This whole Schiavo thing is not something we should forget. It is a FRAUD

[ck4829]

And an attempt to destroy the Government by conspiracy!

Remember those videos we all keep seeing and how everybody says this footage was edited to make it look as though Terri was responding to stimuli?

Hey wait, isn't that illegal?!

This whole thing can erupt into a scandal that can put the Far Right in some serious trouble IF we know what to do.

[seabeyond]

1. it isnt something to forget. no n/t

[greenbriar]

2. I so agree

we need to hammer

[reality based]

3. This may have been the turning point in the current struggle

against Neo-Fascism in America.

[TahitiNut]

4. Do not mistake a minor change in velocity with a change in direction.

We're a looong way from any "turning point" and at least fifty years away from regaining American democracy's high point in the mid 60's and the economic equity of the 70's. We're in deep doo-doo and have been getting deeper for over 25 years.

[reality based]

15. It took this episode for many people to realize how extremely

out of touch the current federal government (executive and legislative)is with the mainstream. I remember how here on DU there were those who counseled against making this an issue. Progressives seemed cowed. However, the public reaction everywhere, even among evangelicals, was revulsion. Lights seemed to come on in long dormant political consciousness. Progressive "leaders" soon begin to realize this. You can argue that the bloggers' DSM campaign or the little pretender's Social Security privatization initiative were more important catalysts, but I have noticed more political backbone in opposition since the "people" (and some judges) overwhelmingly ignored the former MSM's propaganda and refused to be stampeded on this matter. I don't pretend to predict the future and don't doubt there are many battles ahead, but Schiavo was a critical moment that few experts and leaders recognized at the time. It was a case of "you can't fool all the people all the time." Political consultants, pundits of all stripes, politicians, and, yes, even many bloggers stood amazed at the fact that the general public could have an independent mind on an issue. It happened without them. It will be important to build on the people's suspicions raised by this episode.

[assclown_bush]

10. I totally agree. In a strange twist of fate the Fundies helped us. LOL

How ironic that the Fundies religious convulsions failed to garner public support. The White House and the Bushistas over-played their hand.

:bounce:

[BOSSHOG]

5. Isn't it totally mind boggling all the things we have to remember

that conservative republicans and their supporters do which are anti american and are eroding our constitution?

[Warpy]

6. Nobody would accuse her parents of fraud.

They were clinging to false hope, and I think everybody pretty much recognizes that fact.

That lay people didn't recognize what was really going on in the few minutes of film they ended up with after weeks of filming is no surprise.

Frist and that fundy idiot in Jacksonville who's alwasy getting sued for claiming he can cure head injury and stroke are the frauds. Both should have seen quite clearly what I pointed out, that her father was following HER, not the other way around. That they didn't means it's a damned good thing Frist is in politics and the nutcase doctor no longer sees patients.

However, the parents are the ones who filmed and consulted an editor. They were clinging to hope and desperate for help. Nobody will ever convict them of that.

[ck4829]

8. The Schindlers are Innocent

If you examine this thing, you will find RW'ers all over the place.

I think Far Rightists convinced the Schindlers to do this and probably gave them the money to do this while at the same time telling them that their daughter was still alive and that making this video might 'convince somebody' (a RW'er waiting for the right moment) to come forward and say they can treat Terri.

This thing is BIG, it's going to take a couple of posts to explain what is going on.

[goclark]

13. The Funddies kept their "hope" alive

I have a little problem thinking they were totally innocent.

[assclown_bush]

14. Schindlers, J' Accuse!!!

I accuse them of perpetrating a fraud on the American people, and the American court system. The Schindlers stand accused of being willing pawns in the hands of BushCo and the Fundamentalist Movement. True, no legal court will convict them. But the court of public opinion has come to a decision and it finds them guilty of colluding with the religious Zanies.

:nopity:

[mondo joe]

17. I disagree - they put out a fraudulent video, editing out the vast

majority of the tape that didn't suit their argument.

They absolutely SLANDERED Michael Schiavo.

Nobody is going to convict them, but they deserve it.

[assclown_bush]

7. Schiavo case, as sad as it is, is nothing more than a SMOKESCREEN.

Instead of discussing the Iraqi war and Downing Street Memo, the media is now discussing Terri Schiavo's autopsy. This is exactly what the Republicans want them and US to do. I feel sorry for Terri Schiavo and her husband, but Terri is finally at rest. The only bone to pick (pardon the unfortunate pun) is the fact that the court system was systematically raped in an ill-advised attempt to shop for a Pro-Republican-Fundamentalist ruling. But that worked in OUR favor. That was a misstep for Bush and the Fundies. Even Jeb Bush got lots of Poo flung in his face because of it.

I'm not sure of what video you are referring to, but if it was made by the White House or with White House involvement then I support your cause. I guess anything that damages the BushCo regime and the fundies is something that I support, but I think our best chances at major scandal (sigh I have written those words so many many times) is DSM.

Peace out.

:bounce:

[ck4829]

9. There was video in which it looked as though Terri was functioning.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22terri+schiavo%22+video

However, I keep hearing the talking heads casually say that this video was edited!

That's not legal!

[assclown_bush]

12. You are right. The video was probably edited.

But more importantly the images were used to manipulate public and legal opinion. It's not difficult to get people to believe what they want to believe. The video is a "Week-end at Bernie's" use of visual manipulation. Those who wish to buy into it do so. I would not be fooled by it, but then I would not be predisposed to do so. I however, am more likely to believe almost anything that is said against BushCo.

[Hamlette]

20. there is nothing illegal about editing a video

What was illegal was the bill passed by Congress.

This is NOT a diversion. This is the crux of the problem. Iraq and Schiavo are the same thing. The religious right taking over our country.

Approval for Congress went down 15% (from 46% in late 2004 to 31% right after Schiavo...where it rests today) probably as a result of Schiavo. I love that the media is jumping on this one. This issue is easy to understand, effects all of us AND shows the GOP to be adopting Taliban-like policies.

If the press keeps this up, Frist is toast. His statements after viewing the video are devastating, worse than he now says. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/16/politics/16react.html

"Dr. Frist, in his floor statement on March 17, said that after viewing videotape of Ms. Schiavo, it was clear she was responsive. "To be able to make a diagnosis of persistent vegetative state - which is not brain dead; it is not coma; it is a specific diagnosis and typically takes multiple examinations over a period of time because you are looking for responsiveness - I have looked at the video footage," Dr. Frist said. "Based on the footage provided to me, which was part of the facts of the case, she does respond.""

This is more important than the DSM which goes nowhere because we all knew it already AND we've got boys dying there. It's too hard for Americans to tell the families of dead soilders "oops, my bad." That's what took us so long to get out of Vietnam.

[Conker]

11. I agree. It is a smokescreen.

That makes me so angry that the media isn't giving enough coverage of the DSM.Most Americans still do not know about the truth of the war in Iraq.This reminds me of when the Nazis covered about the truth about concentration camps.

[reality based]

18. I think the American people can handle more than one subject at a time

The failure of Iraq cannot be ignored forever, especially given the stubborn arrogance and incompetence of the little emperor and his court. The former MSM are being dragged to the party. De Gaulle once said, "The truth is what's left when everything else goes to waste." Just as the French had to confront Algeria we will have to deal with "Mess-o-potamia." Public opinion has turned on Iraq and those who fail to deal with it are going to be exposed to the coming storm. I do not see how Americans can regain any semblance of respectability without some fairly high ranking people being held accountable for their complicity in war crimes.

[mondo joe]

19. True. To blame the lack of awareness or interest on "diversions"

really grates on me.

Americans can manage to know who the various players are in music and television, including every reality show ever made, but somehow the idea is out there that if there's more than 1 news story (Iraq) no one will know it's there.

[janx]

16. It won't be forgotten. n/t

[assclown_bush]

21. RELIEF OF THE PARENTS OF THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO.

The dilemma that we as Democrats face is that 47 Democrats joined the 156 Republicans in voting for the bill on March 20. Bush signed it into law on March 21. It makes things more difficult for us to argue our case when our own representatives don't stand up to the Republican controlled congress. Why did the 47 Democrats not side with the majority of the country, who were vocally in favor of letting the poor woman rest, and defy the Republicans on this? I know that Bill Frist was pivotal in the passage of this bill, but he could not have done so without the assistance of Democrats. The vote was 203 to 58. 261 out of 435 lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill from their easter holidays to vote on the matter. 174 representatives failed to vote. Why? The special vote required a super-majority, meaning a two-thirds of House members had to approve it. Without Democrat support the bill would have died. This is what perplexes me more than anything about this whole Schiavo situation.

We know that the Schindlers would do or say anything to get their daughter hooked back up on that feeding tube...and while I am no fan of the Schindlers...I doubt that what they did to manipulate the media and the public rises to the level of criminal intent. The Schindlers were a political football used by the Fundamentalists who pushed the Republicans because it was pay-back time for all the votes they helped bring in to re-elect the Chimp-Meister. But they would have failed if Democrats had held their ground.

We need to contact every Democrat who voted in favor and ask why they did so. And would they vote differently today? The Democrat lawmakers who failed to vote also have some explaining to do. I want to see my representatives out there when things get heated. It's not enough to fail to vote for a Bill that we should all have opposed. We need to go on the record as having opposed it.

Bill Frist is saying he would do it all again today if he was given the chance. Somehow, I find that very hard to believe.

:rant: