Of greater concern is the general ignorance of “regular folks” who refuse to educate themselves. Rather, they take an easy mental leap and “put themselves” in the situation in question and then (superficially and without specific information) determine “how they would feel if it happened to them.”

They cannot conceive of “nothingness” because it is a difficult exercise, so they cannot believe that Terri has “no thought.” Therefore, they cannot conceive of eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear, a mouth that does not speak, a throat that does not swallow, a mind that has no thought, and a body that moves at random, all as permanent conditions.

Likewise, they cannot conceive of going without food and water (because they have experienced hunger and thirst in their past and it is quite uncomfortable) so they determine that going without these basics is “torture.”

While it is easy to understand the separate concepts of handicapped conditions such as “blindness” (because they have seen blind people who function at a reduced level), and “deafness” (because they have seen deaf people function at a reduced level), and the “inability to walk” (because they have seen people in wheel-chairs), and “mental retardation” (because they have seen the mentally retarded function at a reduced level), but it is much more difficult to get it through their heads that a person without a functioning cerebral cortex is not merely “handicapped” but simply does not exist as a person.

There is an almost “storybook” flavor to this bizarre situation, as if Terri Schiavo is merely a “sleeping princess” who will eventually wake up and give an exclusive to perky Katie Couric by chowing down a veal cutlet with asparagus, then spend an hour telling Barbara Walters what she thought about during those 15 years of persistent vegetative state, and then hit Oprah and Dr. Phil to explain how she dealt with 15 years of peeing and pooping in bed and how she really feels about Michael and her parents.

Sadly, this is not a reality show, but real reality, otherwise known as life.

“And then I’d really be gone, gone even from the memories of my friends and relatives, removed from their brains in favor of an empty shell. It’s hard for me to imagine anything more gruesome.”

that was a very powerful remark.

I finally had to complain to them about leaving that detail out, and painting the scene as if there was this sole state judge in Florida who was doing this, with the Florida governor, Congress, the President, and the nation disagreeing.

I also think more people should read the Cruzan v Director decision from the Supreme Court [Cruzan v. Director, MDH, 497 U.S. 261 (1990)] before they go flapping their mouths off about what’s in the Constitution and what isn’t.