Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, due to time contraints and family commitments, wasn’t able to blog as he would have liked yesterday. So here are some items off the news wire that he wanted to comment upon.

First off. Korean Bullfighting? What the hell? No matadors. Just angry bulls going at it? In a country with limited grazing space and thus small cattle herds this seems odd. Your Maximum Leader supposes it would be a way of disposing of excess bulls. But in another way it just seems like a glorified cock-fight. Perhaps some of our Korean readers (or Korea-based readers) could comment on this “pastime.”

It was first done in California. Now Oregon is up. Pretty soon it will be New York. About what is your Maximum Leader speaking… Outlawing traditional methods of making Foie Gras. Yes, yes. Your Maximum Leader knows that many people think that sticking a goose in a small box and force feeding it until it’s liver swells up, then killing the goose, extracting the liver, and curing it in wine/brandy/other tasty alcohol is cruel - but it makes for mighty good eatin’. Indeed, your Maximum Leader agrees to an extent that the treatment is unseemly. But in order for it to be cruel your Maximum Leader would have to ascribe some attributes of a moral agent to the goose. And he is, frankly, unwilling to do so. Perhaps the Smallholder should investigate becoming a premier supplier of foie gras to the finer restaurants of the mid-atlantic region. Since it is only a matter of time before the PETA people start working on the New York Legislature. (BTW, New York farms are the largest producers of US foie gras.) Your Maximum Leader doesn’t want to become dependent on French geese livers…

A recent poll showed that most Harvard students are unhappy. This saddens your Maximum Leader. Perhaps they would feel better if they went to Yale? Or maybe Dupont?

And finally, your Maximum Leader sees that some of the western counties of Ireland have decided to remove the English language from road signs and make their roadside navigational aids Gaelic only. In most cases your Maximum Leader is all for native languages. And he supposes he is in this case as well. It just seems as though it is something of a scam. A scam to increase the number of “native guides” for hapless English speakers from other parts of the anglophone world. And, as you might imagine, a scam by map makers to make old maps obsolete and require you to buy new ones in Gaelic AND English. (Or even worse, require that you have two maps - and compare them!)

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees on the news wires that Jerry Falwell is in critical condition at the Lynchburg (VA) General Hospital.

Do we have to add another person in our race to the finish line?

Your Maximum Leader doesn’t wish ill upon Mr. Falwell, but if he is quite bad off he might suggest it would be better to finish before the Pope. When the Pope finishes the race the bar may very well be raised for others…

And sadly, it appears as though celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran has finished the race. To the surprise of many, your Maximum Leader has always respected Johnnie Cochran. Sure he played the race card with such frequency as to be sometimes laughable, but you can’t win all the cases he did with the race card alone. He was a talented lawyer, and by all accounts a gentleman. While your Maximum Leader doubts that he and Mr. Cochran would have agreed on many things, that doesn’t preclude your Maximum Leader from giving credit where it was due. Requiscat en pace, Johnnie Cochran.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was out reading his daily blog reads and he discovered a lovely little gem from Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities. It is The Jane Wiedlin Story.

Your Maximum Leader must make a confession. He LOVES the Go-Go’s. He has the “Return to the Valley of the Go-Go’s.” And he has even played it recently, much to the dismay of Villainette Number One. You see, in the eyes of Villainette Number One, the only person ever to have sung “Our Lips Are Sealed” is Hilllary Duff. Upon hearing the robust Belinda Carlisle sing the song Villainette Number One declared, “She is okay. But Hillary is much better. Plus, she has her own show on Disney. I’ve never heard of that other girl.”

Anyho… Go read Jeff’s post…

Then settle into your easy chair, turn “Surreal Life” on the TV. But mute the sound. Then put on your “Return to the Valley of the Go-Go’s” CD and relax. That is good televsion.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t wait for a moment of inspiration to write a blog post. He often just cranks something out for the sake of writing and the theraputic effect it has on his pysche.

Sometimes he feels inspired to comment, opine, or make witty observations about life.

Sometimes he is jealous of people who seem to write a great post. Take for example our friend Brian at Memento Moron and his wonderful post on the Blues.

As Browning wrote, “Gr-r-r– you swine!” Okay, your Maximum Leader isn’t really that jealous. But it does give him a reason to quote Browning…

Carry on.

