W E D N E S D A Y , J U N E 1 5 , 2 0 0 5Terri Schiavo's Autopsy: Will The Facts ChangeAnyone's Mind?by Michael in New York on 6/15/2005 02:20:00 PMNOTE: I was thisclose to posting on Terri Schiavo when Johnbigfooted me. (Damn him and his faster typing skills!) Here aremy thoughts anyway.Just watched the press conference about the autopsy of TerriSchiavo -- naturally after about 20 minutes, every newschannel I checked had grown bored and moved onto theirexperts or other news while the medical examiners were stillanswering questions. heck, they've only got 24 hours a day tofill, why stay with the entire press conference?But the facts are simple and straightforward: there is noevidence Terri Schiavo was abused or mistreated (they pointedespecially to the barrage of exams performed right after herinitial collapse that would have indicated this).</p><p> Terri Schiavowas clinically blind, putting to rest the sad delusion that shewas looking at people or following a balloon or other actionsutterly impossible given her condition.</p><p> Terri Schiavo's brain wasHALF the size of a normal person of her age; in other wordsshe was severely dysfunctional and incapable of the reactionsher family and outsiders who hadn't even examined her wantedto imagine she was performing.</p><p> Terri Schiavo would havechoked to death if given food or water via her mouth -- sothose fools rushing the security guards to give Terri waterwould have killed her, not helped her.</p><p> And no amount oftherapy or treatment would have ever changed her condition.In numerous other details, the medical examiner reinforced thefacts that were known for more than a decade and confirmedby every responsible medical professional involved in her care-- both those directly hired by the family factions and thoseappointed by the courts.</p><p> Every absurd charge has beenundercut or proven flatly wrong.</p><p> Every sound medical findinghas been reinforced when possible.Do basic scientific facts matter anymore? Are people obsessedwith emotional hysteria and a refusal to listen to the factsgoing to be any more likely to face the truth now than theywere during the media circus that surrounded her final days?Will the news channels that insultingly showed that editedfootage of Terri with New Age-y guitar playing in thebackground now show it and state the medical facts -- thatTerri was blind, her brain shrunken down to nothing and shewas incapable of recovering anything like an emotionalresponse to the world around her? I doubt it.This is a larger pattern: the far right refusing to face facts onglobal warming or evolution or the fact that condoms work andare an essential part of any program to combat AIDS and onand on.</p><p> In short, the far right hates science, hates facts, hatesthe truth.One surprise: the medical examiners undercut the diagnosis ofbulimia for Terri, which had been accepted in court and servedas the basis for a medical malpractice suit the husband wonagainst her initial care providers.</p><p> The medical examiners notedthat the low potassium levels could have been caused by the HuffPost PoliticsMichael Likosky: Ed Rendell: Hardest Working Manin Infrastructure - At this year's National GovernorsAssociation (NGA) meeting, Governor Ed Rendell'stenure as Chair fittingly came to a close with aplenary session on infras...58 seconds ago Daily KosOpen Thread and Diary Rescue - *Today, srkp23(pulling a double shift), ybruti, taylormattd,ItsJessMe and vcmvo2 combed through hundredsof diaries to find this powerful list.</p><p> Today's...19 minutes ago EschatonOvernight - Folk On.</p><p> Newish.36 minutes ago Crooks and LiarsOpen Thread - Open Thread below...1 hour ago FiredoglakeLate Night: Livin’ the Dolce Vita with TheLovernator - Who's got time to govern? 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