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Ditto! Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jann Bell" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 6:17 AM Subject: Re: FW: Living will > Bravo! Well said! > > "Bernard Barber Ph.D." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:Living will is the best > revenge > > By ROBERT FRIEDMAN, Times Deputy Editor of Editorials > Published March 27, 2005 - St. Petersburg Times (FL) > > Like many of you, I have been compelled by recent events to prepare a more > detailed advance directive dealing with end-of-life issues. Here's what > mine > > says: > > * In the event I lapse into a persistent vegetative state, I want medical > authorities to resort to extraordinary means to prolong my hellish > semiexistence. Fifteen years wouldn't be long enough for me. > > * I want my wife and my parents to compound their misery by engaging in a > bitter and protracted feud that depletes their emotions and their bank > accounts. > > * I want my wife to ruin the rest of her life by maintaining an > interminable vigil at my bedside. I'd be really jealous if she waited less > than a decade > to start dating again or otherwise rebuilding a semblance of a normal > life. > > * I want my case to be turned into a circus by losers and crackpots from > around the country who hope to bring meaning to their empty lives by > investing the same transient emotion in me that they once reserved for > Laci > Peterson, > Chandra Levy and that little girl who got stuck in a well. > > * I want those crackpots to spread vicious lies about my wife. > > * I want to be placed in a hospice where protesters can gather to bring >>further grief and disruption to the lives of dozens of dying patients and > families whose stories are sadder than my own. > > * I want the people who attach themselves to my case because of their deep > devotion to the sanctity of life to make death threats against any judges, >>elected officials or health care professionals who disagree with them. > > * I want the medical geniuses and philosopher kings who populate the > Florida Legislature to ignore me for more than a decade and then turn my > case into a > forum for weeks of politically calculated bloviation. > > * I want total strangers - oily politicians, maudlin news anchors, ersatz > friars and all other hangers-on - to start calling me "Bobby," as if they > had known me since childhood. > > * I'm not insisting on this as part of my directive, but it would be nice > if Congress passed a "Bobby's Law" that applied only to me and ignored the > medical needs of tens of millions of other Americans without adequate > health > coverage. > > * Even if the "Bobby's Law" idea doesn't work out, I want Congress - > especially all those self-described conservatives who claim to believe in > "less government and more freedom" - to trample on the decisions of > doctors, > > judges and other experts who actually know something about my case. And I > want members > of Congress to launch into an extended debate that gives them another > excuse > to > avoid pesky issues such as national security and the economy. > > * In particular, I want House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to use my case as > an > > opportunity to divert the country's attention from the mounting political > and legal troubles stemming from his slimy misbehavior. > > * And I want Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to make a mockery of his > Harvard medical degree by misrepresenting the details of my case in ways > that might give a boost to his 2008 presidential campaign. > > * I want Frist and the rest of the world to judge my medical condition on > the basis of a snippet of dated and demeaning videotape that should have > remained private. > > * Because I think I would retain my sense of humor even in a persistent > vegetative state, I'd want President Bush - the same guy who publicly > mocked > > Karla Faye Tucker when signing off on her death warrant as governor of > Texas > - to > claim he was intervening in my case because it is always best "to err on > the > > side of life." > > * I want the state Department of Children and Families to step in at the > last moment to take responsibility for my well-being, because nothing bad > could ever happen to anyone under DCF's care. > > * And because Gov. Jeb Bush is the smartest and most righteous human being > on the face of the Earth, I want any and all of the aforementioned > directives to be disregarded if the governor happens to disagree with > them. > If he says > he knows what's best for me, I won't be in any position to argue. > > Robert Friedman is editor of Perspective. He can be reached at > "mailto:[log in to unmask]"> [log in to unmask] > > > When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and > love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a > time > > they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it - > always. > > - Mahatma Gandhi > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn