Two brave emissaries from a strange and terrible place
Dudley Clendinen is a former editor at the AJC, among other places, although I do not know him personally. His time here in Atlanta did not coincide with mine.
Last year, Clendinen was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. In an essay in last weekend’s New York Times, he writes about how heartened he has been by the way his friends and relatives have rallied around him.
” … one, from Texas, put a hand on my thinning shoulder and appeared to study the ground where we were standing. He had flown in to see me.
“We need to go buy you a pistol, don’t we?” he asked quietly. He meant to shoot myself with.
“Yes, Sweet Thing,” I said, with a smile. “We do.”
I loved him for that.
As Clendinen notes, ALS — or “Lou,” as he calls it — is “not a kind disease.”
“The nerves and muscles pulse and twitch, and progressively, they die. From the outside, it looks like the ripple of piano keys in the muscles under my skin. From the inside, it feels like anxious butterflies, trying to get out. It starts in the hands and feet and works its way up and in, or it begins in the muscles of the mouth and throat and chest and abdomen, and works its way down and out. The second way is called bulbar, and that’s the way it is with me. We don’t live as long, because it affects our ability to breathe early on, and it just gets worse. “
Having thought about it long and hard, and having witnessed the long, drawn-out death of his mother, Clendinen has made a decision.
“If I choose to have the tracheotomy that I will need in the next several months to avoid choking and perhaps dying of aspiration pneumonia, the respirator and the staff and support system necessary to maintain me will easily cost half a million dollars a year. Whose half a million, I don’t know.
I’d rather die.”
No, Clendinen writes, he won’t do it by firearm. But he will do it, and has apparently made arrangements so that he’s ready when he decides the time has come.
Reading Clendinen’s essay, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast with the approach taken by another journalist, a man I did know. Brian Dickinson, the editorial page editor and columnist of the Providence (R.I.) Journal, was a man of charisma and talent. Like Clendinen, he was diagnosed with ALS.
Brian, however, chose to play it out all the way to the end. He lived for a decade after his initial diagnosis, a decade of decline and stubborn refusal. “Except for the fact that I can still manage a smile and still have full control of my eye muscles, I could almost be taken for some outlandish display in Madame Tussaud’s wax museum,” he wrote in 1998, six years into his sentence. In those last years, technology allowed Dickinson to communicate and even write regular columns through the blinking of his eyes.
“Combat against ALS is its own reward,” he wrote. “The disease now defines the terms of my existence. If I were to cave in too easily, I would be violating the terms of an implicit contract that I had with someone.”
I would not judge either man. The course each chose requires its own sort of bravery, and the decision they faced is perhaps the most personal, intimate decision that human intelligence allows or condemns us to make.
Like emissaries from a land we hope we never visit, Dickinson and Clendinen have each tried to tell us how it feels and what it means to face such a situation, but perhaps the most important lesson they teach is that human beings will respond to the same predicament very differently, and should be allowed the freedom to do so.
– Jay Bookman
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341 comments Add your comment
DawgDad
July 21st, 2011
10:12 am
delta: Christians (with a capital C) commit all kinds of sins, just like non-Christians. You appear to be in no position to speak to what Christians believe, and I can assure you they are not all of one mind. At least one will say a prayer for you today.
waterstim
July 21st, 2011
10:12 am
It should be for you
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
10:14 am
kayaker – 10:11 –
holy cow. that’s two really good ones today. you’re on fiyah.
1811/0311
July 21st, 2011
10:15 am
And while Jay is blogging about death this morning:
Headline (AJC): “Sheriff: Officers ‘devastated’ over fatal shooting of Clayton deputy”
http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/sheriff-officers-devastated-over-1029871.html
(and the punk is probably too young to get the death penalty)
Brosephus
July 21st, 2011
10:15 am
kayaker @ 10:11
I could not agree with you more. Bet you thought you’d never see me post that, huh?
1811/0311
July 21st, 2011
10:16 am
Don’t do as I do …………. do as I say:
Headlines:
“Like Obama, Emanuel rejects public schools for his children…”
“CHICAGOLAND: Rahm gets testy about kid question, walks out… “
Larry
July 21st, 2011
10:16 am
Jay, Sorry, I misjudged your audience. They will argue over anything. Good Day!
1811/0311
July 21st, 2011
10:17 am
The debacle under this administration continues:
“JOBLESS JUMPS AGAIN, RISES TO 418,000…”
“15TH STRAIGHT WEEK OVER 400K… “
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
10:18 am
Scout – he’s 17 – I could be wrong, but I think GA has executed younger than that
Brosephus
July 21st, 2011
10:18 am
Scout
That kid will be tried as an adult. Watch!!
ty webb
July 21st, 2011
10:18 am
Suicide should be a legal option. Assisted suicide has many gray areas, which to some extent could be rectified with legal contracts. DNR’s and assisted suicide are two different things.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 21st, 2011
10:20 am
Why are Christians automatically associated with being on the right? Anyone care to guess how many Christians are on the left? The numbers may suprise you…
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
10:21 am
ty and kayaker – it’s interesting (to me, anyway) how this issue seems to transcent traditional right and left.
Brosephus
July 21st, 2011
10:23 am
Mike
I guess people are believing the fantasy that’s been spun about the Left being immoral athiests and such. Add the fact that you always hear about the Religious Right, and you have a recipe for Christians to be branded as being on the right.
Jen
July 21st, 2011
10:23 am
I understand! My father died of ALS 18 years ago, and refused to get help. He knew he was terminal and hated being like that, in bed, having people turn him. He lived a little over a year with it, my Mom kept him in the home until the end. He got to see his 4th grandchild, but at that point all he could do was look and smile. Thank god he wasn’t in pain, and my Mom could not understand why he didn’t fight more. I respect his decision, this is someone who, before he got sick, traveled all over with us and then with Mom, when we grew up and left home. Quality of life was not here, and in the end, pneumonia got him, his lungs and all the helpful muscles failed.
Stonethrower
July 21st, 2011
10:25 am
Woodstock Mike
Liberal Christians vs Conservative Christians, can the 2 coexist?
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
10:25 am
Schiavo was the biggest Christian clusterf*** of the century. It is absolutely none of the government’s or the Church’s business how family members make decisions for their own.
To be fair, the FAMILY were the ones who took their fight first through the court system then to the government when they lost in court. They just refused to let her go – they let their grief over run their common sense.
And, also to be fair, politicians, no matter what stripe, are publicity w@@hores, who will grab onto something, (whether they are for or against it), just so that it’ll get their names in the paper.
Schrodinger's cat
July 21st, 2011
10:26 am
So let get this straight….It’s okay to kill the unborn, and ourselves if we choose, but not the hardened criminals on death row?
Adam
July 21st, 2011
10:32 am
The fact that part of this conversation has turned to a choice between living while racking up expenses for others, versus dying to avoid racking up those expenses, is where the problem lies. We shouldn’t be making an argument like that, because the value of a human life should not be determined in dollar amounts. If that’s the primary reason for someone wanting to die, something is seriously wrong with the way we look at medical care in general.
Doggone/GA
July 21st, 2011
10:33 am
“but not the hardened criminals on death row?”
Speaking for myself, yes. Primarily because so often we got the wrong person. I always come down on the “it’s better that a guilty man go free than that an innocent man be executed” – but also, speaking as a Christian, if we execute them we are denying them their opportunity to repent their sins.
That they might not take advantage of that opportuinty does not, in my mind, negate our responsibility to allow them that chance.
