The End of the Terri Schiavo Case – or- Protesters Are Dumb.

So after 14 days of court battles – the Terri Schiavo case has come to its eventual end. At 9:05 Thursday March 31^st, Terri Schiavo passed on into eternity. It was a story that could have no winners – and no matter who won or lost – it would end the same way. Granted her death came much sooner since her feeding tube removed, but she was never going to get better. Terri would never be the same and in almost every single instance the Terri that family and loved ones knew was gone. Medically she could have lived on – probably doubling her age, eventually spending more of her life in a vegetative state then as an alert person. But the sad fact is that as the story became bigger it became less and less about Terri. As soon as the media sunk its teeth into the story and a mob of professional protester came out, government leaders stepped in, and the Vatican sounded off she simply became a tool. The worst part many of those speaking out didn’t even know what they were speaking out against, many who were on the front lines protesting didn’t even understand what was going on.

The Bad

I’ll side with some conservative pundits here and place some blame on the media, especially television. The news media has really played a large part in the manipulation of the public. For the last three weeks video of Terri has aired showing her blinking at her mothers voice, and reacting to outside stimulus. However none of this video was placed into context. First it was all from 2002 and 2003. So at this point it is still two to three years old. Second the video was only glimpses at the Schiavo case. However I must give some kudos to CNN they began putting the date on the file video they were using. Yet it was a side note in the hours of video they repeated as the story took center stage on the 24-hour news channels. They were twenty and thirty second clips from hours of video – the clever work of an excellent public relation guy giving the media only what would support their cause. Since television is a visual medium pictures ran from years ago along side still pictures of her when she was cognizant. So when you looked at the coverage of Terri Schiavo – you see a woman who seems to be responding – fueling the family’s argument their daughter can be saved.

Live shots by reporters are on the front line with a wall of protesters behind them, the occasional sound from Michael Schiavo made him sound like more of an execution then a ‘loving’ husband who wanted to bring peace after 15 years to his wife.

The Ugly

Back to the protesters. Many collected outside carrying crosses - beating drums representing Terri’s heartbeat. People carrying signs calling Michael Schiavo and the doctors murders for removing her feeding tube and promising them a warm spot in hell.

On Easter there was a pair of zealous Catholics – who security forces stopped from breaking into to Terri’s hospice room and delivering her communion. This is the type of thing I am talking about. There was a protester arrested yesterday for trying to smuggle water in for Terri. The people just didn’t really understand the state Terri Schiavo was in. She has been (according to court doctors) in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years. While she was conscious none of her movements were voluntary. She could not swallow on her own if anyone had tried to give her water she would have most likely drowned – since her body could not swallow the liquid. More zealous people fighting for a cause blindly – rallying behind a call of murder – when to other it is simply seen as mercy – or the circle of life.

-and-

The government. There is a war on last I checked, an oil for food scandal, a gas crisis, inflation and the government our elected leaders intervened in this families personal affairs (and steroids in baseball but that’s another gripe for another day), and used her as a political tool. Would the President have gotten involved if his brother Jeb wasn’t governor of Florida? Who knows? But congress, the President and about every other political figure weighed in on the issue hoping to score points with moral value conservatives. I expect to hear her name brought up around election time – you can bet on that Terri is to good of a political tool to let go this easy. We will wait and see on this one.

The Good

Terri Schiavo has served as a wake up call for the nation. She was on the tip of everyone’s tongue in many people thoughts – and became a mini celebrity – and used it while unknowingly to bring words like living will and health care proxy out of hospices and senior homes and into the main stream. Will anything be learned from this? I’m sure there is a nice sized group of people that will sign up for living wills or proxies and make plans of their future. However this is still not something many think of till it is too lake. Terri was young – and most of the controversial cases in this field are – and when you’re young even in your late twenties early thirties you still don’t think it can ever happen to you. Terri Schiavo may have captured the nations attention for a few weeks but we will see how deep into the American psyche her case will really strike. Again, only time will tell, and of course – we will never find out about all of the people who have their wishes are carried out because they filled out a living will. All who learned from Terri’s situation will never have a voice in the media – we will only here from those who didn’t learn this lesson. Sad but true.

How the Mighty Have Fallen -or- Drink at Home

This week - after 30 plus years on the Syracuse Police force and 9 months as Police Chief - Stephen Thompson stepped down, disgraced, after getting arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after hitting a pedestrian.

There are several things that bother me about this one is level of irony in the story. It is more unfortunate then ironic, yet we see it as amusing. A man who’s job it is to serve the law and protect the public ends up breaking the law and hurting a pedestrian. Things like this break down how we look at police officers, similar to the way we would feel if a fire fighter’s home burned down. We think that because these people are iconic representatives of safety that they could never fall into the pits and traps of normal people. Cops bust drunken drivers not the other way around. Yet it happens cops drink and in this case got behind the wheel. Houses burn down and sometimes they belong to fire fighters. Yet when you or I were to clip someone while D-W-I it would have to fight to get press in a newspaper or be a very slow news day for it to get on air. Yet when an authority figure is treated like a common criminal everyone in society lines up to turn their nose down at them. For two days the local media has been airing file footage of a smiling Steven Thompson as anchors read copy about charges, trial dates, air 911 dispatch tapes where callers talk about an intoxicated driver. The video is from his first full day as police chief 9 months ago - now its being reused as we talk about his disgraceful exit. Thompson is expected in court at 5:30 p.m. next Monday I have a feeling he won't be smiling then.

Just a Jew on Easter

Being Jewish I have a very interesting perspective on a lot of non-Jewish holidays. So today is Easter - which of course was a Passover meal - though now Easter dinner is celebrated with the least kosher thing imaginable - ham. Funny how that all works out. So why ham? Lamb would be more traditional; the Sicilian tradition is baby lamb - Abbacchio.

Ham seems to show contempt for the Jewish practice of abstaining from pork - so I went searching for the reason ham is eaten on Easter. No one seemed to know on-line either. I found one explanation dating back to ancient Romans. Apparently the Roman's buried pork near the sea to ensure salty, cured meat by spring, which was eaten - you guessed it around Easter. I found this doubly ironic since Jesus was a Jew a religion forbidding you to eat pork - (The carcasses of every beast which divideth hoof and is not cloven footed nor cheweth the cud, are unclean to you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean." ~ Leviticus 11:26) and the Romans who killed Jesus and then they took a Roman tradition to celebrate the holiday.

Then I found a simple explanation from a Butcher - For serving at home Ham is not only tasty, Its easy to cook. "It comes pre-glazed or pre-flavored. You basically heat and serve," said Joseph J. Terrazzano, owner of Haverhill Beef Co. in Boston.

Then I found what my paranoid delusions wanted to read – I found this: “And those families who, by customs, eat ham on Easter Sunday are, unwittingly, following an old practice of the Roman Catholics of England, who ate a gammon of bacon on Easter to show their contempt for the Jews, to whom pork is forbidden.” [Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., Volume 7] (Since I wouldn’t believe it either – I decided to cite it.) So there you go. The history of the Easter Ham. Every family that unwittingly ate ham tonight is guilty of anti-Semitism. Of course me doing the " I killed your lord dance" probably is just offensive enough to make up for it.

Drunk Baby

My last post was a little dark; I must be in a mood. Anyway there are some hilarious stories from the news too, and all tragedy is funny when it happens to someone else. Every once in a while I like to share some of the most hilarious stories with you – There is one of my favorites – and it goes a little something like this:

Drunk Baby

A good part of our crime news, (indictments, arrests, charges, busts, etc) come from press releases sent out by local law enforcement agencies. So it was a press release from police from a neighboring city. The release was about a father who was arrested after his toddler, was brought to the hospital with a massive B.A.C. Again most readers would say- that’s terrible! That poor baby! Its poor under developed kidneys and brain! Put away your pitchforks and torches the baby was fine. That’s also not what is hilarious, it’s the parents that are funny. The kids parents are split – so super dad picks the kid up for his visiting time. Takes the kid over to his buddies to watch football. So far so good. So the buddy and the dad start knocking back brews – good way to spend a Sunday right? So the little tot starts mimicking dad, and picks up a beer – and goes to take a swig. Dear old dad lets the kid have a sip – and that’s all – or at least that’s his story for the police.

So dad drops off the bundle of joy and mom finds her kid, “ smelling like alcohol and acting all drunk.” So she takes it to the hospital. Doctors then find the super high B.A.C.

What do we find? To get the kids B.A.C up as high as it was – it would take one and a half to two beers to get the baby’s blood alcohol up. Sip my ass. But a little kid still is standing after two beers? I know kids in college who couldn’t drink to beers. Dad gets arraigned on child endangerment charges – and then shuffled into the court system.

He has my vote for parent of the year.

Dont Understand

Getting to the Point

I work for a news organization in Syracuse - and have worked for several news organizations throughout out internships, but this is my first full time job. When people watch the news they don't see everything that goes on behind the scenes everything that it takes to put on a 30-minute newscast. And the funny thing is that everyone in the news industry is going to hell. Simply put, we feed off misery and suffering, and its funny. Not because rape or murder of dead bodies are funny, (which they are not) but when your work puts you in close contact with the suffering - when you listen to interviews with crying mothers and family- wailing about the recently departed - you need to have a sense of humor.

Celebrating the Dead

When tragedy strikes, it’s very inconvenient for me. Of course its more inconvenient for the person it happens to, but when something bad happens all hell breaks lose in the newsroom. Reporters need to switch roles, change gears, trucks need to move, stories of the day re-shuffled. Of course on a slow day, where there is nothing going on - something bad happens turns into team coverage with live hits from the scene as police tape flutters in the wind or fire fighters scramble to keep a house fire knocked down. However that’s what makes for good television. The most memorable pictures in history the firefighter carrying the body of the child out of the world trade center, the execution of a man in Vietnam, the single protester standing up to the tank in China's Red Square they are all images of tragedy. There are no memorable pictures of success except on the sports page - and the success of one team is simply the tragic defeat of another. Call me a defeatist - pessimist - but look around you - at the news - on TV, in the papers, on the web and let me know what you find.

On A More Up Beat Note....

There is something I've noticed; when you read obits or talk to the family of the departed they always say something like " He was just turning his life around." "He was such a good (boy/girl), (he/she) was just getting away from (drugs/streets/significant other)." It seems to me and to many others that no one who deserves it ever gets killed. They never say "Man that piece of sh*t was nothing, he was never going to be anything, and they sold me bad weed." So (I’m stealing this) simple way to stay safe - "Don't ever ever ever turn you life around" - it basically guarantees you a trip to the morgue

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