going to be totally honest. I am sick of this woman’s freaking family on the news. All of them – husband, father, mother, brother priest and anyone else who has been on TV. She is now dead.

Let’s address this one last time. I will not address the moral, ethical or religious issues involved because frankly they are completely irrelevant. That’s the great thing about living in the United States. We do not live by an ethical or religious code; rather we live by a legal code. Therefore, all you dumb pieces of crap who keep yelling about G-d and life and morality – blow it out your ass! Nobody wants to hear it. You can believe what you want, but you cannot impose it on others and you certainly cannot impose it on the judicial system.

On that note, I cannot tell you how happy it made me to see the President and Congress go through exhaustive political measures to lobby and pass laws just to give Federal Courts the right to hear this case, deny relief, and in fact rebuke the President and Congress; and further seeing the Supreme Court refuse to hear it – not once, but - wait for it – here it comes – ah, here it is - SIX FREAKING TIMES! This is a state issue, not Federal!

Let’s cut to the chase, because I have to get back to work – This woman, legally speaking, wanted to die in exactly this manner. You cannot argue it! You know why? Because that was the decision the court came to. Her husband showed enough evidence and satisfied a tremendous burden of proof that she wanted exactly this. Like the Metallica song – Nothing Else Matters. She legally wanted to die in this manner. She got what she wanted. End of story. You can argue morality, ethics and religion all day, but unfortunately for you, and maybe fortunately for others, only Law rules this land.

In the wake of all the argument about Terri Schiavo being in pain, or not saying she wanted to die in this scenario, here are what I thought were some interesting highlights and facts from this fiasco:

- Court-appointed doctors ruled she was in a persistent vegetative state, with no real consciousness or chance of recovery.

- The case had spent seven years winding its way through the courts, with Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, repeatedly on the losing end. They have been at odds with their son-in-law, Michael Schiavo, who consistently won legal battles by arguing that his wife would not have wanted to live in her condition.

- Six times, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Schiavo’s fate was debated on the floor of Congress and by President Bush, who signed an extraordinary bill on March 21 that let federal judges review her case.

- “In extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life,” the president said. But federal courts refused again and again to overturn the central ruling by Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer, who said Michael Schiavo had convinced him that Terri Schiavo would not have wanted to be kept alive by extraordinary means.

- One judge rebuked the White House and lawmakers Wednesday for acting “in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers’ blueprint for the governance of a free people — our Constitution.”

- A court-appointed physician testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

- Still, her parents, who visited her nearly every day, reported their daughter responded to their voices. Video showing the dark-haired woman appearing to interact with her family was televised nationally. But the court-appointed doctor said the noises and facial expressions were reflexes.