Schiavo - Empathy & Greed

I guess since I wrote so much in the run up to her death, I should have a concluding opinion. What I've said, from day one, is that the whole situation was a complete and unmitigated disaster in priorities. It boggles the mind how many more individual stories of tragedy there are to tell. It's staggering how many more important global issues there are to talk about or deal with.

Am I guilty of the same thing because I wrote so much about the topic? Perhaps - but I tried to keep my focus on the bigger picture, because I already have the proper moral compass on the small pictures. Those aren't tough for me. I truly was perplexed at almost every turn from what people were doing and saying, because it just seemed so ridiculous to me - so typically American, and American's are very unique people in the world.

One of the things that concerns me about that is that as we export our "freedom", we also export our lunacy. One needs only look at the U.K. to see the ripple effect of the American way of life.

Before I get to hammering on the silliness, let me make the obligatory statement which is designed to give the impression that I'm not a heartless uncaring person. You know, if you've watched any media coverage (who didn't?), that the proper thing to do is hold off on your opinion until after you make the "I feel for the family, and Terri's situation is tragic" comment. Here's mine:

I looked at a picture of Terri taken before her heart stopped and subsequent brain damage. If you're adept at inferring personalities from outward appearance, as I think I am, then I think it was pretty obvious that she had a certain sparkle. Then fate comes along in it's cruel irony as it likes to do on occasion.

For many people, the upheaval of that irony stimulates their overactive empathy, and everything goes downhill from there. There are two human traits that go hand in hand. One is empathy, and the other is greed. You can probably imagine where that leads. It leads to a litany of names; Tom DeLay, Ric Santorum, Jeb Bush, Jesse Jackson, George Bush, Schiavo, Schindler, Felos. It leads to a long list of other names that we'll never hear of. Think of them as the sharks circling their prey.

Nearly everyone involved is guilty of some of the most heinous crimes a person can commit; exploiting another person's personal misfortune. It is only the lowest of the bottom feeders that do that. It doesn't matter why people do that, just that they do.

Lets point a few fingers, shall we? Pontificating because you think you're one of the very few who actually "get it", as I believe of myself, is yet another grand American tradition. It's also fun.

Who: the protestors holding the signs (Christians).

Crime: I'm sure they think they are motivated by pure empathy for a suffering soul. But no - unless they hold signs for the poor soul not on T.V. then they are just another whore selling their right wing Christian agenda. They are guilty of lying, as I saw and heard lie after lie spewed forth from their frothing mouths.

Sentence: Roman Orgy. They really need to lighten up and find joy in life instead of being so obsessed with death. They also need to stop being so damn judgmental. I think a real Roman style orgy of food, fun, laughter, and *gasp* sex, will help them see that life is not about imposing restrictions on everyone in society, but expanding the positive possibilities of life that can be experienced between human beings as they enjoy pleasurable things.

I'm eating a Krispy Kreme doughnut as I write this. And why not? Sometimes when weird stuff swirls around you in life, you can stop and experience a thing without guilt because it is pure and pleasurable - like a Kispy Kreme doughnut. I truly believe life becomes much different for a person when they allow themselves those moments, without guilt. If you have someone in your life who says "no" to you, either explicitly or by inference, then whether you know it or not, you harbor resentment and hostility. That's what fills those protestors.

Who: The Media

Crime: Where do I start? There is journalism and there is media. The two are very different. I like to think of journalism as something pure, almost scientific. It is the science of language, and perspective, and fact. Media is a capitalistic venture. The primary motivation is money, as it is in any company. As a company adjusts to compete, so do media organizations.

There is also an ongoing assault on journalism by right wing outlets trying to pretend to be "news" organizations. There has been a recent scandal in the White House press corp. where a gay male prostitute had regular access to White House briefings for 2 years, under the guise of a "reporter" working for an organization called Talon News, which was owned by a Texas Republican. They basically just rewrote Administration press releases and published it as "news". Sounds bizarre, eh? It's absolutely true. There's naked pictures of the "journalist" all over the internet now. Apparently he spends a lot of time in the gym..

Anyway, I digress. So, we're blurring the lines between journalism and media, and most people are not smart enough to tell the difference.

