Inconsistencies

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2005 - 9:36 a.m.

There's a man in Florida who is in the process of letting his wife die of thirst. A woman who is disabled and unable to fend for herself.

No court has reinstated her feeding tube.

Yet there are judges in this country who will jail women who wanted to get their pregnancies terminated and would have done so if they had not been deliberately incarcerated.

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I got an email from a friend last night:

Hi,

The same people who smeared John Kerry with the false and hate-filled swift boat ads have decided to use those tactics in their effort to dismantle Social Security. This time their target is the AARP, a group that millions of seniors rely on to defend their interests.

They started their campaign with a ridiculous, bigoted ad, and they're gearing up for more -- check out this link to sign a petiton telling broadcasters to not let this front group put its political hate speech and distortions on the air:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/stopusanext/

Thanks!

I responded thusly:

I honestly do understand how you feel about this -- but my opinion is that if the left wing is allowed to say what they want and have it be covered under freedom of speech, then so does the right wing. I am proud to live in a country that allows everybody to have their say, and I cannot imagine a circumstance under which I would ever sign a petition requesting a restriction upon those rights.

Mind you, maybe there are a few of you out there who can't figure out how I can say this after I stomped a website to death for using my artwork without permission.

Simple -- freedom of speech does not cover theft of intellectual property.

And by the way, as I was composing this entry, I saw the commercial in question.

It does not have hate speech or distortions in it.

Come to think of it, neither did the swift boat ads.

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Okay. Done for the day -- unless I'm not. :-P

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6 of my readers commented on this entry

ART
hiya! i totally agree with ya that free speech is not the same as theft of intellectual property! but on the other hand i totally DISAGREE with you that the swift boat ads were not distorted. they were. none of those former sailors in those ads ever served with senator kerry. they held similar jobs and assignments. but thats all! nuff said, i lost, so i live with it! hava swell day!!
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Jamie
Letting people 'die of thirst' is not uncommon. When people dehydrate, their tolerance for pain is boosted, thus making their final passage less painful. It sounds like a cruel, cruel way to let someone go -- but it's been practiced for many, many years.
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Jamie
...but yes, I got your point. ;-) ILY!
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nekoonna
I live in the capital of FL, so I get to hear about the Shivo case all the time, it's been in our news for the past year or so. The thing is, Terri has been in a vegatable state for 15 years. She told her husband that she didnt want to be like that, but her parents think somehow god will fix her and she'll come out of the coma. Jeb has practically broken the law, time and again, to make sure that she doesnt die. Now his brother's in on the act to. Terri wont die until 10 days after the tubes been removed, and that was only on friday. This judge is apparently one who likes to think things through before making a decsion, and it's not like Terri's going anywhere. I hope I didnt piss you off, cause I love reading your dairy
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Brin
Art, good point. I'll investigate further. And Nekoonna, no, of course not. I understand that this is what everybody has decided. I was just annoyed at the inconsistency of the people who make life and death decisions is all. Life is life and death is death, and that's not religion, that's plain old science. Anyway, all of youse, thanks for the feedback!
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jane
I agree. LEft or right, we all have free speech. ANd what do you mean by mountains? all we have are the TETOns and they arent much (pretty iguess, but nothing compared to cascades back home). I think colorado sounds great. Ill ask the husband.:) thanks for the note
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