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<DIV>Hello everybody. Things have been awfully quiet lately, and I have been
wondering about what we could fruitfully discuss. This language is a little
rough for my choice, but I received it from someone who has struggled with polio
and post-polio syndrome, kept herself fully functional for 18 years after PPS
symptoms set in, and continues to cheerfully block out a life for herself now
that she can barely move her limbs. So I think she speaks with some authority
about intrusive self-serving politicians, and individual choices.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>> >
Subject: New Advance Directive....<BR>> ><BR>> > I,
_______________________(fill in the blank), being of<BR>> > sound mind and
body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by<BR>> > artificial
means.<BR>> ><BR>> > Under no circumstances should my fate be put in
the hands of<BR>> > peckerwood ethically challenged politicians who
couldn't pass the<BR>> > ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on
it.<BR>> ><BR>> > If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail
to sit up<BR>> > and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I
won't ever get<BR>> > better. When such a determination is reached, I
hereby instruct my<BR>> > spouse, children and attending physicians to
pull the plug, reel in the tubes<BR>> > and call it a day.<BR>>
><BR>> > Under no circumstances shall the hypocritical members of
the<BR>> > Legislature (State or Federal) enact a special law to keep me
on<BR>> > life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind
their<BR>> > own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health,
education and<BR>> > future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a
permanent coma.<BR>> ><BR>> > Under no circumstances shall any
politicians butt into this<BR>> > case.<BR>> ><BR>> > I don't
care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to<BR>> > scrounge for
their run for the presidency, it is my wish that they play<BR>> > politics
with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.<BR>>
><BR>> > I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots
send<BR>> > e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me.
I don't<BR>> > know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them
to preach and<BR>> > crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own
business, too.<BR>> ><BR>> > If any of my family goes against my
wishes and turns my case<BR>> > into a political cause, I hereby promise
to come back from the grave and<BR>> > make his or her existence a living
hell.<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>>
><BR>_______________________________________________________Dated______________<BR>>
> __<BR>> > Signature<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> >
______________________________________________________<BR>> >
Witness<BR>> ><BR>> >
______________________________________________________<BR>> >
Witness<BR>> ></FONT><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>I find the adjective "peckerwood" offensive,
although "ethically challenged politicians" is perfectly accurate. (I have many
good friends and a few relatives who might be called "peckerwoods" by persons
inclined to use the term, as well as close friends who might for historical
reasons be inclined to use it occasionally).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>I find the adjective "fundamentalist" less than
helpful. I don't find the above referenced politicians to reflect the Gospel of
Jesus Christ in any way, shape or form. Nor do the fundamentals of the Gospel
come down clearly on the side of any loud voices in this debate. So I neither
give them credit they don't deserve, nor would I use respect for the
fundamentals as an automatic insult. (It is by the same token less than accurate
to refer to Osama bin Laden as a "fundamentalist" Muslim, although he IS a
hypocritical murderous religious zealot who should play politics with his own
life, not everybody else's.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>The reference to "religious zealots" is more
appropriate, especially when we remember that the original "zealots" were
denounced by their own priesthood AND rejected Jesus. People who show zealous
commitment to their own faith by sending emails to politicians demanding
intrusions in someone else's life are not worthy of respect.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Finally, while many individuals rightly fear
political interference in their own personal, private, life choices, there
remains the fact that nobody really knows for sure exactly what Terry Schiavo
wanted -- which suggests that the blunt instrument of the law was simply
incompetent to "do the right thing" in any way shape or
form.</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>