Originally Posted - October 28, 2006

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How did we lose compassion in America?

What's wrong with people like Michael Schiavo and Rush Limbaugh?

Why are the disabled in America being targeted with such disdain and ignorance?

What happened to disabled rights in America and to those who advocate for and support disability rights and human rights?

Why are the disabled and handicapped being exploited for political purposes?

The outrageous, irresponsible, vicious and inexcusable attack by Rush Limbaugh on Michael J. Fox this past week rightfully created a firestorm. It wasn't so much about stem cell research but Limbaugh's insensitive and uninformed attack of Michael J. Fox, accusing him of acting and exaggerating how he is being affected by the ravages of Parkinson's disease, accusing him of deliberately being "off his meds" for political purposes.

It took great courage and humility for Michael J. Fox to expose himself and indeed embarrass himself before the public to try and gain support for a cause in which he is passionately and personally involved. Michael J. Fox's focus isn't on himself, it's to find a cure for Parkinson's and other diseases and he believes that stem cell research will open the door to improve the quality of life for those afflicted.

Regardless of one's opinion and position about the stem cell issue, people should have lauded Fox for his courage and strength rather than levy accusatory attacks on him such as Limbaugh.

And then there's the issue of Terri Schiavo, the brain injured woman who is once again being exploited for political purposes by her so-called husband, Michael Schiavo who was busy last week traveling around the country on his single issue of revenge, creating havoc, trying to bully, intimidate and seek revenge on politicians who dared to exercise compassion and who voted to err on the side of life in the Schiavo case which had, and still has, just too many questions.

Michael Schiavo (left) exhibited his abusive, behavior last week towards Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (right), trying to launch a surprise attack on her, actually stalking her like a cat does a mouse, trying to lure her out for a confrontation and when she ignored him, planting himself directly in front of her at a debate for Colorado voters, for intimidation purposes, then screaming and yelling at her after she called police on him and wouldn't allow him to become the center of attention as he had hoped to do.

It was the same type of stunt used by Democrat Phyllis Busansky (left), a Schiavo-endorsed candidate (as if anyone cares who he supports), trying to ambush Gus Bilirakis (right), her opponent for Congress in Florida's District 9. Busansky planted herself outside a restaurant where Bilirakis was meeting voters. Busanksy's actions were called "pretty low class and desperate", about what one would from a candidate endorsed by Michael Schiavo?

Michael Schiavo postured for years that he was protecting Terri's right to privacy but it's he who's violating her right to privacy, who's misappropriating her image and personality for his own personal gain, his own beliefs, his own wishes and for his own political aspirations.

This past week, the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee circulated a mail flyer against Rick Santorum, the U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania seeking reelection. The distasteful and untruthful mailing, said to be funded by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, attacked Santorum for exercising compassion and support to Terri's parents and siblings last March.   PDF MAILER

Santorum didn't "interfere" in the Schiavo case, he lent his prayers and support to the Schindler family. Florida residents can't vote in a Pennsylvania election.

That's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Santorum's Democratic challenger, Bob Casey, himself supported the federal legislation designed move the jurisdiction of the Schiavo case to the federal level.

Did Michael Schiavo consent to allowing Pennsylvania Democrats' political exploitation of Terri Schiavo who he claimed he wanted to die in order to protect her right to privacy? Did he give his permission for Terri's image and that of her mother to be used for political purposes, for political gain for himself and his supporters? How did Michael Schiavo acquire the right to control how images of Mary Schindler are used?

Shame on Michael Schiavo----cruel, callous, mercenary and belligerent in Terri's death as he was during her life. Money, money, money he cries as he moves across the country. Give me, give me, give me he croons in his diary, pandering for donations to his political action committee, the subject of current reviews by both the Federal Election Commission and the Florida Election Commission.

Diary? Girls, not men, have diaries.

In a courageous interview with Katie Couric this past week on CBS news, www.cbsnews.com, Michael J. Fox responded to Limbaugh's attack, saying essentially that Fox was a con man, didn't have the symptoms of Parkinson's and was putting them on, that he was perpetrating a fraud.

