# Schiavo: What are the ironies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389 "2005-03-26T20:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/1 "2005-03-26T20:16:50Z")
Re the Schiavo case, NPR commentator Daniel Schorr recently said this: > [@](#): > > The case is full of great ironies. A large part of Terri’s hospice costs are paid by Medicaid, a program that the administration and conservatives in Congress would sharply reduce. Some of her other expenses have been covered by the million-dollar proceeds of a malpractice suit - the kind of suit that President Bush has fought to scale back. Other ironies that come to mind for me are: 1. Attempting to force-feed a woman who was bulemic. 2. So-called conservatives criticizing judges for not taking actions they condemn as “activism” in other cases. 3. Christians doing everything they can to keep a woman clinging to earthly life. Others? Comments? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/2 "2005-03-26T20:24:23Z")
So called states-rights people trying to override the state’s decision. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/3 "2005-03-26T20:30:43Z")
The party that claims to be in favor of smaller, less intrusive government interfering in a personal decision between a husband and wife. The religious right breaking the “Thou shalt not lie” commandment in their attacks on Terri’s husband. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/4 "2005-03-26T20:31:27Z")
And of course people who were opposed to states rights arguments in the past now espousing states rights positions. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/5 "2005-03-26T20:48:34Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > And of course people who were opposed to states rights arguments in the past now espousing states rights positions. Good eye, **BobT**. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/6 "2005-03-26T21:42:31Z")
Members of Congress claiming that they’re trying to save a life, despite the fact that almost all of them supported a war in Iraq that’s killed thousands of innocent people? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/7 "2005-03-26T21:46:46Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > 1. Attempting to force-feed a woman who was bulemic. Plus, if she was bulemic, it’s a safe bet she was concerned about her appearance and would be horrified to have all these extremely unflattering pictures of her as front-page news for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/8 "2005-03-26T21:54:59Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > Members of Congress claiming that they’re trying to save a life, despite the fact that almost all of them supported a war in Iraq that’s killed thousands of innocent people? So you’re saying that it’s impossible to value life and support a war, or just the Iraq war? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/9 "2005-03-27T00:03:15Z")
Right-wingers that scream “marriage is sacred!” to keep it from the evil gays, but decide Mike and Terri’s union is not so much sacred. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/10 "2005-03-27T00:06:34Z")
The bigger irony is in President Bush’s comments about erring on the side of life; he has never been concerned about erring on the side of not executing an innocent person. There’s also the bill he signed in Texas that explicitly gave doctors the right to make some terminal care decisions against the family’s wishes. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/11 "2005-03-27T03:38:31Z")
> [@](#): > > So called states-rights people trying to override the state’s decision. I hardly think that conservatives seeking to expand federal power count as “irony” any more. If it does, then we are surely living in the most ironic times in human history. > [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > So you’re saying that it’s impossible to value life and support a war, or just the Iraq war? I’m saying that it’s impossible to value life and support a war that was started for the purpose of stealing oil. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/12 "2005-03-27T14:59:41Z")
It’s come out recently that [Tom DeLay](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-delay27mar27,0,5710023.story?coll=la-home-headlines) went through a similar situation with his own father. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/13 "2005-03-27T15:00:49Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > I’m saying that it’s impossible to value life and support a war that was started for the purpose of stealing oil. Stealing oil? Oh, I suppose that’s why my gas prices are down around 50 cents a gallon…because we stole Iraq’s oil. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/14 "2005-03-27T15:31:04Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > The bigger irony is in President Bush’s comments about erring on the side of life; he has never been concerned about erring on the side of not executing an innocent person. And on the same set of issues, insisting the court can be in error about the Schiavo case while not questioning any of the death penalty decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/15 "2005-03-27T15:34:57Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Stealing oil? > > Oh, I suppose that’s why my gas prices are down around 50 cents a gallon…because we stole Iraq’s oil. > > :rolleyes: So um…\*why \* are we there, again? I mean, I don’t think it’s oil, either, but I can’t really put my finger on why. No WMDs, \*Osama \* attacked us. Revenge for what happened to his daddy? Sheer obstinacy? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/16 "2005-03-27T15:46:45Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Stealing oil? > > Oh, I suppose that’s why my gas prices are down around 50 cents a gallon…because we stole Iraq’s oil. > > :rolleyes: Geez, don’t you watch the news? Oil prices dropped when American forces were welcomed by the Iraqi populace as liberators. Why, since our troops waltzed into Bagdad on streets strewn with rose petals, gas has been cheap, cheap, cheap. . . . .What? ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/17 "2005-03-27T18:25:34Z")
Anyone else really hoping that the Pope announces that, if his illness reaches a certain point, he doesn’t want to be kept alive artificially. That would be hilarious… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/18 "2005-03-27T18:29:09Z")
People who have spent the last fifty years federalizing damn near everything objecting to giving a federal court the right to review a state case… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/19 "2005-03-27T18:33:38Z")
Also ironic is hearing Republicans such as Tom DeLay argue _against_ the importance of the “sanctity of marriage.” ---
**Author:** ![Fanny\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3be4f8/32.png) [@Fanny\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fanny_May)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389/20 "2005-03-27T19:34:01Z")
When the chanters started comparing her to Christ at easter, I found that offensive. She didn’t take on anyone’s sins. The big irony I see is that thousands of other plugs are being pulled and nobody cares, it’s all private. Why do some cases like this, and the annual one about a child custody, rise to the level of the presidency and supreme court, while so many identical cases are ignored? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-what-are-the-ironies/296389.md?page=2)