UPDATE FROM YOUR MAXIMUM LEADER: Brian insists on giving credit where it is due. (Which is always a good policy.) His blues post was actually lifted from Wicked Thoughts. So your Maximum Leader directs his Browning-esque “Gr-r-r” towards Bussorah…

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was enjoying his Easter Lamb dinner yesterday with his immediate family and his wonderful in-laws. After the main meal was completed, and the children dismissed from the table, we all started to talk about “grown-up” stuff. Conversation meandered to the Schiavo situation, living wills, advanced medical directives, and medical powers of attorney.

Then the conversation stalled. It wasn’t one of those awkward pauses in conversaton such as one might have at a dinner party or a date. Just a pause in which no one at the table had anything to add. Since it was all family, this pause was used by most of us to take a drink or dab at some congealing gravy with a leftover forkfull of lamb.

At this point your Maximum Leader’s sainted father-in-law said, “Well, I suppose the Pope and Prince Ranier are both racing for the finish line. Any guesses on who will make it first?” Well that just cracked up your Maximum Leader. “Racing towards the finish line.” Very droll.

In case any of you are wondering, the consensus was that Prince Ranier would cross the finish line before the Holy Father. We thought this was a good thing too. You wouldn’t want to have to convince Saint Peter that you were just as deserving as the Pope, assuming that the Pope went through the pearly gates first.

But Prince Ranier did not beat Paul Hester across the finish line.

Your Maximum Leader supposes that Paul Hester doesn’t really count. Since he seems to have decided for himself when to cross the line.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has forgotten to check a special “spam” account he set up. You know the type. The account you have just in case you want to sign up for something on-line, but are afraid that the e-mail address you give will be broadcast to every semi-sentient spammer in the world. Well, your Maximum Leader hasn’t checked his since he left for Vegas. He checked it today. And in response to some of what resided in that mailbox, he writes this open letter:

THE MAXIMUM LEADER
THE VILLAINSCHLOSS

To: Melinda, Scott, Alberto, Armand, Clare, et. al.
From: Your Maximum Leader
Date: March 28, 2005
RE: Your recent message

Your Maximum Leader would like to thank each of you for your recent message. Although it is doubtful that we have ever met, your Maximum Leader is heartened to learn that he is among your “best and closest friends” - as your message points out. It is hard to find such subservient and obsequious minions as yourselves, he appreciates your dedication.

Additionally, your Maximum Leader thanks you for writing such a clear subject line to your message. He knew exactly what to expect when he read the words: “SEXUALLY EXPLICIT watch dumb european women work hard for cash.” He appreciates your candor.

Feel free to e-mail your Maximum Leader any time with similarly labeled messages. So long as he knows what to expect from you before he opens your e-mail he is happy.

Cordially,

Your Maximum Leader

If only all spammers were so forthcoming in their messages.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader apologizes for just up and leaving you all last week. He opted to stop blogging on Good Friday and cruise through the weekend without thinking of blog posts.

But here is a thought (and probably not an original one) that popped into his head yesterday while he ate his traditional roasted lamb dinner on Easter Sunday…

Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” Many families eat lamb on Easter Sunday to celebrate the ressurection of Jesus.

Connection? Coincidence? Discuss amongst yourselves…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader reads on the news wire that: Guitarist Rod Price of Foghat Dies at 57.

Did he choke on his own vomit?

Just wondering. You know if it was someone else’s vomit you wouldn’t know. You can’t very well dust vomit for fingerprints now can you?

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has received quite a few e-mails on the recent spat of postings on the Schiavo situation. Most are unworthy of comment. (They are just filled with vitriol. Which your Maximum Leader admires generally; but of which he is tired now.) But of the ones he has received, there are a few that stand out. Allow your Maximum Leader to reproduce and comment upon them now. Here we go.

Minion Celeste writes:

My objection to removing the feeding tube from Terri Schiavo is that neurologists have not actually found the seat of consciousness. It actually isn’t something that can be measured. They assume it is to do with cortical activity - but that is an assumption only.

As all sorts of animals right down the evolutionary scale appear to have some form of consciousness, it stands to reason that it is a very basic function, which would suggest that it is quite difficult to knock out. Often the medical profession, and science in general, is completely convinced of something, only to realise they were totally wrong.

For this reason alone, there may be some basic sort of self awareness in people in persistant vegetative states.

Then there is the argument of Peter Singer to justify abortions. His argument is that an unconscious being, or being of reduced consciousness, only has a right to life in so far as the relatives want it to live. In this case, Terri’s parents want her to live. Therefore she has a right to life. (I don’t know whether Professor Singer would agree with this analysis, but I do know that he and his siblings kept his mother alive after she fell into a coma following Alzheimers disease).

So, what’s so wrong with keeping her alive? It doesn’t make a shred of difference to her either way. Michael Schiavo in contrast, needs to move on and get on with his life.

If her parents did not want her to live, it would be a different story.

Is it just a resources issue?

I am at a loss to understand why people are so vehement that Mrs Schiavo’s tube be removed.

Another minion, and frequent writer, “Powermfn” writes:

Graduate work in psych required me to dissect brains in the lab. Damned interesting! Not at all repulsive. Actually felt awe. Consequently, cannot jump in with the politicians (either on the Hill or in the pulpit) who are screeching that Terri Schiavo is being murdered by the courts. Have dropped the same subject on my own offspring from time to time: are you prepared to be the only one around to make a certain decision in regards to my life should it ever come to that? Who will pull the plug, especially if my own Living Will is ignored? And such documents, no matter how legal, have been ignored in the past.

One thing the Schindlers don’t seem to have considered and I can’t imagine why: should they actually get custody of the husk that used to be their daughter, what happens to her should she “survive” so long that they pre-decease her? Same question for her brother. What happens to your sister if she “outlives” you? She becomes the ward of the state and depending on what state she resides in at the time, that state can summarily pull the plug without anyone’s permission or oversight.

What this country needs a a revision of the legal definition of brain dead to include persistent vegetative states. Just watch the rockets red glare from the pulpit when that happens!

Another reader, Amy from Florida writes:Please also note that Mr. Schiavo also has been pursuing extra-marital relationships both before and (roughly 2 years) after Terri’s incident and now fathers two children with the woman he has cohabitated with for about a decade; Judge Greer prohibited the FL Dept. of Children & Families from postponing the feeding tube removal to review prior allegations of abuse and neglect; he has prevented the family from visiting Terri on several occasions and extended periods of time including the last time her feeding tube was removed; a board certified neurologist testified to Governor Jeb Bush this afternoon that Terri is not in a PVS in his medical opinion but he was not allowed to examine her medically; Terri has not received a neurological evaluation in over three years. Thank you.

This is a not very representative sample of messages your Maximum Leader has received. Of the roughly 50 e-mails he’s received, these are the best of what he’s read. (And people sometimes wonder why your Maximum Leader has mixed feelings on comments…)

Anyhow…

Allow you Maximum Leader to say a few things here. His own feelings on this matter are that Michael Schiavo should have stepped aside years ago and let Terri’s parents care for their daughter as they obviously want to.

He also thinks that withholding sustinance from Terri is a barbaric and uncivilized thing to do.

He doesn’t consider himself vehement about removing Terri’s feeding tube. Indeed, he is saddened that Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers couldn’t come to some sort of agreement concerning Terri’s treatment and continuted care.

What he is vehement about is how we must approach this case from the perspective of the law and courts which have to adjudicate situations where two interested parties disagree.

Your Maximum Leader will concede Celeste’s point that we have not nailed down the seat of consciousness, in as much as we cannot point out a particular region or part of the brain and say, “There it is.”

But we do know that damage to certain areas of the brain, there is a resultant loss of memory, change of personality, and change of behaviour.

That said, we also are pretty darned confident the “conciousness” is somehow associated with many areas of the “upper” brain. The area of the “lower brain” is where breathing, continued heart beat, and automatic functions seem to reside. It is this “lower” area Terri Schiavo’s brain that is undamaged. The major lobes of her brain, as he understands it, have been decimated beyond hope of repair or recovery.

Because her brain is so badly damaged, she is unable to do much more than she is doing now. She breathes, her heart beats, and she can make some vocalizations that don’t require more than forcing air out of her larynx. She, to the best of our knowledge, completely unaware of the world and unable to take a decision for herself.

In a situation where someone is in this state, another competent person must be appointed by an establish authority as guardian. That person, barring written instruction to the contrary, is the next of kin - a spouse, or in absence of a spouse a parent or sibling. Or another person appointed by the court.

Michael Schiavo was her guardian. She has also had a number of court appointed guardians. And the Schindler’s were fine with this situation until Michael decided that Terri was never going to recover. That is where the courts got involved. And that is where we are now.

Does your Maximum Leader want to see Terri’s body starved to death? No. It is a gruesome spectacle.

Would he prefer that the Schindler’s be Terri’s guardian and let them care for her as they obviously want to do? Sure.

But unfortunately all those things are outside the purview of the law in this case. The Schindler’s have not been able to prove at any point that Terri has any mental capacity at all. Thus, all a court can do is appoint a guardian who is empowered to take decisions for her. That has happened. And the guardians (including Michael Schiavo) have all been of the sameopinion for the past 8 years.

Excursus: Your Maximum Leader also concedes that Terri Schiavo has not had a comprehensive neurological examination in a while. (He sees different ranges of time - so he can’t confidently quote one. But he’ll concede it’s been at least one year.) But he doubts that another examination would make any difference. Additionally, if the tube was reinserted, and Terri received new neurological examinations (which was the intent of the legislation passed by Congress), what then? What happens when a federal judge rules that Terri is in a persistent vegetative state and that the will of Michael Schiavo be carried out? Remember people, the standard here is not “beyond a reasonable doubt” as it is in a criminal proceeding. The standard in these cases is “clear and convincing.” If a preponderance of medical experts find that Terri is in a PVS, then the feeding tube is removed again. To be explicitly clear here, the question is not if the Schindler’s can find one or two experts who will certify that Terri has some level of conciousness. They need to find a slight majority of experts who will certify that Terri is not in a PVS. That is the standard that applies. So what happens if the tube was reinserted, she was examined, and the preponderance of evidence shows that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state? The tube comes out again - because the established decision-maker in this case is Michael Schiavo.

Admittedly, Michael Schiavo is not a sympathetic figure in the least. Everything that Amy has written appears to be factual. But no attempt to show that Michael has a conflict of interest has proved to be fruitful. Money (and he’s been offered lots of it) isn’t an issue. (And the Schindlers don’t seem to have problems concerning funds for continued care.) Your Maximum Leader is convinced that Michael Schiavo is completely and totally earnest in his conviction that Terri would have wanted to die in this situation; and it is encumbent upon him to make sure her wishes are carried out.

Sensible people (compasionate people even) can (and many are) argue the merit of Michael’s stance. But legally, Michael’s opinion is the only one that has been found to matter.

All of the work by politicians and activists to overturn the law for the benefit of one person is nearly as disgusting a spectacle as Terri being starved. The law is pretty settled in the matter of custody of a mentally incapacitated person - as best I can tell. And all that is being overthrown in a rush of hysteria.

That is pretty much it. There is a very narrow focus to this argument - or rather there should be. The argument, from a public perspective, should be who is empowered to make the decision. The courts have ruled that Michael Schiavo is. It is his wishes that are being carried out.

Now your Maximum Leader wants to add one more thing. He doesn’t believe that courts are perfect. They are just as falible as any of us. But the courts and the rule of law are really the foundation of our stable civilization. Judge Greer has made a few decisions concerning the access the Florida Department of Children and Families that are open to differing interpretations. But in all cases, his decisions have withstood appellate tests. This is not to say that you have to intellectually agree with them, but they are the decision. Your Maximum Leader thinks lots of court decisions are wrong-headed - but that doesn’t change the fact that they are the law. He’d be happy to appoint less wrong-headed people to the bench. He’d be happy to support laws that might change the outcome of future situations. But new appointments and hastily constructed legislation rushed through Congress (which by the way is almost always bad) isn’t going to change anything right now. And it isn’t going to save what remains of Terri Schiavo’s life.

I feel terrible for the Schindlers. I wish that Michael would have just left the picture a long time ago. But that didn’t happen. This is the result.

Carry on.
(more…)

67% of the American public believes that the Republicans are cynically manipulating the Schiavo case in a purely political ploy. That the Republican congressional leadership admitted as much in a strategy memo doesn’t help their cause.

Many Republicans and conservatives do believe in the principle of federalism. The Analphilosopher and Annika are good examples. But for the vast majority of Americans (in both parties) the issue of states’ rights and federal power is a sham.

A sham, pure and simple.

The “principle” of states’ rights has rarely been a principled principle. Instead, throughout American history, it has been a justification for other goals or a simple stratagem to achieve those goals.

Northern states in the ealy national period were all for national power when it came to administering a protective tariff. But they embraced “states’ rights” in opposition to Jefferson’s embargo or Madison’s war (Or Polk’s for that matter).

The South wanted national power to be used to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, overturn states’ personal liberty laws, or the Dred Scott Decision. But they trotted out the states’ rights theory to oppose the tariffs of ‘28 and ‘32, to protect slavery (and its expansion), and to justify secession.

The South also trotted out states’ rights after Brown v. Board of education, conveniently forgetting its support of a national alcohol policy. But we all know what was at stake: They didn’t want little Johnny going to school with black kids.

Today, pro-life advocates say they believe in states’ rights, vociferously decrying the federal imposition of Roe v. Wade. They know that, absent federal control, many states would ban abortion outright. But once Roe is overturned and local prohibition is achieved, you know that they will begin calling for a national law outlawing abortion in the blue states. The pro-life people have a principled position: They believe abortion is murder. But their support of states’ rights is tactical, not principled.

So, while the Christian Rights abandonment of their tactical acceptance of states’ rights may be interesting, we ought not to be that surprised.

A more striking result of the Christian Right’s ascendancy in conservative circles is the abandonment of the rule of law, as illustrated by DOMA and Terri’s law.

When Congress passed the patently unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (knowingly so; why else would there be such a drive for an Amendment?), most Americans, in their bigotry against a tiny minority, weren’t that alarmed. Although similarly motivated by the desire to impose a set of values on the nation, Terri’s law may backfire, bringing home to the American people that the Nanny-state Republicans are willing to impose their own interpretation of scripture on EVERYONE.

The agonizing decision to allow a loved one to slip away is an experience that many Americans have had. More importantly, ALL Americans can imagine facing that situation themselves as their parents and/or spouses age. And we want our family’s death experience to be a personal one.

Terri’s law is not an abstract diminuation of someone else’s rights.

The religious right, in the name of the absolute sanctity of all life, wants to tell us how to make decisions for our families. Normally, we could count on the constitutional protections offered by the court. But the Republicans in Congress have demonstrated that they do no respect the independence of the third branch of government. Like Jefferson’s impeachment campaign, Jackson’s defiance of Marshall, and FDR’s attempt to pack the court, Terri’s law, “de novo” clause and all, is an attempt to subordinate the judicial branch.

Checks and balances, my friends, are our most important check against tyranny.

Now, your humble Smallholder is not running for the hills and stocking up for my own personal Ruby Ridge. I have great faith in the democratic process. Now that the Christian Righties have unmasked themselves as a aspiring tyrants, I suspect Americans will punish them at the polls.

I also expect that conservatives who value individual liberty, smaller governments, and states’ rights may begin to rethink their alliance with the Rick Santorums of the world.

The ironic thing, if an attenuation of Republican power occurs, is that that change will not be wrought by the persuasiveness of the Democratic Party, which seems mired in denial of the bankruptcy of its own stagnant ideology. The Republicans are committing suicide.

With Bill Frist leading the charge, it will be physician-assisted suicide.

UPDATE FROM YOUR MAXIMUM LEADER: Your Maximum Leader believes that the “strategery memo” to which the Smallholder is referring is being debunked on the news (Fox and CNN) as a fake. But that is a developing story. And while the American peole see partisan manoeuvering for what it is, a sizable number of Americans also don’t want to see Terri Schiavo die. If the Smallholder is suggesting that the Terri Schiavo decision is going to do long-term harm to the Republican party, he ought to lay off the hard cider.

BEFORE I START… can someone pleas tell me the secret to using apostrophes and periods in a post without freaking out the HTML shit???? I get all this weird stuff that I have to go back and edit and it looks fine in the preview but when it gets published its whacked.

I think that this is what its really about. Most of the Ministers here at Nakedvilliany are parents. And with all the legal mumbo-jumbo, rights, and postulating I think we are missing the big picture here.

The way the parents of Terri see it is that if there is life in there daughter there is still hope. Hope for recovery, cure, or whatever. Besides, if the left gets its way with stem cell research, why is there no hope?

But if the tube is not inserted and the body dies, ALL hope is gone for her in this life.

I personally would not want to ‘live’ as a vegetable. I would have given up on hope for MYSELF years ago if I was Terri. It seems to me that Michael Schiavo has given up as well and needs to move on with his life. Maybe hook up with that little cutie at the grocery store he has had his eyes on for the last 10 years (or whatever).

But I am glad to know that Terri’s Mom and Dad have NOT given up on their daughter. Because, as quick to pull the plug on myself as I am (if I were in Terri’s shoes) I would not be able to do it for my daughter (Heather: almost 3) or son (Hugh: 2 months). I would step in front of a train, car, bullet, etc to save them, so why would I pull the plug or take out the tube to kill them… even if they were in a vegetative state. Because I would still have hope for them to live or recover or have some miracle bring them back.

Now maybe the other Ministers here are more INTJ types that can calculate the odds and spout law and personal rights knowledge and be able to take the tube out of their own children but I am certainly not in that camp.

Since she apparently can’t feel pain or have any idea what is going on with her, why not give her and her parents hope? Obviously, Michael can’t be THAT concerned with what his wife wishes if she has no thoughts or feelings now.

Is it any less cruel to keep her alive than it would be to remove the apparatus that keeps her alive? If yes, how so? If she doesn’t meet any of your requirements of being a human being than why not just let her continue in the state she is in?

Obviously, her folks don’t mind the expense of keeping her alive and her husband has said that it is not about money as well.

Also, while we are healthy and have all of our mental faculties we might say a lot of things like, “I wouldn’t want to live if I was _____”. I don’t think that I want live to be old and feeble either, but it is the rare senior citizen that is really done with life when they hit their 70s and 80s and truly wants to die (even if they are old and feeble).

So… I feel it is a shame that M Schiavo has given up, but for others who love her dearly, and those that respect the spark of life, no matter how faint, don’t take our hope away.

Back to the trenches

My father and I built the Sweet Seasons Farm calf barn together out of recycled materials. I think it is pretty cool, particularly considering that it was built by rank amateurs. Here is a guy who loves to build barns and actually has some skill.

Even if you aren’t one of our readers who like farm posts, I encourage you to click through and enjoy the pictures.

Responses to the Grafting Giddiness post keep coming. The Maximum Leader forwarded some links from one minion.

I enjoyed the Brownsnout blog tremendously. We need to have a “farm” section of the blogroll. I’d set it up myself, but the Maximum Leader keeps all the reigns of power in his own sweaty palms (patience, minions, his food taster can’t catch everything…)

Foreign Minister, I highly commend the Brownsnout site for your reading enjoyment.

Those advocating prolonging Terri’s twilight existence seem to be operating using a set of facts that are not verifiable in nonbiased documents.

I have been unable to find any court instances referencing Michael’s alleged mistreatment of Terri. The charge that he is seeking to kill her before evidence of his abuse is commonly repeated (wanting a cremation = coverup!), the charge that he asked nurses if “the bitch is dead yet” is often raised. But all the court rulings say that both Michael and the Schindlers have exhibited nothing but care for Terri. I would like to see hard evidence to support those claims.

I have also been guilty of attributing malignant designs to Michael. I confess that I accepted many of the undocumented accusations as having some reality. But non-partisan sites never make any such claims. Terri’s family, which maintains the Terri’s fight website, does not make any of those claims in a forum in which they might be charged with libel. The harshest thing they officially say is that “Michael has moved on with his life.” Since any evidence of Michael’s nefariousness would buttress their case, the conspicuous absence of such evidence is telling, ne c’est pas?

The “Keep Terri Alive” crowd often claims that she has never had a guardian. She, in fact has. Her is the report of the court-appointed guardian, posted at National Review. Interestingly, while the guardian finds (as has everyone else) that Terri is in a persistent vegetative state with no awareness and that the folks who say otherwise have no scientific basis for their spurious claim (note: even the Schindlers did not challenge this diagnosis until recently), he does not say she should necessarily be disconnected.

And this is what the real argument boils down to: does cognitive functioning matter? Does it define a human being? The Schindlers, when discussing the case with the guardian, have said that there are NO circumstances in which they would every stop prolonging any quality of life.

We should stop pretending this case is about Terri’s cognitive ability. The case is really about whether any glimmer of physical existence, no matter how blind and unconscious, should be preserved indefinitely.

Descartes, as Terri’s guardian notes, would not have understood this American controversy. He would have applied the inverse of his famous phrase: I think, therefore I am.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was just over at the Ministry of Minor Perfidy and saw this very cool little piece.

Space bombs. Very cool. But it does make you wonder about what would happen if they just started dropping from the sky…

Carry on.