Fox said that after Limbaugh first accused him of manipulating his illness, he then charged that Fox was a shill for the Democrats, that he was being exploited.

Fox said that "I'm in this situation with millions of other Americans, whether it's….for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or ALS or diabetes or spinal cord injury or what have you. And we have a right, if there's answers out there, to pursue those answers with the full support of our politicians. And so I don't need anyone's permission to do that".

Fox said he had been involved with the issue of stem cell research since 2000. "And in the meantime, separate and apart from my political involvement, I've started a foundation that's raised $85 million for research and is the second leading fundraiser for Parkinson's research after the federal government. And um, you know, I'm not a Johnny-come-lately. No one plucked me off the apple cart to come and do this. I mean, I believe in this cause. I've put a lot of my life and energy into it, and we're serious about it.

"Disease is a non-partisan problem that requires a bi-partisan solution".

Limbaugh should have been applauding Fox for his courage and his attempt to educate the public about stem cell research, Parkinson's and the disabled, not making false accusations and belittling Fox.

Couric said that when she contacted Limbaugh for his comments, he said that he believed that "Democrats have a long history of using victims of various things as political spokespeople because they believe they are untouchable, infallible. They are immune from criticism".

Terri Schiavo was and is a victim.

The difference between Terri Schiavo and Michael J. Fox is that Fox can defend himself and had a choice about being used for political purposes.

Terri Schiavo can't.

She was indeed a victim, a victim of abuse and of shameful political exploitation by Michael Schiavo and other politicians such as Randall Terry, Angie Paccione and now-defeated Congressional candidate Peggy Lamm.

Michael Schiavo benefited financially from Terri Schiavo in life and now in death, he's using her to thrust himself into the public spotlight, to gain name recognition for himself for his own self-proclaimed focus on future political office. He used her in life, he's continuing to use Terri for his own purposes now. He's charging that political leaders such as Rick Santorum, Tom DeLay (left), Marilyn Musgrave, Joe Lieberman (right) politically exploited Terri Schiavo.

Look in the mirror, Michael Schiavo.

Michael Schiavo is doing exactly that, he and his co-horts such as Derek Newton (left), Florida gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis (right, using Terri for their own political agenda. Schiavo's argument for court-sanctioned homicide has long been what he claimed was Terri's right to privacy. Would she have wanted to been exploited and marketed such as she has been by her husband, a husband who claims to have been so devoted to her that he had one adulterous affair after another, fathering several children while spending money he got by filing false insurance claims to buy houses with his lover? Would she wanted to have been cast into the public spotlight such as he did to her by seeking governmental and judicial support to kill her?

Michael Schiavo is on the payroll of the Pinellas County taxpayers as a nurse in the county jail. Why do the taxpayers have to pay for him to tromp around the country, extorting his own warped political ideology and exercising his own political aspirations? When does this individual work and why is Sheriff Jim Coats and other Pinellas County officials allowing Schiavo special dispensations to accommodate Schiavo's personal and private agenda? Does the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department advocate their employees crossing state lines to stalk public officers?

Michael Schiavo intentionally went to the Colorado debate with the intent of publicly disrupting it. He's a loose cannon and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice should be closely monitoring his movements for the safety of members of Congress.

Michael Schiavo was furious when Terri's parents produced a videotape of her in October, 2003, taken in August, 2001, showing the public just how responsive she really was, and showing what a liar Schiavo and his well-paid lawyers were and are. They demanded that Schiavo's judge-in-the-pocket George W. Greer stop the Schindlers from showing the world the truth about Terri Schiavo's condition and Greer issued an order which barred Terri's family from providing her with any form of rehabilitative therapy or from taking still photographs and audio or video recordings of Terri.

So what gives Michael Schiavo the right to use images of Terri and Mary Schindler to promote himself and his political agenda? If he's so defensive about Terri's privacy rights, why is he allowing her to be exploited and in fact, doing so himself, in order to feather his own nest? Isn't the use of her image on political flyers by the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee a misappropriation of personality rights, a situation which arises when a public figure's image is used to promote something, like political campaigns? Did Michael Schiavo give the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee permission to use the image of Terri? Was he paid for doing so?