I do not see the death penalty as any kind of punishment for their crimes. You can’t, really, adequately “punish” someone for a horrific crime. You can only exact revenge…and that is what the death penalty, ultimately, is.
delta burke
July 21st, 2011
10:38 am
conservative christians don’t beleive in personal freedom/choice. they wan to control you from the rooter to the tooter. they’ll climb in your bed-whether it’s judging/scolding you for your sexual piccadillos or even if your rotting away in a cold hosptial-they always no best. to paraphrase the stones, “get off my cloud” beotches….
AmVet
July 21st, 2011
10:40 am
Adam. I agree that money is the most important aspect to consider, but….
Does one burn through hundreds of thousands of dollars, that would otherwise go to their children (for example) for a few months of a horrific “life”?
I have no answer, but I think it is a fair question…
delta burke
July 21st, 2011
10:40 am
Oops! typos-believe/want/know…ya’ll get the gist, in a rush, off to the hospital-to see a friend.
Peace, mofo’s
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
10:42 am
Adam: The fact that part of this conversation has turned to a choice between living while racking up expenses for others, versus dying to avoid racking up those expenses, is where the problem lie……….the value of a human life should not be determined in dollar amounts………….. something is seriously wrong with the way we look at medical care in general.
Most people are concerned with their “Quality of Life” too. Debt is a serious concern, true; but for me it would be like being trapped in a body (with ALS) that would feel like being trapped in a coffin buried underground while i was still alive.
AmVet
July 21st, 2011
10:42 am
Redact my last to read, NOT the most important aspect…
kayaker 71
July 21st, 2011
10:42 am
Capt Orange,
“They let their grief overcome their common sense”. That’s pretty easy to do with grieving families who are in denial. Reality, in times like those, is an elusive thing. The politicians have no dog in this fight. Both Bushes made asses out of themselves.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
10:42 am
What Doggone said – GA, alone, has executed 5 people who were found to be innocent after the fact
Schrodinger's cat
July 21st, 2011
10:43 am
Adam, Isn’t that the argument made for abortion advocates ? To prevent a woman from being strapped with a child she can’t afford (in one sense or another)?
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
10:45 am
hmmm that should read: for me it would be like, (with ALS), being trapped in a body that feels like I’m trapped in a coffin buried underground while i was still alive.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
10:50 am
Schrodinger’s cat – that’s one of the reasons women have ALWAYS gotten abortions, for hundreds of years
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
10:51 am
“So you think that people who work for a private company and profit from not giving out benefits are more trustworthy than those who are appointed by elected officials?”
Abso – frikkin’ – lutely I would!
But here’s the kicker. I trust ME first, insurance company second and government last. Government always comes in last in every category in my book.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 21st, 2011
10:52 am
“If that’s the primary reason for someone wanting to die, something is seriously wrong with the way we look at medical care in general.”
The statement above may be true but sometimes there is no easy answer. The reality is with new medicine and technology humans are going to survive much longer. Costs of keeping someone alive are enormous, that’s just a fact. So, what’s the answer, bankrupt the entire system so we can keep people alive longer?
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
10:52 am
“Schrodinger’s cat – that’s one of the reasons women have ALWAYS gotten abortions, for hundreds of years”
And here it was that I thought they always got abortions because they always carried the child . . .
Silly me.
Hiya, USinUK!
ty webb
July 21st, 2011
10:56 am
Usinuk,
yeah, many issues overlap…one can be so far “right” that they’re actually “left” on issues, and vice versa. Issues pertaining to individuals liberty(this one, drug legalization, gay marriage, etc) are easliy clear cut to me…my philosophy is simply “leave me alone”.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
10:56 am
Dave –
well, there IS that.
ty webb
July 21st, 2011
10:57 am
…and my wallet.
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:06 am
carlosgvv
July 21st, 2011
8:47 am
You would be amazed at how many “good Christians” woudl stand over these men and deny them the right
++++++++++++++++++
Just jumping in after a meeting and no time to read all the jabs, but to Carlos:
I am amazed at how you continue to deny the fact that counseling could work for your condition.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
11:16 am
ty – 10:56 – I’d add a “the hell” in there to make the sentiment complete
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
11:18 am
There is a dichotomy between those who value “life” whether religiously motivated or not, and the same who supposedly value freedom.
