really really really bad taste. I mean it.

[kellinator]

Is it a sign of just how cynical I've gotten that a big part of me is wondering if now Terri Schiavo's parents and their cronies in the religious right who have exploited her for political gain are pissed that she's no longer the biggest death-related news story of the day?

Comments

[leopard-print.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the religious right and the republicans are pissed. I think it's unfair to lump her parents in the same category though.

I'll be honest, if I were in Terri's position, I wouldn't want to be kept alive. However, if my parents had any doubt that that was the case (which they don't) I would want them to fight for me. I wouldn't want the media flashing my vegitated face all over the world but I hope my parents wouldn't just throw in the towel and say 'Fuck it, who cares if she might've wanted to live? Who cares if there's any possible hope for her?'

If your own family won't fight for you to the end of the world and back, you've got nothing.

I admire her parent's stance as much as I admire her husband's. Anybody who can't empathize with both sides of such a tragic circumstance is being just as short-sighted as all the people using it to gain attention for themselves.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I am being pretty damn cold-hearted towards her parents. Why? Well, they sold the donor list. Can you imagine the outcry from the right if Michael Schiavo had done that? They plastered her face everywhere, looking as pathetic as possible. Based on what little I know of Terri Schiavo, I don't think she would have wanted that. They took away her dignity. And they were not her most frequent visitors over the years -- that was Michael.

If my parents did that to me, I'd come back from beyond and beat 'em with a stick.

I grok what you're saying, but their behavior has made me very unsympathetic. I feel like they've pimped their daughter out to promote a political agenda -- and they even admitted that even if they knew for sure being unplugged was what Terri wanted, they wouldn't do it.

Then again, I don't think this would even be an issue in my family, which makes it very hard for me to imagine. Almost to a man, we've pretty much all stated that we wouldn't want to exist like that.

[leopard-print.livejournal.com]

I agree that the donor list was incredibly poor taste. I also agree that the Right would've freaked out had Michael done the same thing. I also still think the parents weren't acting solely out of selfish reasons.

I still stand by my position that no one ought to judge any of the family members on either side because we haven't had the distinct discomfort of walking a mile in those shoes. We can sit here all day and flap on about how we'd handle this, that, or the other, but the truth is, we have no idea. You never know how much heat you can stand until you get burned.

Sorry, I live in too delicate a glass house to go casting stones at others. I prefer (when possible) to err on the side of sympathy in the hope that when my turn to be burned at the stake comes, someone else will take the same view of me. Of course, I realize more than a few people I know will likely not give me that courtesy. It's so much easier just to jump to conclusions, in either direction.

You're entitled to your opinion, as am I. We will have to agree to disagree on this one.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Fair 'nuff. I appreciate the food for thought.

[leopard-print.livejournal.com]

As do I.

[poprockgrrl.livejournal.com]

besides the sleazy selling of donors' names and plastering her face everywhere, I lost every ounce of sympathy for those asshats when they said they would have kept her alive even if she had a living will that said not to. If you don't respect someone's wishes, you're an ass.