Open Letter to

Philadelphia Radio Talk Show

Host Michael Smerconish

about Terry Schiavo

     As an introduction, there is a local "conservative" talk show host in Philadelphia named Michael Smerconish. He calls himself conservative, but is even more liberal than Sean Hannity. He is always talking about things that bug him, and how the government ought to make laws against these common annoyances. Today, he actually said that Terri Schiavo's husband loved her and had her best interests in mind, and that he would want to die too if he were PVS like her. I was shocked, so I wrote this letter to him. It is important that we get ALL media talking the truth, especially talk radio, since if talk radio isn't supporting her, nobody will. I sent this letter to him tonight, and thought you'd all like to see it.

     Dear Michael, My wife and I listen to 1210 everyday, from Smerconish to Dom, we listen to everybody. We always joke with each other about your liberal comments, oftentimes when you think some new law should be passed against something that annoys you. I have to admit to you, we jokingly call you, "Michael Jerk-onish" when you say something really pro-big government, or just throw softball questions at really liberal guests.

     Today, however, your show ceased to be amusing. We always cringe when you have on that Bio-Ethicist Arthur Kaplan. Every person I ever met or heard speak called a "bio-ethicist" was anything but ethical, and Kaplan is no exception. The things I hear him say are terrifying. When you told him that you saw video of Terri Schiavo interacting, he calmy explained that it was all "reflexes", and that she was for sure unconscious. He sounded like the doctors who tell you that the movement of a baby at 9 months gestation inside the mother's womb is all reflex, and that the baby isn't really aware of what is going on. You accepted his explanation and decided that her husband must be correct in trying to kill her.

     I cannot believe you could even engage in a conversation like this, much less agree with him. Terri Schiavo is a living, breathing human being. Who cares if her eyes followed the balloon because she liked it or because her "eye muscles reflexively followed the color and light?" It is an academic question that can be debated among teams of doctors trying to find ways to make her better (something no doctor has been allowed to try since he won his lawsuit). The only thing she needs to keep her alive is food. Many doctors say she can even eat by mouth, but her husband won't allow it. Babies and small children must be fed. The elderly must be fed. Many people who are in accidents and are handicapped must be fed. Relying on others to feed you is NOT life support. Last year, [Bill] O'Reilly interviewed a woman who was diagnosed by all the doctors as PVS. She had been operated on with no anesthesia, and was in the process of being starved to death when she finally regained the ability to talk. She has since told her story. She was aware of everything going on around her, and described the excrutiating pain of not only hearing her starvation discussed, but what it felt like to starve to death. It is a horrifying way to die. Can you imagine the outcry if we decided to execute the prisoners at Abu Ghirab by starving them to death? What if we tortured them by starving them for 3 days? Why no outcry at starving this poor woman to death?

     If you are intellectually honest, and you really think that she is PVS and deserves to die, then I challenge you. Tomorrow morning, at 7:30am (when I am listening), announce that you support blowing off Terri Schiavo's head with a shotgun. If you are condemning her to death, then at least, on the doubt that she may still feel pain, let the death be painless. If you refuse to support blowing off her head with a shotgun, then why do you support starving her to death? Mass murderers are entitled to execution without pain, so why not Terri Schiavo?

     Please do not politicize the issue of Terri Schiavo. It is not a right/left, prolife/prochoice, liberal/conservative issue. There is a mountain of evidence that her husband does not have her best wishes in mind. There are written statements by nurses who attended to her indicating abuse. Her husband could be afraid that should she recover, she'll tell the police about what he's done and he'll be criminally liable. The only doctors allowed to examine her closely have been pro-euthanasia doctors, hand-picked by a lawyer who has made a career (and a book) out of right-to-die cases. Her parents have offered Michael all the remaining money from the lawsuit, all the money from her estate, and complete freedom from further litigation. All they want is their daughter. Her husband is now essentially a bigamist, living a common law marriage with another woman, and it is inconceivable that he really has his wife's best interests in mind.

     I was also shocked when you said that you felt that if the courts of Florida ruled in favor of her husband, that he must be correct. This logic supports both Slavery and Abortion, both of which were upheld by our country's judiciary. I suggest you read Mark Levin's "Men In Black" if you do not understand how judicial tyranny threatens our freedoms. In the case of Terri Schiavo, it threatens her life.

     Terri has suffered for years being called a vegetable by the main stream media. Thanks to the internet, the blogosphere, and MOST talk radio (Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity), the message is getting out and political pressure is being brought to bear on Jeb Bush. You can do a great service to Terri by examining the case, and even if you don't have enough evidence to convince you she is alive, at least err on the side of LIFE! If she really is PVS, then she won't care that she is still alive and her family will be happy. If she isn't PVS, then you will have saved an innocent woman from death.

               Sincerely, Me Suburbs of Philadelphia, PA