- The great Roman orator Marcus T. Cicero once said, "When
you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff." In the arena
of American politics, this tactic is used quite often, particularly in
news media, where self-described journalists focus less on objective facts
than personalities. When a "reporter" wishes to bend an audience
to his own viewpoint, the most effective thing he can do is "make
fun" of those who disagree with him. If he presents the "other
side" as caricatures and straw men, he need not bother to refute their
arguments.
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- Unfortunately, this tactic has been frequently used in
mainstream coverage of the Terri Schiavo case. The pro-euthanasia American
news core has portrayed Terri's supporters as fanatics, while omitting
some of the most critical facts of the case. This was evidenced most disgracefully
in an AP report, carried in the March 5 Oregonian newspaper. A glance at
the headline tells the reader everything he needs to know about the "reporter's"
agenda:
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- "Conservative Christians play leading role in right-to-die
case."
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- This headline can charitably be described as a deliberate
distortion. The Schiavo case bares NO RESEMBLANCE to a "right-to-die"
case. To know this, all one need do is look at the literal definition of
"right-to-die" provided by The American Heritage® Stedman's
Medical Dictionary: "Advocating or expressing, as in a living will,
a person's right to refuse extraordinary life-sustaining measures intended
to prolong life artificially when the person is deemed by his or her physicians
to be terminally or incurably ill."
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- This proves that the term "right-to-die" should
never again be applied to Terri Schiavo, for 3 reasons.
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- 1) Terri Schiavo did not have a living will, and with
the exception of her estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, no one has claimed
that Terri would have wanted to be put to death in her current circumstances.
Indeed, her parents argue that she would have wanted every chance to live.
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- 2) Terri lives with the aid of a feeding tube, and other
minimal requirements of all bed-ridden patients. This hardly qualifies
as "extraordinary life-sustaining measures" (i.e. a ventilator,
life-support.)
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- 3) Not only is Terri NOT DYING, a number of medical experts
have testified that she could improve with proper therapy. Additionally,
two nurses who tended to Terri Schiavo have sworn in affidavits that she
says words such as "momma," and "help me."
-
- The distortions continue full-bent as one examines the
body of the AP report. It is interesting that the first NINE PARAGRAPHS
are fully devoted to depicting Terri's supporters as "right-to-life"
extremists. First, we meet the Rev. Ed Martin, a self-described pro-lifer
who compares Terri Schiavo to an aborted fetus.
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- "We believe life begins at conception and ends as
natural death," Martin is quoted as saying. "God gives life,
and God only can take life."
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- The AP "reporter" begins the next paragraph,
"During the past few years, religious conservatives have injected
themselves into the dispute with enthusiasm that intensifies each time
a new date for removing Schiavo's feeding tube nears." (Enthusiasm?
Is it just I, or is that a wee bit cynical?)
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- Two paragraphs later, we are told that Randall Terry,
founder of Operation Rescue, coordinates many of the pro-Terri protests.
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- One paragraph later, we learn that the anti-abortion
group Life Legal Defense Foundation has the paid the legal fees of Terri's
family.
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- In the following paragraph, we are treated to this quote
from a Roman Catholic priest who heads an anti-abortion group: "It's
two sides to the same coin - the fundamental right to life, which has already
been taken away from unborn children by a judicial process, and now, right-to-life
of a handicapped adult is facing the same threat."
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- But in the final three paragraphs, the "reporter"
clears up all this right-to-life (i.e. ANTI-ABORTION) craziness with the
help of Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. The "reporter"
writes that Simon "laments the influence that religious groups have
wielded."
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- "The concern I have is on their influence in shaping
public policy," Simon said. "We've already seen that in the influence
they have on the governor."
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- Bam. End of story.
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- No mention is ever made of many of the most CRITICAL
FACTS of the case. No mention of the nurses who have testified that Terri
speaks and is aware of her surroundings. No mention of the medical controversy
surrounding Terri's collapse - including the suspicion of a top forensic
pathologist, Michael Baden, that Terri's condition was the result of HEAD
TRAUMA. No mention of the 17 doctors who have signed affidavits asking
for new medical evaluations of Terri's condition. No mention of the medical
experts who testified that Terri could improve with therapy (we are only
told that Terri's parents "say she could improve with therapy,"
implying that they are alone in that belief.) No mention of the fact that
Terri is NOT DYING, and not ONE SHRED of evidence exists that she would
have wanted to die.
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- Disgusting. Outrageous. Appalling. Anyone with a shred
of intelligence can recognize the overt intentions of this "news report."
The "reporter" clearly wants the reader to believe that the only
people supporting Terri are far-right "religious crazies," and
the abortion analogy is pushed again and again. Even if this were true
(which it's not), what RELEVANCE does that have to this story? Is it Terri
Schiavo's fault that people like Randall Terry are arguing on her behalf?
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- Wesley J. Smith of The Weekly Standard pointed out that
a number of political centrists, and even some liberals, have argued against
Terri's execution. Smith writes, "It is true, of course, that many
Christians--most of them conservative--have joined the fray, and good for
them. But so too has Joe Lieberman, a top tier candidate for the Democrat
presidential nomination. Lieberman, who is not Christian, not conservative,
and not pro-life, courageously supported Jeb Bush's efforts to save Terri's
life, telling the Associated Press, 'where there is not a living will .
. . we ought not to create a system where people are being deprived of
nutrition and hydration in a way that ends their lives.'"
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- Smith continues, "The politically liberal disability
rights movement has also committed itself to saving Terri's life. Indeed,
activists almost unanimously declare that dehydrating Terri would be an
act of bigotry against her because of her cognitive disability. There was
even an effort in Canada to obtain asylum for her on this score."
- (Full article: http://www.weeklystandard.com/
)
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- Remember the words of Marcus T. Cicero: "When you
have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff." I can only conclude
that advocates of Terri Schiavo's execution are being forced to abuse their
opponents, because they have no basis for an argument. And somewhere in
the darkest recesses of their souls, they surely know this.
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