After all, couldn’t forcing your view of life on someone simply be considered taking away some part of that person’s freedom?
It is MY life, isn’t it?
Why should the state, via some elected representative who was placed in office by those who value life, be allowed to control whether I choose to live or die at a particular moment?
carlosgvv
July 21st, 2011
11:19 am
jt
If I had my way, a terminally ill person would be allowed euthanasia if they asked for it, provided that a boad certified MD certified they truly had a terminal ilness. Unfortunately, “born again Christians” are in positions of authority in every State and will fight with all their energy to keep these people alive and suffering as long as possible. They do this, of course, in God’s name. They are first cousins in their dogma to Islamic fundamentalists.
deegee
July 21st, 2011
11:19 am
My deceased uncle battled ALS for about 6 years. His family and friends rallied around him until the bitter end. He continues to be an inspiration to me in spirit. As he continued to decline he availed himself to the ALS research facility at Johns Hopkins. He wanted to make a contribution to help cure the disease in whatever way possible.
Speaking of contributions, my uncle was a card carrying member of the Republican Party for most of his adult life. After his ALS diagnosis, the issue of embryonic stem cell research became very important to him. When the Republicans would call him to ask for a contribution to the Party he would let them know that they wouldn’t see a dime from him until they changed their stance on embryonic stem cell research.
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
11:22 am
Headline: Obama shifts debt-talk tactics, drops call for end to Bush tax rates
Who the hell is advising him, Karl Rove? He just lost my vote — I’d rather vote for a 3 legged donkey carrying Rush Limbaugh and all his money before I’d put Obama back in office. Enough kowtowing. More fighting.
Jay
July 21st, 2011
11:28 am
That’s a headline from back in June, Capt. Orange.
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:32 am
The fact that some find themselves in a place where choosing suicide as an option is very sobering. Every time I hear one of these stories, particularly concerning a friend or acquaintance, I realize my many blessings.
+++++++++++++++++
I have read (no citation available) that the rate of suicide increases in tough economic times.
Georgia’s unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in June from a revised 9.8 percent in May, the state labor department said Thursday.
The state’s jobless rate has barely improved from a year ago, when it was 10 percent. AJC
Separately, initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to 418,000, the Labor Department said, above economists’ expectations for a rise to 410,000. Reuters
Initial claims have now been above the 400,000 mark for 15 straight weeks. CNBC
On Friday, 1,500 shuttle workers are scheduled to get their pink slips. By the time all the layoff notices are handed out, a total of 8,000 workers will have been cut. ABC
MrLiberty
July 21st, 2011
11:33 am
You either own your own body or the government does. There is no middle ground. If you cannot do with your body as you see fit so long as it causes no direct harm to others, then you are not the owner. Currently we are OWNED BY OUR GOVERNMENT. They restrict our labor, they restrict what we can do with our bodies, they restrict what we can put into our bodies, and they even restrict where we can go with our bodies.
Yes, the right to life is yours because of your existence. It is certainly yours to do with as YOU see fit. Government is a horrible creation of man.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
11:34 am
wow, uncle jed … you have an amazing grasp of the obvious
Laurie
July 21st, 2011
11:35 am
Thank you for something different today, something for us all to step back and think about.
Rally
July 21st, 2011
11:37 am
The market is winning Obama some polling points. Should come in handy come the election next year, folks. What a market. What a world! The GOP is as it always was: a proper cog in the checks-and-balances wheel. It’s true that liberals would probably turn this country into a nanny-on-a-gravy-train state without the nearly implacable opposition of a contrarian party. That was our founding premise: that absolute power corrupts absolutely. and it does.
Obama a big landslide winner in ‘12.
Hey, where was Murdoch’s wife when Snookie got punched on Jersey Shore?
carlosgvv
July 21st, 2011
11:41 am
Uncle Jed
As just what is this “condition” you speak of?
Sandy
July 21st, 2011
11:41 am
This is so sad. I too once suffered from depression. I thought about suicide many times for many years. Then I went to church with a friend and the minister prophesied to me that I had a suicidal spirit that came from generations before me. She laid hands on me and I was delivered from that spirit. I have not considered suicide since. After I came out of the darkness and God delivered me from that demonic spirit, I realized how selfish I would have been if I would have taken the life that God has blessed me with. Before I was told by one of Gods’ prophets that I had that spirit of me I have never had hands laid on me by any minister. She was on point. God is a loving God. A kind God. I do know that sometimes it doesn’t seem that way but He is wonderful, awesome. I can’t say enough about Him. He is the I AM. Like he told Moses. He is all that and then some!
I know it gets lonely and it’s a very dark place. I too know how members of your family may know or deny the fact that you are depressed. God is the only way. Please get help. Our life here is only for a small portion of time compared to eternity. When your spirit leaves your body it will live on. The choices you make on this earth will determine if you live in peace eternally or live in pure torture eternally. The choice is yours. Choose to live. Ask God to help you with your pain and He will.
bookman parrot
July 21st, 2011
11:42 am
To carlosgvv@
July 21st, 2011
8:47 am,
The Tea Party is not in charge of Washington. It is the libs. So place your blame in the right place.
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
11:42 am
Oh. Then “never mind……..”
However, I will quickly come back with this ditty – not as OMG as the other headline but, it’s still makes me sick to my stomach. NOTE TO OBAMA: When you have a full house — don’t throw in the cards:
The president, pushing for a deal that would cut the nation’s budget deficit across the next decade and extend the government’s tapped-out borrowing power through the approaching election year, had threatened to veto any stopgap expansion of the nation’s debt limit. He even challenged Cantor, R-Va., not to call his bluff about it in one confrontational moment last week.
Obama’s now-calibrated position, offered by spokesman Jay Carney, reflected the reality: leaders are nearly out of time to head off unprecedented trouble. Carney said if a divided Congress and the White House can agree on a significant deal, Obama would accept a “very short-term extension” of the debt limit to let bigger legislation work its way through Congress.
AngryRedMarsWoman
July 21st, 2011
11:43 am
Tough subject. Healthcare, particularly at end of life, is at once both private and public in that due to insurance and the finite nature of resources we all share in it. That is right folks – we cannot all have every bit of healthcare we need or want as there is only so much to go around. Millions you spend keeping a person on life support in a vegetative state are millions not spent on someone else. Unfortunately, someone has to decide who gets what and money is a determining factor. I have not faced death – I like to think I will be brave and I will do what is “right” and not selfishly suck up resources and keep using organs that could be put to better use by someone else, but humans are naturally selfish and when faced with the choice I might want “just one more day” to look into the faces of my husband and son. I have a living will, so if I am a vegetable and have no hope then the decision is already made….but I am fearful of being in a state where I have to make a conscious decision all by myself. I, like most, hope and pray (to the god of your choice or none) that I am taken quickly and painlessly and don’t have to make a decision – and that my organs are intact and can be used.
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:45 am
Just in case the following wasn’t obvious:
July 20, 2011
Concerns About Economy, Jobs Outweigh Worries About Deficit
Almost 9 in 10 Americans say now is not a good time to find quality job
by Frank NewportPRINCETON, NJ –
Americans name the economy and unemployment/jobs as the most important problems facing the nation, as they have all year, despite the dominant focus in Washington on the federal debt ceiling. The deficit comes in third as the top problem, followed by dissatisfaction with government in general, healthcare, and concerns about wars.
What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?
July 7-10, 2011
Economy in General: 31%
Unemployment/Jobs: 27%
Federal Budget Deficit/Debt: 16%
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
11:47 am
sandy – while I know depression is horribly debilitating, it’s not ALS or other horrible diseases. they can’t “choose” to live -
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
11:48 am
“The Tea Party is not in charge of Washington. It is the libs. ”
looks like SOMEone slept through last november’s elections.
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:50 am
As just what is this “condition” you speak of?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You answered your own question, my friend, and simultaneously made my point.
,
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
11:51 am
I too know how members of your family may know or deny the fact that you are depressed. God is the only way.
Sandy although I commend you for fighting your depression and seeking solace in God, the gist of the topic today, (or rather where the conversation is heading), is not about suicide as a means to end depression, but suicide, as means to end debilitating illness and a destruction of quality of life.
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
11:51 am
I don’t think that 40 or 50 freshman representatives could be considered “in charge”, USinUK.
I prefer to think of them as one big-a$$ed brake being applied before we careen off a cliff . . .
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
11:53 am
Dave – I’m sorry … who’s speaker again?
Pelosi?
no.
Normal
July 21st, 2011
11:55 am
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:45 am
I’m willing to bet a dollar to a doughnut that if the government defaults, we will suffer 25% unemployment when the stock market crashes
and business fold or move to other countries. I bet China is laughing out load at us. We will, without a doubt, give them the reins to the global economy.
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:56 am
I prefer to think of them as one big-a$$ed brake being applied before we careen off a cliff.
HERE, HERE!
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
11:58 am
@Normal
July 21st, 2011
11:55 am
Before I take you up on the proposed wager; how much does a doughnut cost these days?
1811/0311
July 21st, 2011
11:59 am
Just heard this:
“Someone has to cook the french fries” !
ray
July 21st, 2011
11:59 am
Is committing murder in a death penalty state a form of suicide?
And doesn’t that make the Governor of a that state a Kevorkian when he gives hangman the thumbs up?
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
12:01 pm
Dave – I’m sorry … who’s speaker again?
Pelosi?
no.
++++++++++++++
No indeed; she is now just another braying jackass
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
12:01 pm
Again, USinUK. One big-a$$ed brake.
But control? No, that would have been from 2008-2010 for the Dems.
There were too many on this blog (even you, perhaps?) who denied total control by the Dems because the Senate didn’t have 60 confirmed votes, so you can’t then claim control when the GOP only has the House of Representatives.
Capt. Orange - "Will Tan For Food (Or Bribes)"
July 21st, 2011
12:01 pm
On a lighter note, Yao Ming retired. He’s living in China, where now he doesn’t have to know the latest “handshake” or words to a rap song. Now he doesn’t have to be beat up by people bigger and stronger than he is every night — he’s the biggest kid on his block in China and he’s learned from the likes of Shaquille and Joakim Noah how to intimidate and dominate weaker wannabe opponents.
Let’s all say “Goodbye and Good luck” to Yao!
1811/0311
July 21st, 2011
12:02 pm
WOODSTOCK MIKE:
Sure there are some Christians on the left. Just remember, not everyone left or right who claims to be a Christian “is one”.
“Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.”
Psalm 12:1
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
12:03 pm
1811/0311
July 21st, 2011
11:59 am
Just heard this:
“Someone has to cook the french fries” !
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hey Pal, pipe down and eat your peas
Uncle Jed
July 21st, 2011
12:06 pm
There were too many on this blog (even you, perhaps?) who denied total control by the Dems because the Senate didn’t have 60 confirmed votes, so you can’t then claim control when the GOP only has the House of Representatives.
HERE, HERE!
(Roach Coach approacheth. Later.)
Doggone/GA
July 21st, 2011
12:08 pm
“Is committing murder in a death penalty state a form of suicide?”
No, because there is no certainty that you will receive the death penalty for what you did.
