3/29/05
I haven’t heard many, if any people on KVMR talk about this
story, probably because it’s been featured prominently by
about every media outlet in the country. Besides, It’s a
pretty disturbing story: I don’t really want to talk about it
either. I’m talking about Terri Schiavo, the 41 year old
disabled woman in Florida who hasn’t received any food or
water since March 18th If she’s still alive by the time you
hear this, it would be a miracle comparable to loaves and
fishes.
You know the story. She’ been in vegetative state for 15
years. The decision to let her die was made by a doctor who
said, in effect, that she wasn’t living a life worth saving,
and the woman’s husband agreed. The woman’s parents believe
she’s responsive and aware of her surroundings. So does the
crowd of demonstrators who support her outside the hospital
constantly, but the state Supreme Court didn’t agree.
I have just two comments. First, the news coverage. I’m not
sure why, but at any given time, there is some previously
unknown person being chased around by hundreds of reporters. The
mainstream media coverage spins off to the tabloids. Hello,
Scott Peterson. I’m sure Terri Schiavo is not the only person
in similar condition, just as Peterson isn"t the only guy
who ever killed his wife, but they are the ones who were
selected, possibly at random, to become instant celebrities.
After Schiavo is gone, there’ll be another, unless the media
has to settle for a real celebrity. Michael Jackson’s run is
almost over, however, and it looks like Barry Bonds had the good
sense to duck when he saw it coming. It might not help. Those
hard sliders can plunk you, even when you think you’re on safe
ground. Ask Mark McGwire.
The media, at least the ones who like to call themselves
"serious journalists," have played the Schiavo story
as being about moral and religious principles and medical
ethics, and it is, but it might not be the story you think it
is. Many have reported that it has some vague connection to
assisted suicide or the question of when to pull the plugs on
life support systems such as breathing machines, heart pumps and
dialysis. They continue to feed ‘em, and hope for the best.
Terri Schiavo Is not on any life support except food and water,
and she sure isn’t committing suicide. It seems to me that
when a medical decision is made that such a person’s life is
over, letting them die by starvation is about the most barbaric
way to do it. I’d much rather meet up with Lizzie Borden.
Seriously, a fatal injection is the obvious way, but that would
be euthanasia, a practice apparently regarded by the medical
profession as far less ethical than starving people to death.
* * *
Speaking of ethical issues, we’re talking about steroids
again, but only a little. We mentioned recently that the U.S
Senate was working on a bill that would create a federal ban on
the non-prescribed use of such drugs, AND a federal set of
testing procedures. Last week, John McCain jumped on the steroid
ban bandwagon during a TV appearance. I’ve been sarcastic in
the past about politicians getting involved in this, but I’m
softening a little. These are serious drugs that can wreck your
body, just like the legal drugs, nicotine and alcohol, but most
professional athletes are adults who make their own choices
about such things. So how about this: Set an age limit. That
keeps your kids from using beer and cigarettes, doesn’t it?
This is for sure: Congress trumps the Baseball Player’s
Association, so if those guys want to self-regulate, they
probably should get a little tougher on themselves. And while
you’re at it, get all them cigs and brewskies out o’ this
here locker room.
* * *
Short but scary story from the great Southern city of
Washington, D.C. The guy who thinks he’s President has decided
it’s fine with him if some of his buddies at Lockheed-Martin
sell 15 F-16 fighter jets to PAKISTAN!? The U.S. has been
allowing sales of war equipment to dangerous countries for a
long time. Then sometime later, U.S. troops end up being killed
by that hardware. It’s probably just a matter of time before
The U.S. gets around to aiming at Pakistan in the name of
freedom. Most people there are poor as beggars. In fact many of
them are beggars. Women are property, A perfect target if
someone figures out how to shoot down those futuristic
airplanes. Right now, Pakistan has beefs with most of the
countries in South Asia. These guys would kill for some F-16s.
Oh yeah; you’re right.
* * *
Finally, something local. I don’t usually pay much
attention to the annual report of the county civil grand Jury
for several reasons. First, serving on the Jury is fuil-time, so
ir’s populated almost completely by retired people. They’re
hand picked by judges. Their perspective is likely to be a
little different from that of most local citizens. These are
capable people, but when I’ve read the reports in the past I’ve
found the investigations and the resulting findings to be
shallow. Even on topics I knew nothing about, I could see the
holes, the obvious directions which weren’t investigated
Anyway, as a former county employee, I was amused to hear that
this year’s report criticized the Board of Supervisors and the
Administrative Officer, because a "climate of fear"
(Jury’s words) had caused an unusually high turnover among top
managers in the past few years. Here’s some news for the Jury,
an unually high number of the people who work under those
managers also have bailed out. When you work at the bottom of
the birdcage it doesn’t really matter who sits on the perch;
the fallout is the same..
