Monday, June 20, 2005

You'd think -- but you'd be wrong

The autopsy report [link is to a PDF file] on Terri Schiavo is in. And, to read the "mainstream media" accounts you'd think that it supported the arguments of the "Kill the Bitch" crowd.

You'd think -- but you'd be wrong. The KTB faction is doing the same thing with Schiavo that George W. Bush has been doing with Iraq for lo on two years now: Trying to change the subject now that its core claims have been completely discredited.

What was the core claim? That Terri Schiavo was in a "persistent vegetative state" (some even went so far as to use the plainly incorrect "brain dead").

What was the evidence for that claim? "Her cerebral cortex is gone. It's liquid."

Every time evidence was presented that Terri Schiavo reacted to external stimuli, interacted with loved ones, etc., the reply was "impossible. There's no cortex there. Trust us: It just couldn't have happened."

The autopsy report, of course, says precisely the opposite: "The insular cortex and frontal and temporal poles were relatively well-preserved."

Side claims:

The alleged causative heart attack? Never happened. "Mrs. Schiavo's heart was anatomically normal without any areas of recent or remote myocardial infarction."

The alleged eating disorder? "[T]he main piece of evidence supporting a diagnosis of Bulimia Nervosa is suspect ..."

The autopsy report militates against pretty much every claim for the "Kill the Bitch" case.

So, the KTB crowd is trying to attract attention toward the fact that the autopsy didn't prove that Michael Schiavo caused the "incident" by beating Terri Schiavo ... and away from the act of cold-blooded murder by starvation and dehydration that the autopsy reveals.

-----
Technorati Tags: , , ,

No comments: