What Do You Have To Say Now?

So after two months of waiting the autopsy results that the religious right said would never come out, are out. The verdict simplified; Terri Schiavo's condition was irreversible, if the righties would have had their way she would have been laying in a bed drooling on herself for the next 30 or so years. Thank God for her that science and the law won out over blind ideology and baseless fantasies.

From the AP;

The autopsy results on the 41-year-old woman were made public more than two months after Schiavo died of dehydration on March 31 following the removal of her feeding tube 13 days earlier. The death ended an extraordinary right-to-die battle that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House.

The autopsy showed that Schiavo's brain had shrunk to about half the normal size for a woman her age and that it bore signs of severe damage.

"This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons," said Pinellas-Pasco County Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin, who led the autopsy team. He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."

Let this part sink in;

"This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons," said Pinellas-Pasco County Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin, who led the autopsy team.

And the reaction from all of those who wished her to be bed ridden for the rest of her life? Well so far there really isn’t one.

The reaction from "Dr. Frist" who said this;

Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a renowned heart surgeon before becoming Senate majority leader, went to the floor late Thursday night for the second time in 12 hours to argue that Florida doctors had erred in saying Terri Schiavo is in a “persistent vegetative state.”

“I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office,” he said in a lengthy speech in which he quoted medical texts and standards. “She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli.”

None, not at least yet. So Doctor, in your professional opinion you are saying she was "responding to visual stimuli"? That is mildly odd, due to the non-consequential, minor detail of the fact that the whole "seeing part" of her brain was gone. Hmm, so was your diagnoses based on medical fact (science) or the need to get your name in the papers and cause your base had their panties all bunched up?

And what of the House Leader who had this to say?

“Right now, murder is being committed against a defenseless American citizen in Florida,” DeLay said.  “Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube should be immediately replaced, and Congress will continue working to explore ways to save her.

“Mrs. Schiavo’s life is not slipping away – it is being violently wrenched from her body in an act of medical terrorism,” DeLay said. “Mr. Schiavo’s attorney’s characterization of the premeditated starvation and dehydration of a helpless woman as ‘her dying process’ is as disturbing as it is unacceptable.  What is happening to her is not compassion – it is homicide.  She doesn’t need to die, and as long as Terri Schiavo can breathe and her supporters can pray, we will not rest.”

Where is his reaction that the autopsy proves this was the most (besides euthanasia) humane thing to do? I doubt if DeLay even remembers who Terri Schiavo was.

What about our dear President, the one who so diligently cut his precious  weekend short so he could come back to Washington and attend to business?

The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues.  Yet in instances like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life.  Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern.  It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected - and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities.

"Disability" Mr. President? Sounds to me as though Terri had a "condition", she was far from simply being "disabled". And yes there is a difference. But of course what place does tricky medical jargon have in the office of the President? So what is his reaction now? Um, none, nada, I am sure he has more important issues to focus on, like catching Osama, oh, wait, never mind.

And the talking heads?

Malkin? Nupe, nothing. Besides for not contributing anything to the discussion besides linking to half wit right wing sites, she now has nothing to say. No apologies from the women who penned In Defense Of Internment.

Right-wing blog Captains Quarters? Well he had this to say a while back;

As I have expressed here before, I find the forced death by dehydration of a disabled, non-terminal patient at the insistence of an estranged spouse with no support except for the hearsay of a couple of offhand comments heard by the husband and his relatives abhorrent.

And what is he saying now? That is right folks, you guessed correctly! Nothing, nada zip zilch! No "Hey guys, we put up a good fight albeit a fight full of misinformation, now we have to admit we are wrong, so here goes; I editor of Captains Quarters was wrong". Nope, don't think we'll be seeing that any day soon.

Good ol' boy James Dobson, then;

“This decision is nothing less than a death sentence for Terri Schiavo, a woman who has been denied every chance of recovery from her brain injury for the past 14 years by her husband.”

Dobson now; that’s right more silence, go figure...

And just what about arch pundit, king of the talking heads Sean Hannity? Well last night he had Terri's siblings on the show who continued to refute the fact that their sister had no hope. Sean actually said that the autopsy proved the Schindler’s story and the right wings earnest grasp of reality. So after spending every night on the story for over two months leading up to Terri Schiavo’s death how much time do you think he spent on the results of the autopsy? Just under 2 minutes.

And king browbeater Bill O'Reilly? Well, in summation, he doesn't contest the validity of the autopsy, bravo Bill! Bill even said that we need to just move on, hear, hear.

So what does all of this mean in the grand scheme of things? The far right wing (read Frist, DeLay, Dobson, Robertson, Falwell, etc...) which has hijacked my beloved real Republicans have no shame simply lying day in and day out to fit their narrow minded religious agenda. Political opportunist such as Frist and DeLay don’t mind playing on the gullible minds of the religious right.  It begs the question that if they don’t mind playing with the facts or completely disregarding them in this case what will they do when it comes to Social Security? What about Homeland Security? What about the war in
Iraq. The truth does not matter to these people or for the people who put their trust in them by voting for them. Trust and truth are central tenants of a Democracy, they must be adhered to.

What does it say about the pundits? They’ll do anything for a buck…

UPDATE W/ VIDEO...

Keith Olbermann was on last night with an excellent clip of all the hoorah. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Also it would appear that Malkin and Captain’s Quarters have decided to weigh in after trying to figure out exactly what their talking points were going to be…

Too bad it took them over a day to figure it all out.