Mighty Righty
July 21st, 2011
12:12 pm
These are decisions to be made by the effected individuals and their families, not you, not me, and not by “End of Life Panels” of our government.
carlosgvv
July 21st, 2011
12:14 pm
Uncle Jed
Looks like you’ve been smoking some good Columbian again. (Sorry, my “condition” made me say that.)
Tony
July 21st, 2011
12:18 pm
“I prefer to think of them as one big-a$$ed brake being applied before we careen off a cliff.”
So now it’s the debt? Not a Muslim trying to implement Sharia law? Or socialism? Or the Al Qaeda hiding under our beds? Or Saddam’s WMD?
Funny the way the right’s boogie-man politics excuse them from any obligation to the middle class.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
12:20 pm
Dave – we weren’t talking about then – we’re talking about now (”The Tea Party is not in charge of Washington. It is the libs.”)
the budget is controlled by the House. the House is controlled by the GOP. you want to call them a handbrake – you’re entitled to your opinion. but, whatever you call them, they’re the ones in charge.
Mighty Righty
July 21st, 2011
12:21 pm
Normal
July 21st, 2011
11:55
If you count ALL of the unemployed, not just those drawing unemployment compensation, the unemployment is very close to twenty percent right now. When you add the under employed you can add another bunch. NASA started laying off a few thousand today. But never fear, the Obama retraining program will retrain the former rocket scientists to flp burgers. What a country!
Darwin
July 21st, 2011
12:21 pm
And what political party would most likely NOT allow people to have the “freedom” to choose?
Tony
July 21st, 2011
12:22 pm
End of life Panels are forcing people to kill themselves?
Really?
josef
July 21st, 2011
12:23 pm
JAY
Good column.
Mighty
“These are decisions to be made by the effected individuals and their families, not you, not me, and not by “End of Life Panels” of our government”
While I don’t share your fear of the end of life panels, I do agree with you. This is, or should be, a private affair. I have a problem with such terms as “euthanasia,” “assisted suicide” and what have you. There are some things that just are and such terms as these rob them of their intimacy.
Normal
July 21st, 2011
12:23 pm
Uncle Jed…more than a dollar, I think…
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Mighty Righty
July 21st, 2011
12:21 pm
Then why make it worse?
Doggone/GA
July 21st, 2011
12:26 pm
“This is, or should be, a private affair. I have a problem with such terms as “euthanasia,” “assisted suicide” and what have you. There are some things that just are and such terms as these rob them of their intimacy”
And I don’t entirely agree. When it’s TOO “intimate” there IS too much danger of unscrupulous family members pressuring a cognizant ill relative to “end it all” when it’s not really neccessary. I belive in voluntary and assisted suicide, but there should be a medical voice in there also – to help keep abusive relatives from doing what is to THEIR “best” and not that of the ill person.
This isn’t a life or death decision, but just check out the situation faced by Mickey Rooney – and fast forward that to what MIGHT have happened had he been seriously ill.
A dad
July 21st, 2011
12:28 pm
Enter your comments here
Jefferson
July 21st, 2011
12:28 pm
The tea party has no power in DC. They have done nothing but make the GOP look worse than it did before. The senate and the oval office hold the cards, the house is a train wreck.
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
12:29 pm
“Funny the way the right’s boogie-man politics excuse them from any obligation to the middle class.”
Ya know, Tony, I’ve read the Oath of Office each elected representative has to take (and have taken one myself).
Nowhere in that oath are the words “obligation to the middle class”.
Nice poutrage, but ineffective.
dave
July 21st, 2011
12:30 pm
It’s a shame that you can not take your own life, but what’s a bigger shame is that if you go to a doctor and try to get help and tell them that you want to kill yourself they call the cops and have you locked up.
