Burnt Orange Report

I think you are carving out a new niche in BOR writing Andrew, the long in-depth controversial posts. Keep it up! :)

Argh, I was cleaning out spam and I accidently deleted some comments on this entry. Sorry (nate, I think).

FLIP FLOP! Is there no end to this? Maybe if there was any depth to Andrews positions they wouldn't change every five minutes. Pick any two posts of Andrew's and there is your proof. There are no standards if you are writing on a blog. You can get it all wrong, change your story, and write things that aren't true. And your fellow bloggers... they will just cheer you on... some more hits and maybe another ad. Andrew has found a new niche: trashy political tabloid with no credibility.

Andrew,

good post, nicely done. being open-minded enough to change one's mind and courageous enough to admit it are what make some humans special in my mind. well done.

tg

I think it's great that Andrew has the integrity to be able to change his mind. Blogging is a forum that supposed to be for changing people's minds. You voice your opinion and try to sway others through debate. You can't decry one person's opinion, then decry that they've changed their opinion after much thought.

At the risk of seeming cold-hearted, the fundamental issue of the Schiavo case is not the moral issue, but the legal one. In my view, moral legislation is cant and hypocrisy, and our Congress has embarassed themselves in this cheap attempt to garner political capital.

This issue, as the Florida courts maintained, must be decided by the legal guardian.

Like most people, I've got an opinion on this one too, but I think that we all need to remember that unless we're faced with these kinds of quandaries personally...we're all just acting as bravely as we'd like to think we are.

I tend to favor turning over control of Terri's life to those people that brought her into this world. It would appear that the medical community is split on the quality of Terri's life and the possibility of some type of recovery. I think that the final decision should rest with her parents, since they're still alive.

I just hope and pray that I'm never faced with this kind of decision...or that I place my children, wife or parents in a position where they're faced with it.

See you on the high ground!

MajorDad1984

Thanks for clarifying what I can and can't do. I'll be sure to add it to my blog rulebook.

So lets get two points out here. There is a difference between changing an opinion and going from one extreme to another on almost every important issue. Thoughtful opinion doesn't change every five minutes.

Though blogging may not require much journalistic accountability, a minimum level of respect for your readers requires at least browsing a few Google hits before posting.

If Andrew is too uninformed to make consistent arguments, he should consider writing in question and answer form. Just asking is much more respectable than being consistently wrong -- and constantly doubling back on yourself.

More like guidelines really.

It is not life that we must always err on the side of, but liberty and freedom. Life without liberty is less than worthless.

This is a case easy to flip-flop on because so many values and ideas are in direct competition. I agree that Andrew was not as informed of the situation as he should have been when first blogging, but like that hasn't happened to anyone. The problem is that too many jump into this argument, using really uninformed opinion about whether or not Terry is responsive to her environment based on a few minutes of video. I see parents give credit to a month-old baby for incredibly high-level cognition, people think machines have personalities, and animals can "talk" to them.

The problem I had with Andrew's first post wasn't his opinion on Terri per se but that he pretty much repeated arguments that I've heard on conservative talk radio for the last week. Then, the criticism on Democrats for not protecting the weak? While I don't doubt Andrew's support of the Democratic party, I sometimes think he overcriticizes Democrats to be fairhanded (though some come across earnest and warranted).

What is wretched are the Republicans like Tom DeLay who turned Terri's case into something about conservatives: "This [the Schiavo case] is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others." The Republicans took no lead on anything except grandstanding and making it about them.

How come no one asks DeLay how many people will have their tubes and plugs pulled because of the $15 billion cut in Medicaid pushed by DeLay last week?? Was the Palm Sunday bill an act of contrition?

Although I think it's sad and hope Terri well, it would be poetic justice to have her Medicaid funding run out before the case is settled.

Andrew,

Thank you for being brave enough to change your mind and admit that you had not investigated all the facts. We have all been there before but some of us weren't strong enough to admit it. Keep it up!

Andrew - Bravo to you for setting down the GOP Kool Aid and finding this wonderful document, which I had not read until you linked to it. Your analysis is right on, and it's clearer to me now that the GOP politicians behind this (Gov. Bush, et al) have known for a while the medical reality behind Terri Schiavo's case, but they are acting for craven political reasons. Even Delay was taped (heard this on Air America this morning) saying to a group of Republicans that God gave them the Schiavo case to show the cruelty of liberals (or humanity...it wasn't clear to me).

One of the great things about blogging is that you have immediate feedback. Andrew took reader feedback, looked deeper, realized he was wrong, and owned up to it. That alone shows he is incapable of being a Republican. As we know, the GOP of today is incapable of admitting error, no matter what evidence surfaces.

Thanks for the follow-up. I pray that Terri Schiavo finds peace soon.

Another good summary of the legal case-

http://www2.townonline.com/somerville/entertainment/view.bg?articleid=207748

I respect Andrew for being a liberal and seeking evidence from both sides and for being willing to change his mind when presented with more evidence.

I had commented on Andrew's first post that I had some personal knowledge of right-to-die cases and they are personal matters best handled by the doctors and the family without state involement. It is sad that becuase of all the publicity the hospice can't just increase the morphine but must starve her body. The fact that except for the brain stem and some lower portions all her higher brain areas are now just liquid and dead tissue doesn't mean that I wish pain for the equivalent of an animal even unable to swallow on her own.

As I said before to those on the opposite side why are you not demanding Bush and Texas rescind the law they created for Texas that removes any family members from making the decision and leaves it only up to the doctors or hospital? Under Texas law the plug would have been pulled over ten years ago. (The conservative exception - if you are rich enough you can remove the victim to any place willing to take your money.)

Andrew:

I had always supported the decision to let Mrs. Schiavo go in peace, but I read the GAL's report and it also opened my eyes to many facts of which I was not aware. The thing that leaped out at me was that not one the 17 doctors who submitted affidavits to the court supporting her parents' position had ever laid eyes on Mrs. Schiavo in person; they watched the tapes provided and edited by her parents, some of them directly off the parents' website.

And it made me wonder -- is this what we've come to in the age of managed care, diagnosis by proxy?

I don't know if you will even see this as it is 3 months later. But I just want to say how much I admire a person that can admit they've made a mistake.

Good for you!