Brother of Terry Schiavo claims 'lies' are still being spread about her

[The Straight Story]

Brother of Terry Schiavo claims 'lies' are still being spread about her


Washington D.C., Jan 22, 2010 / 07:58 pm (CNA).- Nearly five years after the death of his sister Terri Schiavo, Bobby Schindler has said that the general press is still “telling lies” about her.

Schindler explained his perspective and said that news accounts “refer to Terri as being brain dead.”

“I see that all the time,” he continued, “ and it simply is not true. They say that she was on artificial life support, without explaining to people what artificial life support means. There's this perception out there that Terri was on a machine – that people like Terri need machines to keep them alive.”

“It's still being reported by the mainstream media,” Schindler told CNSNews.com on Thursday. “There's things that are being said that were simply not true.”

Terri Schiavo died in March of 2005 when a Florida judge ordered the removal of her feeding tube, a move that was requested by her then husband, Michael Schiavo who had custody of her. The case made headlines and was the subject of a public feud on right to life issues. Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler had fought for two years to try and prevent their daughter's death.

Bobby Schindler claimed that the autopsy report following his sister's death showed that she was in good physical shape when her feeding tube was removed, and that the pathologist indicated that Terri could have “quite easily lived a normal life span.”

“Terri died because we took away her food and water,” Schindler stated, “just like we would all die if our food and water was taken away.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/brother_of_terry_schiavo_claims_lies_are_still_being_spread_about_her/

[sakabatou]

1. *facepalm*

[tonysam]

2. Since you weren't there, you don't know the truth.

A bunch of bloggers and pseudoliberals thought they could win brownie points by trashing the Schindlers and back a guy whose motives were questionable at best because much of the Schindlers' support came from the right-to-life community. The "left" in this matter was every bit as dishonest as the right they often condemned.

Lost in the entire controversy was the issue of disability rights. I have no use for people who justify medical killing of the profoundly disabled.

This was nothing more than legalized killing.

[Bluebear]

4. Pseudoliberals? Trashing the Schindlers? The "left"? "Right to life community"? Legalized killing?

And "brownie points" with whom? Goodness.

[Binka]

22. Much Nicer Than I Would Have Been PT

Anywho it is good to see you! :hi: and :loveya:

[malaise]

24. +1 n/t

[Bluebear]

33. You too. You "psuedoliberal".

Happy New Year, love!

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nini]

12. there was certainly enough info spewed while all this was going on

xrays of her shrunken brain etc..

She was not DISABLED she was brain dead. Big difference and just because we have the technology to feed people though tubes does not mean they should be used for someone who has no brain left to speak of.

Also, her husband said it was HER wish to not be kept 'alive' in such a matter so how do YOU know the truth?

[blogslut]

14. Her brain was jelly

Funny how her brother and fools leave that part of the autopsy out of the story.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

38. Who are these pseudo-liberals who argue that just because a car lacks an engine it won't start!

[Maru Kitteh]

43. Your brain is jelly.

So is mine. Seriously, a human (unfixed) brain has the approximate consistency of jello and just like jello, if it's left on a table in a warm room it will start to lose it's form and spread out in much the same way.

That wonderful image aside.....

The point is the only portion of her brain remaining with any modicum of function was the "old brain." There isn't much difference between the old brain of Stephen Hawking and a tree lizard (adjusted for size of course).

[niyad]

16. were you there?

[WeDidIt]

23. So how many hours did you spend by Terry Shiavo's side?

I saw the autopsy report.

she had been brain dead for a long time.

[janx]

25. tonysam, since I gather you weren't participating in DU

when this occurred, you might be surprised at the conversation that happened here then. The "disability rights" folks were understandably concerned until they found out that this was not about disability; it was about brain death.

[Political Heretic]

47. Such an amazingly nice respond with gentle truth. Better than I am capable of

Well done.

:thumbsup:

[Bluebear]

49. me too

[Terra Alta]

28. huh? The woman was brain dead.

Not disabled. She could not think, or eat or drink without a feeding tube. Her quality of life was zero. Michael Schiavo's motives were fulfilling his wife's wishes.

Legalized killing my ass, the woman was already dead basically. Removing her feeding tube was an act of mercy.

[nosmokes]

31. Profoundly disabled?!? She was fucking dead as doornail friend.

[creeksneakers2]

32. Her husband's motives?

The right wing spread lots of lies about her husband. One was that there was a big money payoff for him when Terry died. In fact, there was no money at all. Another lie was that the husband abused Terry while she lay brain dead. Testimony by workers at the care facilities showed that Michael was devoted, visited often, and even groomed his wife. Michael went on with his life, at Terry's families urging and found another woman. He held off marrying her though until Terry was at rest.

Michael went through a horrifying ordeal. The way he was treated was an outrage.

I could go on with a long list of lies told by Schaivo's family, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Randall Terry and the GOP. The left was not the dishonest side on this matter.

[cali]

39. bullshit of the worst kind.

There is ample evidence ON THE FUCKING RECORD that she was in a PVS. She wasn't merely disabled.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

42. speaking of facepalm n/t

[Political Heretic]

46. We all know the truth - doctors gave us the truth a million times over.

Certain people just don't care.

[ljm2002]

50. So you're saying...

...that 15 friggin' years in a vegetative state is not enough time to determine whether a person is ever going to recover functioning? You're saying that medical expertise and brain scans are meaningless? You're saying that the legal structures that are put in place, specifically those between spouses, should be cast aside? That anyone whose body can be kept "living" is obliged to do so -- that their families should never be allowed to decide when it is more merciful to let the person expire, than to prolong their existence?

Are you forgetting that the autopsy showed exactly what was expected, namely, massive atrophy of Terry Schiavo's brain tissue, consistent with the diagnosis of "brain-dead"?

Terry Schiavo was not "disabled". She was a perfectly healthy young woman who collapsed alone at home, possibly due to weight-loss attempts, and suffered several hours of oxygen deprivation, only to be found in time to keep her alive for another 15 years without brain function.

The only dishonesty in this case came from the rabid right wing, both the religious charlatans and the political charlatans who thought they could make hay out of it. As it turned out, they were wrong.

[Larkspur]

3. And the autopsy also showed that she her brain had atrophied

She was "brain dead" for all practical purposes.

[Sebastian Doyle]

5. Bobby Schindler is an opportunistic, Bush loving, Repuke douchebag.

He used his political contacts in Florida's reactionary batshit crazy right wing to stir up that bullshit controversy over his vegetable sister in the first place. I felt sorry for the parents as I would anyone who lost a child in such a way. But not a shred of sympathy for a shitbag like him literally cashing in on it.

[niyad]

6. I wonder what papers he reads--I certainly don't see anything about her in the media to which I pay

attention.

catholic register does not count as msm.

[mmonk]

7. I thought I saw scans of somesort that showed basically

her cerebral cortex was like jello and basically what was keeping her brain showing activity was the brain stem as long as the body was nourished with a feeding tube.

[Bluebear]

8. I saw the same, but response #2 says it was legal murder.

YMMV I guess!

[Sebastian Doyle]

11. Yep

Nothing left there but a big sack of liquid. :(

[mmonk]

17. Thanks for showing it.

I knew I wasn't dreaming.

[janx]

15. Her cerebral cortex was just about GONE.

Not like jello...GONE. It was terrible. And yes, you're right about the brain stem. The whole situation was horrific--the poor woman.

[janx]

10. Check PM, please! n/t

[janx]

13. This guy is still looking for publicity/money?

This is such a shame.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. These people make my brain hurt

Which part of no brain stem does Bobby not understand??

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. Considering he's a big fan of Ann Coulter, Randall Terry, and the Bush Crime Family....

apparently brains aren't all that important to him.

[janx]

21. She had a brain stem.

That was what enabled what was left of her to make noises. What she didn't have was a cerebral cortex.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Thank you

But my brain still hurts :)

[janx]

30. Mine too.

;-)

[Bluebear]

34. indeed

[CTyankee]

19. My 94 year old mother lay dying in a hospital in Dallas only a few weeks after Terry's death.

I almost expected an "intervention" by Tom DeLay into her hospital room. Because of a dedicated, caring medical staff my mother died a dignified, gentle and peaceful death. She was not in pain. I am in great, great admiration of these people who helped my mother. That is my story.

[slampoet]

27. I did a Google News search and had to go three pages back before i found a second story that was ...

....not from the righties point of view.

Where ws the first story?


I was in The National Review and that was pretty neutral.


Most of the stories were about the rally this Saturday which i expect is why this guy is trying to make this a talking point.

[LAGC]

29. Her wish while alive was that she not be force-fed alive in vegetative state.

It was her wish to pull the plug, and her husband was only following her wishes. If anyone, he would know.

[logosoco]

35. terri could have "quite easily lived a normal life span"

hmm...is that even a "normal" life? I wouldn't want to live another 30 years that way. I wouldn't want to live 2 years that way. That would be torture to me.

[LeftyMom]

40. There was nobody there to torture.

Nobody'd been home for a decade or more, almost all of her brain was completely gone, so whether they kept her meat warm for 30 years or 30 seconds wasn't going to matter to her.

[jmowreader]

36. There's a reason she was in "good physical shape"

Michael Schiavo took exceptional care of Terri. The hospital reports she had no bedsores--which is phenomenal considering how long she was in bed.

Good physical shape doesn't mean much, though; her brain was gone.

[underpants]

37. NO. NO. NO. (says the media) WE ARE NEVER SUPPOSED TO REMIND PEOPLE OF THAT ...EVER

Wow a Schiavo story

The MSM and Fox News particularly mention that about as much as they do Pvt. Lynch

[nosmokes]

41. make sure your underpants stand at attention when you mention

our warrior hero private rambette lynch.

[Political Heretic]

44. When it doubt, go for the dirt nap.

heh...

Sorry... I hated the Schiavo melodrama then and how it was turned into cheap political theater and I hate that its being dug up all over again.

It's not that I'd really be that insensitive in real life. It's just that as an "issue" for a discussion board flame war, I really just don't give a shit.

"Then why post?"

Because I enjoy irritating you.

[Bluebear]

45. If you are in the mood to irritate: :))

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7549534&mesg_id=7549576

[depakid]

48. Fundies and science don't mix- no matter how you shake it

One would almost thing that his cerebrum (or at least SIGNIFICANT parts of it) are liquefied, too.