Babs
July 21st, 2011
12:31 pm
My sister died of ALS and I’d begged her to see it out to the end. She did not kill herself, but refused any assistive technology, just wanted pain controlled, comfort measures. It was very painful for her, and of course for us, her loved ones. If I had it to do over, I might not have insisted that she wait for the end. She was in so much pain, even with the pain meds. I was selfish to tell her that.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
12:31 pm
“The tea party has no power in DC”
they have their delegates by the short and curlies … which, in turn, is leading to this whole “party purity” BS …
their powerbase may be in individual districts, but the squeeze is being felt in the Beltway (or, in this case, below the beltway)
A dad
July 21st, 2011
12:32 pm
Not all “Christians” would deny the right to determine whether to end one’s life or not. Such a decision is a personal choice, and the God I know has given humanity choices throughout our existence on this Earth. We all make choices each and every day, some minor like “hmm, do I want the whole wheat bagel or the fruity pebbles for breakfast” and others much more serious, like “I’m going to abort my child because I don’t want to have one right now.” In each case, we will have to answer for our choices at the end, if the end is as Christians believe. While I believe it is my duty to discuss, listen, counsel, and perhaps even try to persuade someone to take a course of conduct I feel is consistent with my beliefs, in the end the choice is theirs and my belief in God does not require me to deny them the choice that God has given them.
Spiritual Guide
July 21st, 2011
12:33 pm
Make suicide illegal? My dear friends, it’s only your own suicide that’s illegal. The other guy’s suicide is a godsend especially if he belongs to a different political party. (Benjamin Franklin 1776)
Jefferson
July 21st, 2011
12:33 pm
The house flips in 2 years, they are just hot air temps in a lot of cases elected by slogan of the week buyers.
Dave R.
July 21st, 2011
12:34 pm
I just find it laughable, USinUK, that the very same Dems who vehemently denied control when they had BOTH houses are now so adamant that the GOP is in control.
Tony
July 21st, 2011
12:37 pm
Ya know, Dave, I actually am impressed with the way you wear your ignorance on your chest.
The health of the middle class IS this country’s lifeline.
Ask your history teacher when school starts back, kid.
absolutely
July 21st, 2011
12:37 pm
It absolutely is a right. Anybody who would disagree with that doesn’t have a clue.
Keith Obermann
July 21st, 2011
12:41 pm
It’s fine for Republican women and Tea party clowns!!
carlosgvv
July 21st, 2011
12:41 pm
Dave R.
It is the Republican Tea Party in Congress who is holding up a deal on our debt crisis. That you do not realize this is not laughable, just pathetic.
josef
July 21st, 2011
12:42 pm
Doggone
I understand your concerns about the bad family, and I realize this may sound a bit cold blooded, but, well, we don’t always have a choice in the family and what those relations are are from life. I agree with you on the doctor’s diagnosis being important. That, too, in my opinion is something private and, to a great extent, it is not fair to put him/her in a “decision” position. That is why, bottom line, and just speaking from my own experiences and my own wish for myself, is that with the proper medical/condition information, the person can make an informed choice and take the action him or herself. I know there are those situations where that is not possible, Schivo being a good example. There is the conundrum and I cannot be cold blooded one way or the other. Each case has its own peculiars.
USinUK
July 21st, 2011
12:42 pm
“I just find it laughable, USinUK, that the very same Dems who vehemently denied control when they had BOTH houses are now so adamant that the GOP is in control.”
I’m sure you do, Dave.
however, since the GOP demanded a supermajority for every vote (with the exception of the approval of the previous day’s calendar), then I think it can be argued that, no, they didn’t have as much control as you like to think.
Martha
July 21st, 2011
12:44 pm
re: the remarks by Marty Murray that “ALS is totally solvable”- where did you get this information? I am a registered nurse with 30+ years of experience including many years in ICU where I cared for several ALS patients. ALS is a fatal disease with no cure at present. The best medical science can do is to prolong the inevitable outcome. If you know how to “solve” this, please elucidate.
Paulo977
July 21st, 2011
12:44 pm
“The Tea Party is not in charge of Washington. It is the libs. ”…..
OMG , is it NCLB that has caused this ???