Here's a great example (and yes I'm going to bag on one of my favorite right wing bloggers). From that other blog, I was directed to a news site to read about how the "mainstream media" has not been reporting all the bias surrounding the Schiavo case. I went and read the article and of course it had all the tell tale signs of being nothing more than a propaganda outlet. I say that not because I disagreed with the inferences made, but just from a purely journalistic point of view in looking at the language used, and the lack of sourcing, which is very typical of those types of organizations. They are not hard to spot - at least not for me.

Example from that article; "Then there’s Dr. Ronald Cranford, handpicked by Michael Schiavo to examine Terri and on whose say-so Terri was categorized in "persistent vegetative state"."

Now, this right wing blogger posted a link to that article and I give him the benefit of the doubt that he absolutely interpreted it as "news". I mean, he wouldn't have linked to it and wrote about it just to perpetuate propaganda in furtherance of a political point of view, right? He wasn't being willfully misleading, just ignorant.

Examine the language. Have you ever read a piece in the Times or Post that ever uses the word "say-so"? Possibly if they are quoting a source perhaps, but not as the words of the journalist writing the story. Also, notice the use of the word "handpicked". A credible journalist would use words such as "chosen" or "selected" instead. Then, if you go to the main page on the web site, it becomes very obvious that it's just a right wing propaganda site.

I once had a friend point me to a web site called NewsMax, where he honest to God believed it was a "news" outlet on the level of say, the USA Today. I really want to find out how it is that people can honestly be that delusional. I would be very interested if my right wing blogger pal could explain to me how it is that he believed that the Toronto Free Press is a legitimate news outlet. I'm just curious as hell. I mean, I don't link to Moveon.org as a reference for "news". See what I mean?

So, the blurring of the lines is allowed to continue unabated because more Americans are willing to be misled into having information sources distort to an incredible degree. I'm not confident that the trend will reverse itself because it's obvious the country is dumbing down - again as evidenced by the otherwise "normal" person who actually directed his readers to that site as a source of news.

Which brings us back to the media and Terri Schiavo. It was one of the most heinous displays of "journalism" I've ever seen in my life. It was grotesque, and barbaric. I could not believe the lies that were being casually dropped as if it was common knowledge.

The political war is entrenched in the media now, but to feed the war machine they need money. Lots and lots of it. To make lots and lots of money, they have to pander to the widest possible audience, and since the widest audience is completely dumb shit Americans, the media becomes a bigger pile of shit every day.

I'm also getting really bored with the whole "liberal media" mantra. It's just simply absurd on it's face. Tune in a network news coverage of the Schiavo situation and you're greeted with "A country divided!". Yeah.. 82% divided.

The media does not just report on society - it reflects it.

Sentence: Every media whore forced to interview Paris Hilton for all eternity - a hell I doubt even Satan himself could fathom.

Who: The judicial branch.

Crime: Being spineless. This whole concept of "judicial activism" is just a bunch of made up bullshit from stupid people who don't agree with the rulings. I've said this many times - it's only "activism" when the right wingers don't agree with the ruling, otherwise it's just peachy. Example: ask a winger if the Gore vs. Bush ruling in 2000 was "activist".

Now, the legal system is under incredible attack by the right wing. It's a very serious situation, as the right wing is made up of very heavily armed, but incredibly stupid people. In fact, as I've pointed out time and again, the right wing agenda is to destroy anything having to do with intelligence, science, and education. I used to wonder if there would come a day that there would be open class warfare, but the wingers have been able to head that off by instead having an intellect war. It's the dumb people versus the bright people. Unfortunately, there are a lot more dumb people, and yes, as I said, they've got a lot of guns.

One consequence we'll see from this is escalated violence by the wingers on members of the judiciary. They aforementioned dumb people (wingers) take their queues from the "dumb people" leaders, such as Tom DeLay, who recently said this:

Mrs. Schiavo’s death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schindlers and with Terri Schiavo’s friends in this time of deep sorrow.

That's a threat, pure and simple. They will answer for their behavior? That kind of attack resonates with dumb people. Take for example the proposed Federal amendment to ban gay marriage. Anti-gay hostility has gone through the roof because of it. Now it's almost fashionable to be anti-gay. The same thing is happening with the judiciary.

The American Bar Association needs to be very vocal and public in denouncing these kinds of ridiculous attacks on the judiciary. Tom DeLay is an idiot and he just doesn't know the difference between legislating law and interpreting it. He's dangerous because he enables and emboldens the right wing stupid people.

One other political observation: The right wingers really weren't smart enough to come up with the whole "judicial activism" theme on their own. Some sly, but clearly evil, political leaders started that. Contrast to that the way themes arise on the left. They come not from the Democratic leadership, but from the grass roots left wing activist movement itself. Why? Again - gray matter.

Sentence: The judicial branch of government is hereby sentenced to try the O.J. murder case for all eternity. Or until they get it right; whichever comes first.

Who: Jesse Jackson

Crime: In his heart of hearts, Jesse is a bat shit crazy person. He's also very racist. Clearly his motivation is not the causes which he inserts himself into. Jesse's cause is Jesse. His is the American ideal - wealth, money, power. No matter that Jesse has his share of sexual skeleton's in the closet. For some reason, he gets to moralize anyway.

Jesse would probably say that he's just trying to help resolve conflicts. The right way to do it is the way that Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and even Bush the Elder does it.

Sentence: Jesse sentenced to 10 years off camera.

Who: Congressional Republicans

Crime: Subverting the rule of law.

Understand this - The United States Congress called a special session to pass legislation affecting the medical treatment of one American citizen. That has not happened in the entire history of this country.

They did it despite the overwhelming wishes of the American public. Poll after poll shows nearly 80% of the American public believes Congress should stay the hell out of end of life decisions.

I cannot even being to over state the insanity in the response by Congress to this issue. It is unprecedented and likely un-Constitutional.

Sentence: Congress forced to pass legislation for each and every American citizen needing help. Today, the Bob Smith needs a liver act of 2005. Tomorrow - the Rush Limbaugh needs a brain act of 2005, followed by the Tom needs a Porsche 911 Turbo act of 2005.

Who: The Schindler family

Crime: Greed

They are cashing in on the death of their daughter, and it's one of the more vile things I've seen in a while. It was also obvious they enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame. Thank God it's over. They need to go away and be ignored, but I suspect a book or movie deal is in the works.

Sentence: A guilty conscience (though I'm not holding my breath).

Who: American Capitalism

Crime: Greed

It is what motivates most people now. Don't get me wrong, I like money. I wish I had more of it. I've never had the opportunity to sell my soul for big bucks, so I don't honestly know what would happen if I did. I'm just fortunate that to this point, I can say I've worked for what I have.

The crimes of money are laid bare in the life of Terri Schiavo. Nearly every single issue, event, and participant in the drama has motivations directly related to money.

The question then becomes, is the rampant greed sustainable over the long term? I honestly don't know the question to that. I suspect it will lead to catastrophic results in the long run.

I suspect that if there is ever a man-made event that triggers the extinction of human beings, it will be motivated by greed. After all, when the death of one brain damaged woman has this kind of impact due to greed, there is no issue that is beyond it's control.

Sentence: 200 billion hours of community service.

Who: Tom of Tom's Irrlevant Musings - and assorted snarky goodness

Crime: Smug Self Righteousness

Once you let go of your inhibitions, strange things happen to you. I could write my blog, and discuss issues about the Schiavo case, with all the verbal tricks of a world class politician. I chose not to. Perhaps it's because I'm lazy and it's easier for me just to say "dumb people", or bat-shit-crazy Christian freaks. Because of that, I'm sure I come off quite elitist. But then, I don't care.. :)

Sentence: Win the Texas State Lottery

So, good bye Terri Schiavo. I never met you - and I guess I used you just like a lot of other people did. I'm sorry for that. We like to believe we use you to further a greater good. Even the people who are wrong about what the greater good is believe that themselves. I just wish they weren't quite so, umm... mentally challenged.

The one thing we can take some solace in, Terri wasn't aware enough to know that she was the subject of a nation wide obsession. The insanity was ours, not hers. She slipped into the unknown, oblivious to the din. In many ways, one might consider that fortunate.