Nat Hentoff speaks out about Schiavo.
I’ve been reading Kevin Drum for the past couple of weeks, because he’s had some interesting women guest blogging there and because he’s been trying very hard to not dismiss the chicks and their style of blogging. These posts by his guest bloggers were excellent. By far the best line of the series was by Katha Pollitt:
Several people wrote to wonder why we are bothering with fuddyduddy old print when cyberspace is where the action is. So about blogging: I try not to spend all day reading blogs, which I could easily do, but the political ones I follow are mostly by women. Before the election, I read male political blogs obsessively, and still get a lot of useful information from them. But — how can I say this in a nice way? — I find that (present company and all my friends excepted! I am making gross and unfair generalizations here) the voices don’t wear well: the range — of tones, of topics, of approaches to topics — is too narrow, and the mutual admiration society too exclusive: some blogrolls read like those interlocking directorates of railroad companies in the 19th century! There’s too much boasting and crowing, too much scorekeeping, too much self-anointment as instant expert and public executioner. If I look at the blogroll and see only male blogs, I assume, perhaps unfairly, that the blogger is promoting a narrow view of politics and boosting his male network and his own career. What a fine point Boygenius made over on nogirlsallowed.com! Thanks for the plug, NumberOneSon!
Apt. 11d 
Laura—Nat Hentoff has clearly never read the same court reports that I have. Almost everything he says about this case is demonstrably false. The legal site, http://www.abstractappeal.com offers PDFs of all the relevant court findings.
Terri Schiavo has been evaluated multiple times by respected neurospecialists—her brain has essentially been liquified. She cannot be conscious because there is nothing left to be conscious WITH. There is also a plethora of information out there to show that people in PVS (as she surely is, despite Hentoff’s ranting) do not feel hunger, thirst, or pain.
Unless you are willing to believe that Michael Schiavo, Judge Greer, the guardian ad litem, the Florida Court of Appeals, the Florida State Supreme Court, the 11th District U.S. Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court are all in collusion to murder Terri Schiavo, I think you have to accept the fact that Terri did not wish to live this way. This case, ultimately, is about her right to refuse medical treatment. It is NOT a case of euthanasia, or murdering someone because she is handicapped. It is about honoring her wishes.
The fact that her parents testified in court that they would refuse to honor a Living Will if she had had one says volumes about their respect for her. I have no doubt that they love her deeply—I would be crazed were I to have to endure what they have endured. But the bottom line is that an impartial court has found that Terri Schiavo would not want to live this way, and is trying to honor her wish. It is time to let her go.
LikeLike