# I'm Pitting the AP for Its Shitty New Article About Terri Schiavo **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992 "2003-10-22T23:32:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/1 "2003-10-22T23:32:03Z")
[This](http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0100&id=200310221704000110087) is among the least balanced and most uninformative - if not outright MISinformative - pieces of crap I’ve read in a long time. Terri Schiavo is “disabled?” She’s been comatose since the first Bush administration and her cerebral cortex is destroyed! That’s a pretty fucking big disability! In fact, it very much resembles the disability the author of this article seems to be suffering from. 😛 “Disabled” is a completely misleading word. For one thing, people can survive with disabilities and lead normal lives. For all intents and purposes, Mrs. Schiavo is DEAD, which sadly prevents her from ever having the chance to lead a normal life. Her brain has been eradicated, and she is in a state from which she cannot possibly recover. Jesus Horntoad Christ, AP, that’s not a disability! “Florida Family Can’t Visit Disabled Woman” more than slightly misrepresents what’s going on here, and it makes it sound like one of those stupid “shame on you, point your finger at the bad guy” stories every local news show runs. It wouldn’t have been hard to change the wording in the title to say she’s COMATOSE, not disabled. Peons. Any number of doctors - all of the doctors not specifically hired by this woman’s family, who insist with no real evidence that she’s still aroud - have testified that her higher brain is gone. One quote cited in [the GD thread about this sad case](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=217226&highlight=Schiavo): > [@](#): > > Schiavo’s cerebral cortex, he said, is mostly gone. It was destroyed by the loss of oxygen she suffered when she had a heart attack 13 years ago. > > Once gone, the cortex cannot grow back, Walker said. The space it once occupied in Schiavo’s skull is now filled with spinal fluid. > > “The cortex does all our thinking,” he said. “Some people argue that it’s responsible for personhood. Without a cortex, you can’t think, feel, have consciousness.” Terri is gone. The AP, being hardworking, dutiful morons of the finest order, note none of this. They just say she’s in a coma - and don’t note until the very last fucking line of the story that she’s been in a coma since _1990_. You’d think her parents paid for this piece. The AP reports, without further investigation, that she laughs, cries, etc. Without any fucking context at all, your average person would say “oh, well, she’s obviously alive and conscious, how dare they kill her by taking her feeding tube away?” The AP doesn’t explain that these things are not signs of consciousness, they’re just reflexes that indicate nothing. Her parents insist they mean something because they can’t let go, and because they’re fucking morons who don’t understand the concept of wishful thinking. Doctors have testified she has NO HOPE of recovery, and that laughing, crying and reacting to noises lights don’t mean that she is conscious or able to think, much less that she might recover. It’d be pretty easy to accuse the AP of lying by omission here. At the very least, they’re guilty of extremely shitty reporting, since they leave out so many significant facts. So as I say, fuck you, Associated Press, for writing an article that is an absolute embarrassment as a piece of journalism. You pack of assforks. I hope the next time you take a plane, a small child sits behind you and cries and kicks your seat the whole time. Then I hope the plane crashes in the desert, hundreds of miles from civilization, and that everyone is rescued except you. Then, I will show up, and duct-tape you to the underside of a mule which will drag you over a 5-mile stretch of cactus, broken glass and hypodermic needles. Then, when you are crying for mercy, I will have someone ra ma few M-80s into your collective colon, and you will be shot out of a cannon into the spinning blades of a giant blender set to _puree_. And I’ll just laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/2 "2003-10-23T00:21:38Z")
If I ever become a vegetable, I hope that my family chooses not to let me dominate their life and waste hospital resources, and be in denail as to my condition. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/3 "2003-10-23T00:22:54Z")
There’re already two other pit threads on this, one [pro](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=218867&highlight=schiavo) removing the feeding tube, and one [con](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=217364&highlight=schiavo). Personally, I’m siding with the husband. Let the poor woman die and let her husband get on with his life. ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/4 "2003-10-23T00:44:52Z")
For crying out loud, what type of quality of life does she have? Terri was only 26 when she had the heart attack, so I’m sure she wasn’t thinking about living wills or anything like that at the time. I know her death won’t be in vain; at least now more people are legally preserving their wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/5 "2003-10-23T01:14:52Z")
Yeah, Terry “won”, alright. Time to rev up that living will. ---
**Author:** ![bojon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@bojon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bojon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/6 "2003-10-23T01:18:08Z")
If anyone wants me to be kept alive this way…I will haunt them forever. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/7 "2003-10-23T08:09:31Z")
No you won’t, 'cause they won’t let you die! ::d&r:: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/8 "2003-10-23T08:24:53Z")
I love this bit: > [@](#): > > Michael Schiavo says his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially and doctors have testified she is in a persistent vegetative state. The Schindlers dispute she had such wishes and say their daughter has enough functioning ability to laugh, cry and react to them. Laughter, crying, and reactions are all signs of consciousness. So somebdy is is lying their asses off. I suspect it’s the delusional parents. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/9 "2003-10-23T09:24:29Z")
I google Terri’s name, and got a whole bunch of hits. The overwhelming majority are sites with an obvious agenda. You know, the kind that say “they are trying to muder a disabled person, your disabled love one could be next.” Curiously few actual NEWS reports… ---
**Author:** ![chm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@chm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/10 "2003-10-23T16:07:14Z")
Just to get your hackles up more, the a Toronto Sun columnist’s take on the issue: [http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/woodcock.html](http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/woodcock.html) Yeah, it’s disability rights, nothing about not having any cognitive function yet. It’s torture, no less. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/11 "2003-10-23T16:39:43Z")
:eek: I’ve made my Advance directive, but I’d better get going on that living will. Talk about a wake-up call. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Obvious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Mr.Obvious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Obvious)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/12 "2003-10-23T16:51:19Z")
Jesus…nice piece of writing by that hack…“Connie Woodcock”. "Describing Terri as being in a vegetative state does not seem to do her justice. There are pictures of her with her eyes open, apparently smiling at her parents. " Not without a functioning cerebral cortex you stupid jackass. "For all we know, her mind is still well aware of what’s going on around her. " Jesus…nice research this idiot did preparing for this article…there are only thousands of websites that have detailed this poor woman’s mental capacity…but this twit says…“her mind is still well aware of what’s going on”. ---
**Author:** ![byter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@byter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/byter)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/13 "2003-10-23T17:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Connie Woodcock \* > \*\*And I say that if anything happens to me, don’t even think about pulling the plug. I want to live every minute of my time, thanks, since some life, no matter how limited, has got to be better than no life at all. > \*\* It sounds like Ms. Woodcocks brain isn’t hitting all the synapses anyway. I think it would be hell to have some brain function, and yet the rest of your body is a worthless shell. There is no communication there. I would think it would drive you mad to have brain function and nothing else. Kind of like the twilight zone (I think) episode where someone takes a drug that mimics death, yet the brain still functions…then the person is buried alive. It seems to me that Terri has been buried alive for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/14 "2003-10-24T00:46:11Z")
I also have to wonder how many synapses are firing in Jeb Bush’s head. Oh, I know, it’s all politics. He only pushed through that incredibly stupid bit of legislation to appease the particular “right to life” people who just don’t understand that this woman has no life anymore. A beating heart isn’t automatically a sign of “Life”. Her life ended 13 years ago but her body doesn’t know it yet. I understand her parents not wanting to let her go, but I think they’re hanging on out of some sort of guilt. Sort of a “If we let her die it means we don’t really love her” attitude. Bullshit. She’s already dead. Let her go and accept it. It’s time to move on. This is doing nobody any good, especially Terri. I wouldn’t want to be left like that. If it was me, I’d want them to end it. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/15 "2003-10-24T01:15:30Z")
I had heard of this story a couple of years ago. I was saddened for the parents, as they’re obviously in serious denial, but I was really sad for the husband. His wife all but died thirteen years ago, but her parents are arresting the grieving process. Resentment, instead of grief and understanding, is brewing on both sides. Not only does he lose his wife, but he also loses his life, his inlaws, and money going to keep her alive. What really gets me is the recent developments. In what way is it Jeb Bush’s business or the business of the Florida state congress? And why did they rule to keep this barely living body alive against the wishes of her husband? To run with what **photopat** said, it all went under when it became a political issue for the “right to life” people. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/16 "2003-10-24T03:06:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by photopat \* > **I also have to wonder how many synapses are firing in Jeb Bush’s head. Oh, I know, it’s all politics. He only pushed through that incredibly stupid bit of legislation to appease the particular “right to life” people who just don’t understand that this woman has no life anymore. A beating heart isn’t automatically a sign of “Life”. Her life ended 13 years ago but her body doesn’t know it yet.** You know I am constantly astounded by politics. I really never have a good idea about what either party is going to have to say on an issue that is new to me. Letting people die who most of the medical community says have no chance of recover and no cognitive function at all would seem to me to be a classic money savings move by the Republicans. I think that an issue comes up and the first to speak gets to choose their side of the issue and the other party ends up with the other. ---
**Author:** ![Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smashed_Ice_Cream)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/17 "2003-10-24T07:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\* … pack of assforks… \*\* I just came in to say that I \* really \*like this phrase. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/18 "2003-10-24T10:04:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smashed Ice Cream \* > \*\*I just came in to say that I \* really \*like this phrase. \*\* Dammit! I wanted to say that, Smashy!! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/19 "2003-10-24T13:40:44Z")
Wow, thanks very much, **Smashed Ice Cream** and **SuperLorie**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992/20 "2003-10-24T20:38:21Z")
I have no strong opinion here, but I did watch a few of the videos they have of her, and I have to say that she did not strike me as having completely mindless reflex responses, she struck me as being profoundly mentally disabled, with a few minute shreds of conscious awareness remaining, a tiny smidge of volition. Therefore, I think that both sides are misrepresenting this, taking their evidence to conclusions that are not entirely supported (obviously, hence the debate) and the truth of the debate seems to be…is it legitimate to consider someone with so little (not \* none \*) functioning consciousness \*braindead? \* I completely appreciate both points of view. Whatever pathetic function she has hardly seems like “life” worth hanging on to, and I accept the doctor’s assessment that further improvement is simply impossible. Why keep dragging it out? For whose benefit? It can hardly be said to be hers. On the other hand…she isn’t curled in a ball, withering away, nothing but a beating heart. (That was the condition of the girl whose name I now forget, the one who was on breathing apparatus for years and famously, shockingly, remained alive after the breathing tubes were removed.) She \* does \* have her eyes open, movement, things that could be interpreted as conscious response. It certainly looks like it to me, and obiously to others. And given that, who is to say what lies behind her physical limitations? How can we declare her life not worth preserving? That is a terribly slipperly slope… It’s a real dilemma. I judge no one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pitting-the-ap-for-its-shitty-new-article-about-terri-schiavo/208992.md?page=2)