Terri Schiavo Enters Eternal Sleep, and now my thoughts

Yesterday Terri Schiavo finally passed away after two weeks of no food and water. The wishes of Michael Schiavo were finally met, and it seems that it was Terri's wish to pass on rather than live the way she did.

The social conservatives are now raising kane about the recent events. Here are a few quotes from a few well known activists.

James Dobson: "Every Florida and federal judge who failed to act to spare this precious woman from the torment she was forced to endure is guilty not only of judicial malfeasance – but of the cold-blooded, cold-hearted extermination of an innocent human life. Terri Schiavo has been executed, under the guise of law and 'mercy,' for being guilty of nothing more than the inability to speak for herself. "
http://www.family.org/welcome/press/a0036025.cfm

D. James Kennedy: "What we have witnessed in the last two weeks is judicial homicide. Terri Schiavo, on flimsy evidence, was killed by court order under color of the “rule of law. The inaction of the Florida Senate is an egregious example of moral indifference. They are culpable for their inaction."
http://www.reclaimamerica.org/PAGES/pressreleasepage.asp?story=2553

Phyllis Schafly: " Terri Schiavo was ordered to die by one man who served as judge, jury and executioner. This is judicial arrogance at its ugliest. The public should reject the myth that supremacist judges can override the governor, the legislature, Congress, the president, common sense, and even the right to life, and use armed police to protect judicial supremacy.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/3/31/161807.shtml

Mel Gibson: "I just sit here watching this whole scenario play out in front of me with my mouth wide open that our country has come to this...It’s nothing more than state-sanctioned murder."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/3/30/220702.shtml

Lars Larson: Some in America now endorse execution via torture for the cognitively disabled. They have no access to the federal courts without an act of congress. Terri would have enjoyed more rights as a terrorist or a convicted serial killer. (Via his mass E-Mail) You can visit his website larslarson.com

Rush Limbaugh the Godfather of modern talk radio says that the death of Terri was a way for the left to stick to the "Christian Right." The list goes on and on.

Our president George W. Bush says we should "built a culture of life," in hopes to win points with the pro-life/anti-abortion activists.

In fact the Schindlers in an attempt to save their beloved daughter, made an alliance with the anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who is best known as the founder of "Operation Rescue." In recent years Operation Rescue has distanced themselves from Terry, and let it be known that Terry's family is one of those disfunctional families. Terry is divorced and remarried, and the children from his first marriage are enstranged. His son Jamiel is gay and his father disowned him. The daughter is a convert of the Muslim faith...Yikes!!! This man has no love for the children that have went astray from his "Christian beliefs." This event has allowed Terry to return to the spotlight and redeem himself.

A lot of people understood the underlining agenda of the "right to lifers." No only do prolong life for those who want to die, even if they don't want to live the way Terri did for many years, but they also want restrict a woman's right to choose and prevent women from getting pregnant via the many means of Birth Control. If a woman gets raped, too bad. Granted the Roman Catholic Church would be the ones to advocate the above, but their are a few Evangelicals and Protestants that would severally restrict a woman's right to choose as well. All in the name of their "faith" in God.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Democrat and I will not vote Democrat for a long time to come. I am a person that believes in the individual, limited government and overall, freedom and liberty. I also support the free market and oppose unreasonable regulations on free enterprise. I also believe that the government should not be involved in education (Public Schools), and in the broadcast media (PBS, NPR). I also support Social Securty reform and the elemnation (but not overnight) of FDR's "New Deal" which has been the cornerstone of the modern Democratic Party. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the ideal.

As a libertarian I also believe that certain groups should attempt to use the hand of government to tell people what to do, and this includes the religionists. For once the Democrats were on the right side when it came to states rights. Our congress and President are wrong for getting involved in passing a law just to save Terri. That law handed the power to our federal courts to see if they would take this up and once again they said no. Their were a few Republican apointed judges on the federal level that saw that Terri's case was a state rights issue. Also Michael Schiavo was the "legal guardian" of Terri, and not Bob and Mary Schindler. That is the way it is went someone enters a marriage covnent. Yes Michael did sleep with another woman and this woman bared his children, but just keep in mind that if he wanted too, Michael could have legally divorced Terri. He could have done that even in the brain damaged state she was in. If he did divorce Terri the control would have gone back to the Schindlers. Also lets not forget that the Schindlers encoraged Michael to date again.

What lessons have we learned???

1. Make out a living will and let your wishes known before your unable too. If your married your spouce will have the final say unless otherwise stated.

2. We need to pass with resonable safeguards "Right To Die" laws. Holland is a great model for this and a fill-in for Michael Savage last week did bring these safeguards to our attention.

3. We just can't take the "let God take life" stance anymore. As humans we can prolong life, even life that may not recover, meanning that the person is unable to function. The body lives but the mind is not their. They are in transition between life and death.

I would like to close with some Recommended Readings regarding Terri from those who side with me on this issue and are limited government advocates.

Neal Boortz (His piece from last week)

Larry Elder (written before Terri died)

Mike Rosen (Written after Terri's death)

Comments about my comments??? E-Mail me at donmccullen@prodigy.net