What Schiavo teaches us at DU

[DemDogs]

The way that the extreme right is punching Jeb Bush and Geo Bush is a very good lesson to us. Whenever a potential candidate is less than what one of us thinks is pure, we take shots at him or her, calling them spineless and hypocritical. Think about it. Isn't that we are delighting in as the other side gets the same treatment? Next time you want to take a personal swing at a candidate because they voted for a cabinet secretary or (and this is the usual case) the Iraq resolution, think about how they other side is delighting in your personal attack. We can disagree, but let's quit killing our candidates.

[Ironpost]

1. Thats how my huge family stays tight

we all respectfully agree to disagree. I agree with you 100%

[GetTheRightVote]

2. That is true, that is how a family sticks it out together, defend within

:kick:

[Cary]

3. Not that Jeb and George are moderates, but. . .

here in Illinois the wackos on the right have the Illinois GOP tied up in knots. They hold only a single statewide office and you all saw the circus they put on with Jack Ryan--the only man to be run out for not having sex.

I see posters on other boards get blasted for calling themselves moderate Republicans. The moderates have no voice in that party.

One wonders what it would take to get the moderates to see the light here. I actually consider myself a moderate liberal.

But then if I try to get the moderate Republicans to find common ground with me I sense their revulsion with the very idea of identifying with me.

I truly don't understand this except to say that Democrats have to make their case on a local level. All the local party organizations have to pull through and deliver votes.

[LiberalFighter]

10. I think of myself as a moderate but...

every test I've taken has me way to the left.

Maybe I think I'm moderate because there are people who think they are Republicans and I agree with some of their stances.

[Psephos]

12. There's a better "label" for you - independent thinker.

Neither end of the political spectrum has all the answers. It only takes a glance at a history book to show that.

More power to you.

Peace.

[sui generis]

4. there are other lessons here

if anyone dared to deviate the tiniest bit from the self-proclaimed self-righteous opinion here on DU we got labeled "sick and disgusting and ghoulish". We were accused of buying into the right wing rhetoric (oh poor stupid us), and our intelligence, opinions, and political affiliations were questioned by weird shrieky insecure people who didn't sound like they believed the crap they were spouting themselves unless a lot of other people believed it exactly the same way they did.

Who does that sound like?

Nonetheless, I am mature enough to realize that strident opinions aside, the Schiavo debate was a growth and personal exploration process for many of us giving us the chance to DISCUSS ideas and enrich our thinking processes about a topic not many of us will ever have to face personally.

How many of us are going to ever really be or be a caretaker of someone in a PSV? I have heard some of the ugliest and most ignorant intolerant things spill out of people's fingers here on DU in this "discussion", and I was at times deeply disappointed at the rancor.

At any rate, it is DU - big, brassy, colorful, and ultimately, liberal. If this was an emotional topic that frightened us and forced us to confront mortality from a new perspective, then it's okay to realize that we can feel intellectually one way about this, and instinctively find ourselves at odds with our intellect. I think that's what really happened - we were just being human.

If it really was just a dry intellectual decision, it would have never made the news, and it wouldn't have stirred any of us to care about it enough to have an opinion.

[Psephos]

6. Incisive post

It's usually on the emotional issues, and not issues of reason, that we find our commitment to diversity of opinion really tested here. I wince when I see "post police" bullying someone for having a different point of view. It's so at odds with the liberal mindset, and what we all value.

I'll be looking for more of what your posts in the future.

[Old and In the Way]

7. More than you think.........

"How many of us are going to ever really be or be a caretaker of someone in a PSV?" There are many older DUer's here who've been in the middle of similar situations. I suspect that, as healthcare gets more expensive, more family's will be saddled with this responsibility, too.

I had to deal with my mother dying from ALS. To me, that's worse than PVS, because the brain is alive and functioning well while the body dies completely. My family loved my mother very much and we respected her desire not to have any heroic measures taken to keep her alive.

But each individual/family has to deal with the issue in their own way....the bottom line is that the federal government had absolutely no business getting involved and making a circus out of an already difficult situation for both families.

[Nikki Stone 1]

8. Thanks for sharing this. My parents are getting up there in years and I

worry about them, especially my mother who refuses to make a living will. (My father, like his parents, has a living will accessible to all his children.)


If there is anything this Schiavo story has taught us, it is to make a living will, and to talk with our loved ones about this. I will be making my own living will this month. It's a little creepy, but if I were in Terry Schiavo's condition, I would want them to inject me with morphine and give me a quick, immediate death to take the pressure off my family.

[Old and In the Way]

9. In Terry's case, it hardly matters.

But for someone who's lucid and who knows the end is near, it is humane way of dealing with the obvious mental anguish and anxiety that is naturally occurs. I've seen death occur both ways and I know I'd prefer the morphine push.

And the same people who moan about "starving Terri" are the first to literally scream "murder" when such drugs are administered to bring about a humane ending. We have to starve people because of that thinking.

[LiberalFighter]

11. The next best thing is have your mother discuss what she wants

done with the family preferably all together.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. There you go!

We gotta stick together. That's the whole point, isn't it? Loyalty and watching our candidates' backs.