The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Why Schiavo Mattered

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All of those horrible celebrators of death who completely misrepresented the Terry Schiavo case from EVERY angle -- moral, legal, legislative -- should take a look at this story (Drudge found it) about a man who was supposedly in a coma and an irreversible "persistent vegetative state" for 23 YEARS (!!!!!) while actually conscious all along. This story provides one more example of why it is always wise to err on the side of human life. Not to trivialize the issue with a cultural reference, but I am always reminded of the line from the Shelley Winters character in The Poseidon Adventure as she lay dying in Gene Hackman's arms after saving him from drowning. "Life matters," she said. Yes, life matters. Yes, it does. And what Ramesh Ponnuru rightly called "The Party of Death" consistently violates that basic insight. In doing do, the Party of Death is morally monstrous.

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around the track| 11.23.09 @ 10:54AM

Is this a case of great minds thinking alike? Just before I clicked onto you this minute, my wife and I were discussion this very issue with the very same sentiments.

Liberal Reader| 11.23.09 @ 11:18AM

Ramest Ponnuru is a jackass, and calling people who disagree with you on an issue like this "the party of death" is a debasement of political discourse.

SEVEN judges had heard arguments on the Schiavo case; the matter was adjudicated thor0ughly. The notion that a Senator from Tennessee could diagnose this unfortunate woman on television was about the best thing "the party of life" could offer in response to the decision.

I've about had it with the moral sanctimony and smugness of conservatives on issues like this. You may insight a few people to self-righteous fury throwing epithets like this around, but they'll be the sort of people who take Glenn Beck seriously -- that is, morons like you. So in the immortal words of Dick Cheney, the great spiritual leader of the Party of Life, why don't you, Mr. Hillyer, go fuck yourself.

Ordinary World| 11.23.09 @ 12:27PM

By this logic, "seven judges" ultimately diagnosed the "unfortunate woman." But as we see in the referenced article, sometimes not even doctors are capable of properly diagnosing patients.
To proceed with killing these people by starvation is abhorrent to human decency.

Quin| 11.23.09 @ 11:43AM

Gotta love the level of discourse of Liberal Reader. These people on the left can't make a coherent argument without profanity to save their lives -- or to save others' lives, for that matter, although they don't show much interest in the latter.

Tim| 11.23.09 @ 12:44PM

"Gotta love the level of discourse of Liberal Reader"

To be fair, you did "insight" him.

Liberal Reader| 11.23.09 @ 3:18PM

I just answer obsenity with obsenity.

There's no point trying to reason with someone who can wave his hands at fifty million people and shrug them off as "the party of death."

Only a veritable nit-wit, determined not to think, is capable of such obtuse simplifications. The more I read your columns, the more I see how firmly you are committed to them.

You cannot call someone a member of the "Party of Death" and possibly expect them to reply politely.

How is it that you don't understand this?

Try this. Summarize what you think is admirable and persuasive about a reasonable argument you can imagine being raised against what you are advocating. Then explain why your argument is stronger. Then I'll have something to say to you other than the Lord Vader's famous remark.

SoCon| 11.23.09 @ 7:01PM

How interesting that LibReader/Jeremiah cited the number fifty million in his nasty little rant; just like the fifty million innocent babies his liberal democrat social policies have killed since Roe v Wade. Lib Reader must feel guilty.

Just wait until your Judgment Day, monster.

ShyAsrai| 11.23.09 @ 12:42PM

to "Liberal Reader": don't get angry at us because your political party does favor death. (except in the case of heinous murderers, child torturers and terrorists, that is - - wait! I stand corrected. OK. It's the Party of Death of the INNOCENT.

J.C.Eaton| 11.23.09 @ 1:00PM

Quin: Precisely....so why does the mod suffer this wretch on this site? Surely, there lurks somewhere a mannerly Liberal. Best,

Quin| 11.23.09 @ 7:18PM

I don't think the moderator has been checking. We are not supposed to allow profanity of that sort on this site. But it does show how pathetic the opposition's capacity for discourse is. As for Liberal Reader's assertion that my use of the title "Party of Death" was itself an obscenely insulting epithet: Ignorance, sheer ignorance. I SPECIFICALLY referenced Ramesh Ponnuru's book called "The Party of Death." Until Liberal Reader has looked at Ramesh's book, he will continue to be ignorant. Context is everything. Ramesh used the term advisedly and defined it with great care. And Ramesh is hardly prone to obscenity. Liberal Reader, on the other hand, makes the typical lefty assumption that vehemence can substitute for persuasiveness. As Bug Bunny would say, "what a maroon!!"

SoCon| 11.23.09 @ 8:02PM

LibReader's not ignorant, Quin; arrogant, perhaps, but not ignorant. The troll's a typical cold-hearted, foul-mouthed liberal who worships at the altar of power and control; just your average, everyday Marxist.

Sometimes, I think of Terri Schindler Schiavo: The horrific cruelty of her tortuous 14 days of no food or water death ordeal haunts me still. Rest in peace in our Savior's arms, Terri.