Letters 04/14/05

April 13, 2005

Life & Death
I liked your ‘Random Thoughts’ on Terri Schiavo.
There is a very good reason for your ambivalence to her situation: there is no answer to the question. With our science we have interfered with our biology; we can keep the body alive, but not the spirit, and by doing so we have taken responsibility for what will happen, and we don’t know what to do next.
Some people say they know what they would do if they were in such a situation, but until you are, you are kidding yourself. It pays to think about such situations before you are there, but you are never fully prepared.
Twenty two years ago my mother died, 15 years after her first heart attack. She had many additional heart attacks and strokes before her heart would not pump enough to keep her alive even with an oxygen tube in her nose.
Each time a heart attack made her unconscious, my dad would call 911, and each time my mom would plead with my dad not to revive her. She was at peace and feeling no pain, but my dad couldn’t ‘let go’.
When I arrived, the day she died, my younger brother was next to my dad beside her bed saying, “Let her go dad, let her go.“
It was not a pleasant sight, watching her body trying to get enough oxygen to keep functioning. I can’t remember how long it took or how long I stayed, but I knew there was nothing I could do. I didn’t want to interrupt my brother because my dad was listening to him; he did not call 911.
I repeated what my brother said and left the room.
I could not grieve. For me, my mom died after her second stroke; I grieved for her then. She was no longer my mom, she was almost completely helpless, she couldn’t remember, her spirit was gone.
I can understand that some people can’t ‘let go’ but I’m amazed that so many people claim to know God’s will in this situation. Most people would consider me crass, because from an economic point of view we can’t afford to keep dead people alive. When the spirit is gone we are dead. From a scientific point of view, I must go with the probability whether the spirit can return or not. We don’t know how to keep the spirit alive or if it will return; hence our problem, we don’t know what to do next.

Richard R. Riker • Mackinaw City

DeLay‘s shady ethics
Republican ethics... a real oxymoron of late. Last year, when it appeared that Tom DeLay might be indicted for his illegal gerrymandering tactics, GOP leaders changed the House rules in order to protect DeLay’s power. Then they removed the independent-minded chairman of the ethics committee since he believed in protecting the integrity of the House, not Tom Delay.
Now, Republican denators are working on the “nuclear option,“ a proposal that would end the filibuster. Does this make anyone else uneasy?
This Republican majority is behaving like a mob, trying to silence the minority and again change the rules to make sure they get their own way. If they are allowed to chip away at the rights of any minority, where will it end?
From these ugly examples, it is evident that the primary Republican motivation is protection of their power. This time the issue is judicial nominees; next time who knows? If they continue to act like a gang of thugs, no one will be safe.

MaryAnn Beaser • Plymouth

On the wrong track
Thirty five years ago when I was in the military in Vietnam, I was told that I was fighting for freedom and democracy. What I learned is that war brings neither and war precipitates lies, half truths and secrecy.
Today, we have the Patriot Act that defies the Constitution, the No Child Left Behind Act that hurts kids, and the Clear Skies Act that increases pollution. I hear politicians say that the U.S.A. has the best health care in the world, but I see that we are ranked 36th. I hear politicians say that the U.S.A. is compassionate, but I see that we have more children living in poverty than any other industrialized country, and only the U.S.A. and Somalia have refused to sign the Covenant on the Rights of the Child.
I hear the words, but I see a federal budget that rewards the mega-rich and their corporations and cuts virtually every program that helps our country.
A strong nation is built on teamwork, honesty, and positive action. I’m ready for some “show me”.

Arnold Stieber • Grass Lake

Don‘t mess with S.S.
This family does not go along with Mr. Bush‘s approach on privatizing Social Security. I am thankful that other people can also see that it is not good for the U.S.A.
Everyone should be fully paying into Social Security. Many workers have company pensions of 401 (K) style investment plans and those should go to their kin, not deleted out of the Social Security fund.
Changing the age on benefits is one thing, but taking money out to privatize Social Security that would have been in the fund is wrong.
Essie Danger • Lake City

READINGS:
“I was collecting firewood for my family when three armed men on camels came and surrounded me. They held me down, tied my hands and raped me, one after the other. When I arrived home, I told my family what had happened.
“They threw me out of home, and I had to build my own hut away from them. I was engaged to a man, and I was so much looking forward to getting married. After I got raped, he did not want to marry me and broke off the engagement because he said I was now disgraced and spoilt. ...
“When I was eight months pregnant from the rape, the police came to my hut and forced me with their guns to go to the police station. They asked me questions, so I told them that I had been raped. They told me that as I was not married, I will deliver this baby illegally.
“They beat me with a whip on the chest and back and put me in jail.”

-- the testimony of a 16-year-old girl in Darfur from a report by Doctors Without Borders