Pulling a Vegetable from the Garden patch!
By now, many Americans have heard about the “right to die” controversy in Italy. The case involves a young woman who’s been in a coma for 17 years. Doctors stated she’ brain dead, ain’t coming back so, let’s stop feeding her and send her on her way. The right to die opponents have another word for what ended this young woman’s life, they call it “murder”.
Now, I have to agree with that assessment, as pulling her tube and letting her starve death is akin to depriving “life” of sustenance. Maybe she was brain dead, maybe not. Who knows what she felt during the last 48 hours of starvation. What we do know is she died a slow and painful death, the exact opposite of what her father wanted, which was for her to die with dignity.
There’s nothing “dignified” in dying a slow painful death. Just because she can’t communicate, does not mean she did not suffer. Just because she could signal with her eyes, limbs or utter a word, does not mean she did not suffer. Let’s all stop eating for two days and see how we feel (in a healthy state) and then imagine being bed ridden for 17 years and all of sudden – sustenance STOPS!
There are some things in life that just don’t happen in time to stop an injustice (or in this case, murder). Just as the legislators were trying to pass a law requiring that doctors provide nourishment to incapacitated patients, Ms. Englaro’s time ran out. The hour glass was turned upside down and the sand of time just ran out.
I have known (as many have) human beings (friends and family) who were on the brink of death and asked for (pleaded) for every single second they had left to live. They made bargains with God and promised to cherish every second of the day if God would grant them more time. Then again, I’ve known more than a few friends who committed suicide over the stupidest reasons any one could ever have for killing themselves. How about girl leaves boy, boy can’t take it and shoots himself or, idiot buys motorcycle and thinks it’s cool to speed up the highway at 125 MPH and hits back of garbage truck. Yes, some deaths are by self-inflicted stupidity, while others are over “she doesn’t love me anymore” last words. However, in the case of Ms. Englaro, the father felt she needed some dignity and well, 17 years is a long time to be visiting a vegetable in the garden patch.
I don’t agree with the Pope on many issues, however, I do agree with the Pope (and the church) on the issue concerning euthanasia. The Pope states “euthanasia is a false solution to suffering” and I agree with that statement. In the case of Ms. Englaro, it may be that her being deprived of nourishment (over a 48 hour period) is the false solution imposed by her father for his own suffering.
As for her father telling the world that his daughter had expressed her wish to NOT be kept alive if she was ever in a coma, he’s simply full of crap. I think he lied to himself. He convinced himself over a period of 17 years that he had some type of conversation with his daughter in which she said “daddy, if I’m ever in a coma, just stop the food and let me die”. This is B.S., as I don’t anyone (let alone a 20 year old) who has ever sat down to have a heart to heart (with mom and dad) and spelled the “what ifs” associated with coma+car accident+17 years in coma = pull out my feeding tube – please.
So, here’s my living will…Please let me live as long as possible. If I’m on a ventilator, don’t pull the plug or, accidentally pull it out the wall. If I’m being feed through a tube, serve me up three meals a day and I also like a midnight snack. If I can blink, it’s not just a reaction like pinching a nerve, it’s really ME trying to communicate. If I can’t blink, look down at my toes as I’ll wiggle my right toe for “yes” and my left toe for “no”. Whatever you do, don’t transfer my bag of breathing bones to any private clinics. If any lawyers or judges or process servers show up in my room, show them the door, as they’re uninvited. If any long lost relatives show up claiming to have had any conversations with me in the past stating, “I wanted that or needed this”, they’re NO relative of mine. If the doctor ever says two words, “brain dead” yes, I was brain dead sometimes (when I was alive and moving about the place) but, I’m NOT brain dead now, I’m just talking a long nap. In other words, while I’d like to hear Ms. Englaro’s side of story some day, I’m in no hurry to get there - too quickly:-)
It’s a pretty sad day when a Tampa resident (for many years) can’t get a hold of a pair of super bowl tickets unless they mortgage their home, are personal friends with someone in the NFL, a buddy of a high-level executive at Bank of America or, are willing to buy ultra-super season tickets in order to get two halfway decent seats – non nosebleed - thank you very much!
Yes, I spent a few weeks trying to get Super Bowl tickets. I figured that the stadium (at the very least) puts aside tickets for those in the local community. I figured wrong! I called up the stadium and waited for 35 minutes to get through to a real live employee. I asked if there wasa special day (or a way) in which to buy two tickets and he responded that “We’ll, it’s a bit difficult, as the NFL controls the majority of how the tickets are distributed. First, they go to the teams, then to the sponsors, then to more sponsors and then any other sponsors who want them. While our stadium holds 10’s of thousands of people, we simply can’t accommodate those from the local community – it’s out of our hands”.
What’s no surprise is who’s sponsoring some of the pre Super Bowl events. Bank of America (a real Bailout favorite right now) is sponsoring (count em’) 
Personally, I think that the CEO’s (of near-defunct automakers) are no better than Madoff. What’s the difference if you steal money through a Ponzi scheme or, if a corporate giant runs amok in debt and keeps vital financial information quiet - until the near end? Just who is Chrysler to be running to Congress for a bail out? They’re a private company and chose to be private. No doubt, they kept their financial debacle private until they needed public funds. However, in order to receive these funds, they essentially put a gun to the heads of those in Congress and pulled one card out of their back pocket, which was as good as a credit card.
The best place to buy a fuel efficient car, with looks and at a decent price is in Europe. Funny, Ford can build all these cool (small) efficient cars for the European markets, however, when it comes to building a “like” car (Americans will fall in love with), Detroit wags its fickle finger of fate and says “no”. Detroit says no, as the cars built for the European markets are for well…Europeans! Yes, that’s right, Europeans expect a well made car that’s fuel efficient and which looks like a rocket! Yes, Europeans have higher standards than Americans when it comes to buying a car. However, this is where Detroit went wrong. Americans (during the past five years) have wised up and will no longer put up with shoddy craftsmanship, cars that get 9 miles to the gallon and an interior in which the seams do not line up on the dashboard.