Following court proceedings in October 2002, Michael Schiavo reportedly said that "If Terri would even know that I had somebody taking care of her bodily functions, she'd kill us all in a heartbeat. She'd be so angry".

Considering what a shy and private person Terri was, how do you think she'd feel about Michael Schiavo going on the Larry King show and telling the world about her private gynecological condition, a move which served absolutely no legitimate purpose? How do you think she'd feel about having her picture and that of her mother being used for political purposes, to oppose disabled rights in America, to oppose Rick Santorum who, with his wife, lent his support and prayers to her and her family, not for political purposes, but because it was the right thing to do, the compassionate thing to do, the human thing to do.

Schiavo and others falsely maintain that Santorum intentionally flew to Florida in March 2005 and appeared at the Pinellas Park hospice in March 2005 when Schiavo and Felos and Greer were busy killing Terri for political purposes.

The truth is that Santorum was already in Florida for other purposes, he didn't intentionally go to the hospice for political reasons. At least he went to the hospice, that's more than Gov. Jeb Bush did.

Santorum and his wife privately lent their support to the Schindler family, but not for political purposes. The public never knew about it. Although the Schindlers are former residents and voters of Pennsylvania as was Terri, they can't vote for Santorum nor could most of the people that were at the hospice in support of Terri.

Rick Santorum showed his compassion in the Schiavo case and for that he should not be castigated nor should any other member of Congress who voted in favor of due process, because they were concerned that a woman was being starved to death because her husband, George Greer, George Felos and others didn't think that her life mattered anymore.

"That's not what we're taught to believe", Santorum said. "We should respect everyone's life, [including] those who are not normal or those who have been injured in a way that they're not who they once were. ... That's the lesson I want my kids to understand."

That's a lesson Michael Schiavo should be teaching his kids.

Schiavo has embarked on a vendetta, seeking revenge against the U.S. Senators who voted unanimously by voice vote in addition to 203 members of the House that would have enabled Terri's parents to appeal to the federal court for a new review of the state court proceedings to ensure that due process had been upheld and that Terri's rights had been protected by Greer with regards to her feeding and hydration tube, that she was treated fairly and in accordance with the law".

Michael Schiavo says that Congress intruded on HIS rights.

It's the other way around, Michael Schiavo not only intruded upon but annihilated Terri Schiavo's rights and is still doing so, continuing to exploit her and use her for his own purposes.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said after the Congressional vote for a new review of the Schiavo case that "certainly an incapacitated person deserves at least the same protection afforded criminals sentenced to death….In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life".

No one, whether a Governor, a President, a Congressperson or a human being should ever have to apologize or be held to public ridicule and contempt for exercising compassion----and that's exactly what Michael Schiavo is trying to do.

No one should be held to scorn and contempt such as Schiavo is trying to do to politicians nationwide who tried to ensure that the constitutional rights of an incapacitated human being were being upheld and that she was being protected from a heavily conflicted husband in name only who had more to gain by her being dead than alive.

Erring on the side of life in such a highly questionable case had nothing to do with politics---it simply was and is the right thing to do.

The Terri Schiavo case wasn't a political issue. It was and still is a moral and social issue, an issue of disability rights, of discrimination towards the disabled in America. It was not a right to die issue. There simply is no clear and convincing evidence that Terri Schiavo wanted to die. To the contrary, with the exception of the self-serving inadmissible hearsay of Michael Schiavo and his family members, the evidence is that Terri Schiavo wanted to live, to be surrounded and embraced by her family's love and care.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Committee and the campaign of Santorum's challenger, Bob Casey, should issue a very public apology for their exploitation of Terri Schiavo and for trying to make the exercise of compassion a dirty act.

The only person guilty of using and exploiting Terri Schiavo for political purpose and gain is Michael Schiavo.

The best thing that could happen in the field of disability rights and human rights is for the world to ignore Michael Schiavo, send him a strong message to stop discriminating against the disabled and to stop being abusive to women, to stop being a selfish man.

Erring on the side of life in such a highly questionable case had nothing to do with politics---it simply was and is the right thing to do. 10-28-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette